Accessible Publishing Summit Attendee Bios
Adam Wilton, Provincial Resource Centre for the Visually Impaired
Adam Wilton (he/him/his) is the Program Manager of the Provincial Resource Centre for the Visually Impaired (PRCVI), producing hard copy alternate formats (braille, large print) for blind and low vision students in the BC K-12 sector. He is also the program manager for the Accessible Resource Centre – BC (ARC-BC) – a repository of digital alternate format materials for students with perceptual disabilities.
Adaobi Nnaobi, eBOUND Canada
Adaobi Nnaobi (she/her) is currently an Accessible Content Certifier at eBOUND Canada. She previously worked at Annick Press as an Accessible Publishing Intern.
Agata Mrva-Montoya, The University of Sydney
Agata Mrva-Montoya (she/her), PhD, is a lecturer in the Department of Media and Communications, University of Sydney. Agata has published on the impact of digital technologies and new business models on scholarly communication and the book publishing industry in general. She is also interested in accessibility, design thinking and open access. She led the implementation of accessible publishing practices at Sydney University Press (SUP), which resulted in SUP becoming a signatory of the Accessible Book Consortium’s Charter on Accessible Publishing in January 2020. She has been involved in the Australian Inclusive Publishing Initiative since 2018, the Accessibility Initiative Working Party of the Institute of Professional Editors since 2019, the Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities since 2021.
Agata Mrva-Montoya’s LinkedIn | Agata Mrva-Montoya’s Twitter
Amanda Lee, Freelance
Amanda Lee (she/her) has worked in Canadian publishing for over 10 years and has held in-house metadata positions at House of Anansi Press / Groundwood Books and Dundurn Press. As an independent consultant, Amanda has worked on projects focused on using metadata and accessible publishing to ensure everyone looking for a Canadian book can get it. Those projects include creating metadata workflows for Canadian publishers, training publishers in enhanced metadata and digital distribution, creating enhanced metadata for better discoverability, researching the state of accessible book publishing, researching the effects of specific pieces of metadata on sales of books, and more. She’s currently working on eBOUND’s accessible publishing learning network which will be launched in mid-2022.
Anna Maria Luponio, Employment and Social Development Canada
Anna Maria Luponio (she/her) is a senior policy analyst within the Office for Disability Issues at Employment and Social Development Canada, Government of Canada.
Avneesh Singh, DAISY Consortium
Mr. Singh (he/him/his) heads strategy and operations in DAISY Consortium. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). He has more than 15 years of experience in development of technologies for accessible publishing & reading, and is a key driver of the development of the world wide inclusive publishing eco system. He co-led the development the first dedicated accessibility specification for EPUB publications. Currently he chairs the accessibility task forces of the Publishing groups in W3C, co-chairs the Accessibility Baseline Project for developing the worldwide infrastructure for ensuring accessibility from the publishers, through to the users, participates in the Web Accessibility Initiative arena, along with leading other international initiatives for inclusive publishing. At the national level, he is a member of LITD 15 committee of Bureau of Indian Standards, which is the mirror committee of JTC1/ISO SC 34.
Bill Kasdorf, Kasdorf & Associates, LLC
Bill Kasdorf (he/him/his), kasdorf.bill@gmail.com, is Principal of Kasdorf & Associates, LLC, a consultancy focusing on editorial and production workflows, XML/HTML/EPUB modeling, standards and best practices alignment, and accessibility. He is a founding partner of Publishing Technology Partners. Bill is active in the W3C (as the W3C Global Publishing Evangelist and serving on the Publishing@W3C Steering Committee, EPUB 3 Working Group, Publishing Business Group, and Publishing Community Group) and co-chairs NISO’s Video & Audio Metadata Guidelines and Content Profile/Linked Data Working Groups. He is Past President and an active member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP). He is a member the Book Industry Study Group (BISG), the International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC), and the DAISY Consortium for accessibility. He received the SSP Distinguished Service Award, the BISG Industry Champion Award, and the IDEAlliance/DEER Luminaire Award. Bill has written and spoken widely on publishing technology, workflows, and accessibility. He is general editor of The Columbia Guide to Digital Publishing and co-editor of the BISG Guide to Accessible Publishing, and serves on the editorial board of Learned Publishing. In his consulting practice, he has served publishers such as Pearson, Cengage, Norton, Wolters Kluwer, Kaplan, and Sage; scholarly presses and societies such as the New England Journal of Medicine, the National Academies Press, Harvard, MIT, Toronto, Taylor & Francis, Cambridge, IEEE, the American College of Physicians, and the Cochrane Library; and global publishing and library organizations such as the World Bank, the British Library, OCLC, ORCID, and the Publishing Office of the European Union.
Bill Kasdorf’s LinkedIn | Bill Kasdorf’s Twitter
bob minnery, AERO
Cecilia Espallargas, Department of Canadian Heritage
Cecilia Espallargas (she/her) is the Policy and Program Analyst for the Book Policy and Programs Directorate within Canadian Heritage. She is currently focused on accessibility, as well as issues affecting persons with disabilities and racialized communities.
Chantelle Rideout, Atlantic Publishers Marketing Association
Charles LaPierre, Benetech
Charles LaPierre (he/him), Benetech: Principal, Accessibility Standards, and Technical Lead, Global Certified Accessible. Charles has over 25 years’ accessibility development experience and has been a pioneer in accessible product development since 1993. Charles currently a member of the W3C, Personalization Task Force of the APA, a member of the Publishing Working Group, and EPUB3 community group. Charles is the technical architect of the new Global Certified Accessible initiative at Benetech to certify publisher content as conforming to the new EPUB 1.0 Accessibility Specification. Charles has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.
Charles LaPierre’s LinkedIn | Charles LaPierre’s Twitter
Christine Lum, ECW Press
Christine (she/her) is the digital production and data associate at ECW Press where she assists in creating ALT text for ebooks and image descriptions for audiobooks. Additionally, she works with the digital production team to ensure that all books are as accessible as possible.
Corey Wintemute, National Network for Equitable Library Service
Corey Wintemute (he/him) is a recent graduate of Langara College’s Library and Information Technology program. From the audio visual club in high school to the campus radio station in college, Corey has always had an interest in digital media and audio. He has recently been able to combine these interests as the Audiobook Coordinator for the National Network for Equitable Library Services, working to create fully accessible audiobooks.
Courtenay Adams, National Network for Equitable Library Service
Cristina Mussinelli, Fondazione LIA
Cristina Mussinelli (she/her) is the Secretary General of the LIA Foundation (www.fondazionelia.org) a non-profit organization, created in 2014 by AIE (Italian Publishers Association) in collaboration with UICI (Italian Union of the Blind and Visually Impaired), which promotes the development of an accessible digital publishing ecosystems. She is member of the Board of and chair of the Accessibility Working Group of EDRLab (European Digital Reading Lab), member of the Accessibility Working Group of FEP (Federation of European Publishers), the Accessibility Steering Committee of ABC Consortium of WIPO and the European Inclusive Forum Steering Committee of Daisy Consortium, She is also co-chair of the W3C Digital Publishing Business Group and invited expert of the section ISO OT UNI / CT 014 / SC 04 “Automation and documentation”. She has been working in publishing and digital since 1982 and has been involved in the world of accessibility and technological innovation since the early 2000s. She is also AIE consultant for digital publishing.
Cristina Mussinelli’s LinkedIn
Daniel Weck, EDRLab
Daniel Weck (he/him) is a software engineer with over a decade of experience in accessible design and inclusive publishing. He works primarily with the DAISY Consortium, the Readium Foundation and EDRLab. Daniel writes software mostly in the open source space, and he also participates in the maintenance of open standards. His areas of technical expertise in the field of digital publishing include: automated production workflows, interactive authoring tools, delivery mechanisms and reading systems. Daniel is a one of the main contributors in the DAISY Ace accessibility checker software project. He is also the lead developer of Thorium, the free cross-platform reading app created by EDRLab. Thorium aims to offer an accessible and user-friendly reading experience for well-established electronic publication standards such as EPUB, DAISY and PDF, but also for recently-introduced formats such as W3C audiobooks and Divina comics.
Daniella Levy-Pinto, National Network for Equitable Library Service
Daniella Levy-Pinto (she/her) is an expert in accessibility, including digital technology as well as livable spaces. She has been a user of assistive technologies for more than two decades in her different roles in academic and professional settings. Daniella works to promote and inform a paradigm shift towards born-accessible-content and inclusive design. She is the Manager of NNELS (National Network for Equitable Library Service), and leads digital accessibility initiatives to prevent or eliminate accessibility barriers to digital content. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Toronto.
Daniella Levy-Pinto’s LinkedIn | Daniella Levy-Pinto’s Twitter
David Kopman, National Network for Equitable Library Service
David Kopman (he/him) has worn many hats over the years, including news photographer, technical support analyst, media specialist, and photography instructor. Around the year 2000, when his sight began to decline, and reading print material became more difficult, his career path took a big shift. In the early 2000’s, David held several positions at BALANCE for Blind Adults, a non profit organization for people who are blind or have low vision. Those roles included, Volunteer Coordinator, IT Support, and Access Technology Instructor. Currently, he works as an Accessibility Analyst for the National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS), primarily, testing websites, applications, and reading systems re their accessibiltly for low vision readers. In his words, “Low vision can be difficult to understand because each individual’s perception dictates how and what they see, and as a result, what reading barriers they face.” David is grateful to have the opportunity to contribute to the understanding of how people with low vision can better access information.
David Stinson, Canadian National Institute for the Blind
David Stinson (he/him) is an Audio Engineer, Writer, Producer, and Musician. After graduating College he began his career as an assistant then recording engineer working with a multitude of acts before fame came calling for them (KD Lang, Jane Siberry)! Creating and collaborating with artists across the musical spectrum David transitioned from small independent music to major label artists at Sounds Interchange now Technicolor Toronto. David soon found the need to find new challenges moving to Film and Television Post as a dialogue recordist for cartoons and foley mixer for television drama. But the siren song of commerce was loud and he moved to commercial work and eventually Broadcast television. There he won several Promax, BDA and New York Festival awards for both Sound Design and Writing. After 20 years of Broadcast television as a Post Audio Supervisor (successfully launching brands like HGTV, Showcase and Food Network to the Canadian market) David sought new creative vistas. He has now redefined himself joining CNIB as the Studio Supervisor for Audio Publishing. David still mixes, edits and produces (he is in post-production on the comedy Podcast Human-B-Gon) as well other freelance voice direction and production gigs. Proud father of two and occasional amateur puppeteer David continues to search for creative collaborations to bring new voices to the world.
David Stinson’s LinkedIn | David Stinson’s Twitter
Deborah Nelson, eBOUND
Diana Davidson, National Network for Equitable Library Service & Municipal Affairs, Province of AB
Diana Davidson (she/her) is the Director of the Public Library Services Branch, Municipal Affairs, Province of Alberta. She is a founding partner in NNELS. Davidson is proud to be involved in library accessibility work and has represented NNELS at Canada Council and Accessible Book Consortium events. In 2019, the Library Association of Alberta honoured Davidson with the “President’s Award” for improving library services for/with Indigenous communities.
Elisa Molinari, Fondazione LIA
Elisa Molinari (she/her) has been working at the Italian Publishers Association since 2011, taking part at national and EU projects devoted to digital publishing as TISP – Technology Innovation for Smart Publishing and Aldus – The European Bookfairs network. Since 2013 she has been working with Fondazione LIA where she is responsible of events, training activities and projects aimed at spreading the culture of accessibility.
Elizabeth Kraler, eBOUND Canada
Elizabeth Kraler (she/her) is the Digital Services Specialist at eBOUND Canada where she works on various projects ranging from large-scale conversion projects to the Benetech certification pilot project to overseeing sales of Canadian content to libraries.
Emily Willan, Brampton Library and Humber College
Emily Willan (she/her) is a writing, editing, and media professional who is passionate about making the world a more accessible place, and brings her lived experience of disability to all she does. She works as the Marketing and Communications Assistant at Brampton Library where she pesters anyone she can corner about how the library can be more accessible. She also works at Humber College as an assistant on the Making Accessible Media project for the Creative Book Publishing program. She is always seeking opportunities to leverage her skills and experience to better serve her community. When she isn’t working under the careful supervision of her dog, you’ll find her drinking her weight in tea and helplessly adding books to her already mountainous to-be-read pile.
Emma Côté, eBOUND Canada
Emma Côté (she/her) is the Publishing Tech. Specialist at eBOUND Canada, a non-profit that helps Canadian publishers increase engagement in the digital marketplace. One major part of her job is working with partners to get publishers’ books converted into fully accessible epubs.
Emma Côté’s LinkedIn | Emma Côté’s Twitter
Erin Lucas, RedShelf
Erin Lucas (she/her) is the Head of Digital Accessibility at RedShelf where she ensures our suite of digital products exceeds expectations for all customers. She also leads our Accessibility Center of Excellence and corporate Accessibility Guild – a group of talented technologists who help drive our commitment to accessibility for all in Higher Ed. One of her passions is Accessibility Evangelism, and she loves speaking to others about our commitment to “Doing Well by Doing Good” thru accessibility. Prior to RedShelf, Erin spent 20+ years in the Federal Government IT sector, including the Department of Defense, coordinating Section 508 compliance and ensuring design consistency and usability for contractor-developed government software and websites. She is a current member of the International Association of Accessibility Professionals, a certified Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Trusted Tester and is currently working towards her Certified Professional in Web Accessibility (CPWA) designation. In her spare time, Erin enjoys wildlife photography (especially shore birds and other waterfowl) and spends weekends kayaking and boating with her husband Mark and their dog Greta.
Fannie Lalonde, Canadian Heritage – Book Publishing Policy and Programs
Fannie Lalonde (she/her/elle) is the Director of Book Publishing Policy and Programs at Canadian Heritage.
Farrah Little, National Network for Equitable Library Service
Farrah Little (she/her) manages technical services, acquisitions & collections, and production of accessible audiobooks & ebooks for the NNELS digital library.
Fraser Massie, Employment and Social Development Canada
Fraser (he/him) is a policy officer at the Office for Disability Issues at Employment and Social Development Canada.
Gabrielle Maisonneuve, Association nationale des éditeurs de livres (ANEL)
Gabrielle Maisonneuve (she/her) has a librarian background but has worked with publishers for almost 4 years now. She joined ANEL’s team about 4 months ago and has had the chance to work on various projects dedicated to sensitise to public to the needs of marginalized people and to facilitate access to litteracy and information to as many of them as possible.
George Kerscher, DAISY Consortium
“Access to information is a fundamental human right.” George Kerscher Ph.D., 2003 to the United Nations.
George Kerscher (he/him) began his IT innovations in 1987 and coined the term “print disabled.” George is dedicated to developing technologies that make information not only accessible, but also fully functional in the hands of persons who are blind or who have a print disability. He believes properly designed digitally published materials and web pages can make information accessible to all people. George is an advocate for semantically rich content which can be used effectively by everybody. As Chief Innovations Officer of the DAISY Consortium, Senior Advisor, Global Literacy to Benetech, and member of Publishing Groups in the W3C, Kerscher is a recognized international leader in document access. In addition, Kerscher chairs the DAISY/NISO Standards committee, Chairs the Steering Council of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI, and also serves on the Advisory Board of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
Gregorio Pellegrino, Fondazione LIA
Italian computer engineer, Gregorio Pellegrino (he/him) has a strong knowledge in the digital publishing field, new media with particular attention to accessibility for visually impaired people. He is a consultant in these areas for publishing companies (especially regarding formats, international standards and authoring platforms). He is the Chief Accessibility Officer of Fondazione LIA where he coordinates consulting and training activities for national and international organizations who want to change their production processes in order to embrace accessibility. He is involved in international working-group devoted to accessibility of publications and standard formats.
Gregorio Pellegrino’s LinkedIn | Gregorio Pellegrino’s Twitter
Heather Davies, Annick Press
Heather Davies (she/her) has been in print production for over 30 years. In 2010, she began the new challenge of creating reflowable ebooks for Annick’s new digital department. Now she’s working on the challenge of making them fully accessible.
Holly Kent, Ontario Book Publishers Organization
Holly Kent (she/her) is the Executive Director of the Ontario Book Publishers Organization and its partner organization, the Open Book Foundation. Holly previously managed the communications and marketing for non-profits the National Reading Campaign and the Canadian Children’s Book Centre.
Holly Kent’s LinkedIn | Holly Kent’s Twitter
Ima Placencia, EC
Isadora Cal Oliveira, Bookwire Brazil
Isadora Cal (she/her) has an MA in Publishing at Oxford Brookes University and an MBA in Business Intelligence and Analytics at FIAP (São Paulo, Brazil). She has been working in the publishing industry for 10 years now, with experience in proofreading, copyediting, digital marketing, digital publishing, and more recently in data analysis. She started the Accessibility Project at Bookwire after attending her first ebookcraft in 2018.
Isadora Cal Oliveira’s LinkedIn | Isadora Cal Oliveira’s Twitter
Janis Nostbakken, BIBLIOVIDEO (Canadian Children’s Book Centre)
Janis (she/her) is a kids’ media specialist with more than three decades of experience as a strategic analyst, concept developer, interpretive planner, writer, producer and creative director. Working with a broad range of public and private sector clients exploring issues from the history of invention to the future of the planet, her forté is finding fresh ways to engage audiences and communicate messages of importance. Her experience includes: Founding Editor of Chickadee Magazine, author of several books, writer and/or producer of award-winning TV series for kids, creator/producer of multi-media learning materials, interpretive planner for museum exhibits, lecturer, syndicated newspaper columnist, book reviewer, radio/television presenter, broadcast executive. Janis is currently Director of Bibliovideo, the Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s YouTube channel – the online place to be for readers, librarians, teachers, parents, authors, illustrators, researchers, and anyone who wants to discover great Canadian books for young people. Coming soon to the Channel: a playlist of videos exploring accessible books for kids.
Jean-François Cusson, Bibliopresto
Jean-François (he/him) is the Director of Bibliopresto, a non-profit organization that supports libraries by providing digital tools and services. In this capacity, he manages the Pretnumerique.ca service, used by the majority of Quebec libraries to lend ebooks and audiobooks to their patrons, as well as the Biblius project, the Quebec Ministry of Education’s ebook lending platform, deployed in all the public schools of the province.
Jean-François Cusson’s LinkedIn
Jennifer Weldon, CAPER-BC/Langara College
Jennifer (she/her) is the Accessibility Librarian at CAPER-BC. CAPER-BC provides accessible learning and teaching materials to students and instructors at post-secondary institutions in British Columbia who cannot use conventional print because of disabilities. Jennifer is responsible for outreach activities, providing accessibility training to faculty at post-secondary institutions, and for overseeing special projects. Jennifer received her MLIS from Dalhousie University, and has previously worked on web accessibility initiatives at the Langara College Library.
Jens Troeger, Bookalope
Jens (he/him) received his MS and PhD in computer science, and has spent nearly thirty years in software research and development. His love of books, design, and typography motivated him to combine professional skills and passion when he founded Bookalope — an online service that provides tools for publishers to analyze, structure, and convert books to e.g. create accessible ebooks efficiently and easily.
Jens Troeger’s LinkedIn | Jens Troeger’s Twitter
Jessica Albert, ECW Press
Jessica (she/her) is the Digital and Art Director at ECW Press where she works on ebooks, accessibility, audiobooks, book covers, and metadata. Since 2018, Jessica has been working to overhaul the digital production and metadata systems at ECW to apply accessibility standards to their ebooks and hands-on, flexible control to their communication through metadata.
Jillian Bell, SaskBooks (Saskatchewan Publishers Group)
Jillian (she/her) is a writer and freelance editor who has been working in the publishing industry since 2001.
Jillian Sloane, Simon Fraser University
Jillian Sloane (she/her) is in the final semester of her bachelor’s degree with a Publishing minor at Simon Fraser University, and hopefully, if accepted, will be starting the Masters of publishing at SFU in September. She is fully blind, and accessible publishing is very important to her both as a student and user of accessible reading platforms, but possibly as a future career in the Canadian publishing industry.
Joan McGouran, Canadian National Institute for the Blind Beyond Print
Joan McGouran (she/her) is the Manager, ePub and Braille Publishing for CNIB Beyond Print where she works to continue the mission of bringing equitable and accessible materials to readers with print disabilities. With a background in markup language, she is especially interested in the nuts and bolts of the creation process, with a focus on text and braille outputs.
John Ylioja, National Network for Equitable Library Service
John (he/him) is an accessibility analyst with the National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS). He is especially interested in the accessibility of ebooks and audiobooks with screen readers, reading applications and specialized reading devices.
Ka Li, National Network for Equitable Library Service
Ka (he/him) is an accessibility consultant in the area of digital access. He works with a variety of organizations to make sure that their products and services provide an outstanding experience for everyone that goes beyond compliance. He is particularly passionate about making STEAM more accessible to the blind and has expertise in producing tactile and auditory graphics. When he is not working, he enjoys reading good books.
Ka Li’s LinkedIn | Ka Li’s Twitter
Karla Currie, Employment and Social Development Canada
Kate Edwards, Association of Canadian Publishers
Kate Edwards (she/her) is Executive Director at the Association of Canadian Publishers (ACP), the national voice of Canada’s independent English-language book publishers. In her role, Kate leads ACP’s government relations and advocacy program, and oversees the association’s communications, professional development, and marketing initiatives.
Kate Edwards’s LinkedIn | Kate Edwards’s Twitter
Katrina Petrik, UBC Press
Katrina Petrik (she/her/hers) is a production editor at UBC Press. She is a member of the press’s accessibility committee and is working on making the press’s books accessible to the broadest possible audience.
Kay Rollans, Book Publishers’ Association of Alberta
Kay Rollans (she/her) has been working on the Book Publishers Association of Alberta’s Accessible Digital Publishing Initiative since 2020, and is interested in increasing accessibility literacy in among independent publishers across Canada. Kay also works as a freelance copyeditor, specializing in educational and academic books in the humanities and social sciences.
Kieran Leblanc, Book Publishers Association of Alberta
Kieran Leblanc (she/her) is executive director of the Book Publishers Association of Alberta, an industry association that supports the work of 30 Alberta book publishers, including advocacy, professional development, collective marketing, industry development and an awards program. She is a founding member of the Alberta Partners for Arts and Culture, board member with the Book and Periodical Council and a committee member with the Cultural Connections Institute – Learning Exchange. Her past board involvement includes Shadow Theatre, the Forum for Young Albertans, Edmonton West Rotary Club, and past chairperson of the Professional Arts Coalition of Edmonton.
Kim Johnson, Government of Alberta
Kim Johnson (she/her) is a Library Network Advisor with the Public Library Services Branch, Government of Alberta. Kim supports public libraries in providing accessible library service.
Lars Wallin, Colibrio Software AB
Lars Wallin (he/him) is working to develop technologies to help organisations build standards based, accessible and sustainable reading experiences.
Lars Wallin’s LinkedIn | Lars Wallin’s Twitter
Laura Brady, Legible Media
Laura Brady (she/her) brings a decade’s experience in digital publishing, and even more in trade publishing across Canada. She is into ebooks, accessibility, dogs, and baseball. Laura is on the board of eBound Canada, and the Accessible Books Consortium. In her spare time, she helps plan ebookcraft and follows the Blue Jays.
Laura Brady’s LinkedIn | Laura Brady’s Twitter
Laurent Le Meur, EDRLab
Laurent (he/him) is CTO of the European Digital Reading Lab (EDRLab), which is leading open developments for the digital publishing industry in Europe; he is also the current president of the Readium Foundation, a community effort on open-source reading engines. He was previously project director and R&D manager in different organizations (Universciné, Allociné, AFP).
Laurie Davidson, Centre for Equitable Library Access
Laurie Davidson (she/her) is the Executive Director of CELA (Centre for Equitable Library Access) and is passionate about building an accessible and equitable reading landscape for all. She has more than 20 years of experience working as a librarian and technologist in a variety of settings. She has worked in non-profits, library consortia, academic and public libraries, and the library technology industry and is interested in the intersection of systems and people, and how best to support collaboration and cooperation across organizations.
Leigh Nash, Invisible Publishing
Leigh Nash (she/her) is the head book maker at Invisible Publishing, a small, scrappy publisher of seriously good fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. She’s been making both print and ebooks for over a decade, and her past experience includes jack-of-all-trades-ing it at Coach House Books and co-founding the editorial firm Re:word Communications. She has an MFA in creative writing from the University of Guelph, and is the author of the poetry collection Goodbye Ukulele.
Leigh Nash’s LinkedIn | Leigh Nash’s Twitter
Lindsay Tyler, Centre for Equitable Library Access
Lindsay Tyler (she/her) is a librarian and has worked in accessible library services for 15 years. She is interested in how we make reading and public library services truly accessible for the full range of readers, especially those living with print disabilities. Je suis bibliothécaire et j’ai travaillé dans le milieu de services de bibliothèque et accessibilité depuis 15 ans. Je m’intéresse à l’accessibilité de la lecture et des bibliothèques dans tous les sens du mot, mais surtout pour les lecteurs qui ont de la difficulté à lire les imprimés.
Lindsey Hunnewell, Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Lindsey (she/her) has been obsessed with books since she was a young girl growing up in New Brunswick. She holds a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of King’s College and has worked as a writer, editor, and production assistant for television news and magazines. For four years, she oversaw production and creation of Nimbus Publishing’s ebook and audiobook programs as their Digital Assets Manager. Currently, she is the Wilfrid Laurier University Press Production Coordinator and the project lead for developing in-house accessible ebook and audiobook strategies at the Press. In her spare time, you can usually find her at the curling rink or on the dance floor at a swing dance event.
Mariane Chiasson, Association nationale des éditeurs de livres
Mariane Chiasson (she/her) has a bachelor in communications and is completing a post graduate degree in digital marketing. She has a strong interest for the use of digital media in arts and culture. She has worked for the Association nationale des éditeurs de livres (ANEL) for 3 years as a project manager for its innovation and technology committee and its audio book committee.
Marianna Schultz, Association of Book Publishers of British Columbia
Marie Felton, Legible Media
Marie Felton (she/they) is a Software developer working in the web accessibility space.
Meagan Dyer, UBC Press
Meagan (she/her) is a Production Editor at UBC Press. She is a member of the Press’s Accessibility Committee, the Association of University Presses Digital Publishing Committee, and shares responsibility for overseeing the production and quality assurance of new ebook files. Along with other UBC Press staff, she is working to have all new ebooks produced born-accessible this year.
Megan Toye, Centre for Equitable Library Access
Megan (she/her) is a Librarian and Metadata Specialist primarily working with non-profits, public libraries and arts organizations to organize and structure digital content. She currently works for the Centre for Equitable Library Access as the Metadata Coordinator, managing the technical systems and cataloging workflows. She has a Master’s of Information Studies and a Master’s in Art History, both from McGill University, where her research focused on accessible and equitable practices in metadata creation, information architecture, and digital culture. She has held positions in metadata management for the past three years, and is passionate about building equity into metadata practices.
Mélanie Dumas, Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec
Mélanie (she/her) est directrice de la Collection universelle de Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec. Elle est responsable du développement de la collection et de la production des documents pour le Service québécois du livre adapté.
Mélissa Castilloux, National Network for Equitable LIbrary Service
Melissa Castilloux (she/her) is currently working as an Accessibility consultant for the National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS). She is a master’s candidate in political science with the specialization in gender studies at l’Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM). She is a member of the Regroupement Stratégique des Chercheur-es en Études Féministes (RéQEF), the Collectif de Recherche Action Politique et Démocratie (CAPED) and the Groupe de recherche en études féministes en science politique (GREF).
As an academic with dyslexia and dysorthographia, she is well aware of the importance of accessible publications and e-reader technologies towards a more inclusive way to share stories and knowledge.
Melissa Haquenne, De Marque
Melissa Haquenne (she/her/hers) has worked for 8 years in the digital publishing industry, first in Belgium and now in Canada. Her areas of expertise are ebook production and distribution, with an emphasis on accessibility and metadata. At De Marque, she oversees products and services aimed at publishers (ebook production, distribution, direct sales, etc.).
Michelle Peters, Association of Manitoba Book Publishers
Monica Halil Lövblad, World Intellectual Property Organization, Accessible Books Consortium
Monica Halil Lövblad (she/her), Head, Accessible Books Consortium (ABC). ABC is a public-private partnership led by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a United Nations specialized agency located in Geneva, Switzerland. ABC was set up to implement the objectives of the Marrakesh Treaty to benefit people who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print disabled. Ms. Halil Lövblad is a Canadian lawyer, with over 20 years experience in establishing and managing innovative and complex international humanitarian projects at WIPO, as well as the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC). She obtained her M.A. and LL.B. from Dalhousie University and her B.A. from the University of Toronto. She is licensed to practice law in the Province of Ontario.
Monique Mongeon, BookNet Canada / Chang School
Monique Mongeon (she/her) is the Project Manager of SalesData and LibraryData at BookNet Canada and the instructor of Digital Publishing and Production at Ryerson University’s Chang School.
Monique Mongeon’s LinkedIn | Monique Mongeon’s Twitter
Mounir Khoury, Canadian Heritage
Mounir (he/him/his) is a senior policy analyst on the Book Policy and Programs team within Canadian Heritage. His main focus is on accessibility, as well as issues affecting Indigenous, Black, and other racialized communities within the book industry.
Nellie McKesson, Hederis
Nellie (she/her) has over 15 years of experience in publishing. She spent the early years of her career doing hands-on book production and layout, and then moved into more technical and managerial roles. She was an early evangelist for using web technologies in the book production process, and has spoken at many conferences about building automated book production tools. Currently, Nellie is an adjunct professor at Pace University focusing on ebooks, the CEO for Hederis (an online tool that uses automation to create print and accessible ebook layouts simultaneously), and a consultant for publishing automation and workflows.
Nicolas Boudreault, Copibec
Nicole Lambe, House of Anansi Press
Paula Bruce, eBOUND Canada
Pikiora Wylie, National Network for Equitable Library Service
Pikiora Wylie (she/her) Is the Public Services Librarian at NNELS, her focus is on connecting people with the books they want in the format that suits them. She loves helping people and is a always looking for new and interesting ways to deliver fantastic service.
Rachel Comerford, Macmillan Learning
Rachel Comerford (she/her) is the Senior Director of Accessibility Outreach and Communication at Macmillan Learning where she leads cross-functional efforts to ensure students of all abilities have access to their course materials. In 2020, BISG awarded Rachel the Industry Innovator award for her work helping Macmillan Learning to become the first Global Certified Accessible publisher by Benetech. Under her leadership, Macmillan was recognized by WIPO’s Accessible Book Consortium with the International Excellence Award for Accessible Publishing IN 2020 for their work towards providing educational materials that any student can use. Rachel has over a decade of experience in the print and digital publishing world. Prior to coming to Macmillan Learning as an editor, she held a variety of editorial and sales positions at WW Norton and Pearson.
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Rachel Osolen, National Network for Equitable Library Service
Rachel Osolen (she/they) is the Production Coordinator for NNELS where she runs all in-house production and training for accessible formats including EPUB, DAISY Text, and DAISY Audio. She supervises the Production Assistants, who reformat EPUBs into accessible versions for patron requests and awards programs. She also works with publishers in training and creating image descriptions and accessible documents. Rachel is proud to be part of the NNELS team, helping create an equitable future for all readers in Canada. She holds her MLIS from UAlberta, and is also a freelance writer who specializes in Folklore, Supernatural, Death Studies, and the macabre.
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Riane Lapaire, National Network for Equitable Library Service
Riane Lapaire (she/her) is the Braille and Accessibility Testing Coordinator for the National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS). With over a decade of working in alternate format materials and accessibility, her current passion is finding ways to increase timely access to quality braille and tactile graphics for readers. In her spare time, Riane enjoys reading, gardening, and playing music.
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Rina Hadziev, BC Library Association
Rina Hadziev (she/her) is the Executive Director of the British Columbia Library Association. Rina has 20 years of experience in public library leadership with a focus on collections, including serving as the temporary Executive Director of CELA, the Centre for Equitable Library Access for one year in 2019/20. Rina reads in multiple formats – digital, paper, and audio CD – and is passionate about advocating for improved access to digital content for libraries and their patrons, and leveraging the opportunities for improving accessibility in libraries through combining technological innovation and increased awareness of and commitment to equitable access.
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Robert Gordon, Canadian National Institute for the Blind/ Beyond Print
Robert (he/him) is CNIB/Beyond Print’s Senior Manager of Audio Publishing and Business Development. CNIB’s Audio Publishing department has been recording audiobooks for Canadians living with vision loss since the 1950s, first distributed as vinyl, then on reel-to-reel & cassette, through to its embrace of the digital DAISY audio format in 2002. It is the hope of CNIB/Beyond Print that mainstream publishers and educators adopt accessible design features that will improve the experience of readers with and without print-disabilities, just as accessible design has influenced the architecture of buildings and public spaces.
Sarah Felkar, West Vancouver Memorial Library
Sarah (she/her) is the Assistant Director at the West Vancouver Memorial Library in British Columbia. She has worked with ebooks, digital literacy and the public library community in a wide variety of roles since 2011.
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Sarah Hilderley, The DAISY Consortium
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Sarah Mayes, Canadian Heritage
Sébastien Nadeau, Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec
Shane Silver, Canadian National Institute for the Blind
As Vice President, CNIB Social Enterprises and Partnerships, Shane (he/him) is responsible for the strategic direction of CNIB’s Beyond Print division which creates accessible formats of books and magazines for people with a print disability. Shane is part of the CNIB leadership team where he leverages past experience from both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations.
Sharon Day, Edmonton Public Library
Sharon Day (she/her) has over 15 years providing library leadership and support in the provision of public service. Sharon’s current position is Director of Branch Services and Collections at Edmonton Public Library, where she has extensive experience in the oversight and direction for the selection, delivery and circulation of all physical and digital library collections.
Simon Jaeger, National Network for Equitable Library Service
Simon (he/him) is a totally blind accessibility enthusiast, bookworm, animal lover, tech collector, coffee addict, and occasional musician from Vancouver Island. After spending several years as the local assistive tech trainer, he began working as an accessibility tester with NNELS in early 2019.
Sofia Bautista, Legible
Sofia Bautista (she/her) is a product leader passionate about making compelling digital content accessible for the masses and inspiring teams to deliver well-documented products and services with usability in mind. She currently works at Legible as a Senior Group Product Manager for Platform Experience, where she manages a portfolio of shared systems and services, such as metadata processing pipelines, search & recommendation services, internal publishing tools, and most importantly Legible’s reading system, Folio. Previously, Sofia led design and customer success teams at Evident Point Software (now part of PressReader), where she worked on educational technology projects and creating reading systems for textbooks. She also holds a BSc in Interactive Arts & Technology and Communications from Simon Fraser University and a Masters in Management from University of Illinois.
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Suzanne Norman, Simon Fraser University
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Victoria Owen, Univeristy of Toronto
Victoria Owen’s (she/her) role as Information Policy Scholar-Practitioner in the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto positions her within the academic and experiential programs to contribute to the practice, principles, and scholarship of information policy. Her particular focus encompasses copyright, access, preservation, and the public interest. Her background is in library administration at the University of Toronto, and in special and public libraries, including the CNIB Library for the Blind. Victoria holds a Master’s in Library Science and a Master’s in Law, specializing in intellectual property. She is the chair of the Canadian Federation of Library Association’s Copyright Committee, on the board of the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Accessible Book Consortium, Chair of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) Advisory Committee on Standards, and a member of OLA’s Copyright Users Group. She is currently a Visiting Program Officer with the Association of Research Libraries and the Canadian Association of Research Libraries, and chairs the ARL-CARL Joint Task Force on the Marrakesh Treaty Implementation.
Wendy Reid, Rakuten Kobo
Wendy Reid (she/her) is the Accessibility and Publishing Standards Lead at Rakuten Kobo, responsible for accessibility across all digital products and Kobo’s standards participation. In addition, she is the chair of the EPUB3 Working Group and Audiobooks Working Group at the W3C.
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William Freeman, American Printing House for the Blind
William Freeman (he/him) is the Tactile Technology Product Manager at the American Printing House for the Blind. He comes to this position as a certified braille transcriber and former quality assurance tester with a focus in braille, technology, and project management. He is passionate about literacy in all forms and believes that no one should be deprived of reading materials in the medium that they prefer. He is a graduate of Berea College with a degree in English Writing. He currently lives in Louisville, Kentucky with his wife and dogs and spends his time hiking, writing, and complaining about user interfaces.
Ysabella Maglanque, Literary Press Group of Canada
Ysabella Maglanque (she/her) is a graduate from the Book and Media Studies from the University of Toronto and the Creative Book Publishing program of Humber College. She currently works as LPG’s Accessible Digital Books Coordinator.