Welcome to a page of accessible publishing resources for publishers!
There are lots of valuable resources out there, and on this page we will share them by category:
- Best Practices / Pratiques recommandées
- Image Description / Descriptions d’images
- Audiobook Recommendations (English only)
- Working With Conversion Houses & Ebook Producers / Travailler avec des maisons de conversion et des producteurs de livres numeriques
- Working with InDesign (English only)
- Accessibility Evaluation / Évaluation de l’accessibilité
- EPUB Semantics, ARIA Roles, & Metadata / EPUB sémantique, rôles ARIA, & métadonnées
- Frequently Asked Questions (English Only)
- Videos (English only)
A note about the NNELS-produced materials: All of our documentation is written our informed by the work of our awesome team of Accessibility Testers. They have expert knowledge in the areas of accessibility testing, analysis, software development, and leadership. Our testers have lived experience with a range of print disabilities, including blindness, low vision, and learning disabilities. Their expertise brings incredible value to the work they produce, and we know that you will find it useful.
Best Practices in Accessible Publishing
- NNELS Resources:
- NNELS (May, 2023): Accessible Fonts
- NNELS (November, 2022): Common Issues found in EPUB Files – and How to Fix Them!
- NNELS (July, 2020): Best Practices for Publisher Workflows / Pratiques recommandées pour les flux de travail des éditeurs
- NNELS (June, 2019 – Updated April, 2024): Accessible Publishing Best Practices: Guidelines for Common EPUB Issues in Plain Language / Pratiques recommandées en matière de publication accessible : recommandations en langue simple pour les problèmes courants liés à EPUB
- Additional resources:
- Accessible Publishing Learning Network (Living site, regularly updated): The APLN is a trusted, Canadian-made accessibility resource specifically crafted for publishers working in the Canadian context. It is intended to help publishers in Canada create accessible content and build a community around accessible publishing knowledge and practices.
- Accessible Books Consortium (2013): Accessible Publishing Best Practice Guidelines for Publishers (available in English, French, German, Hindi, Japanese, Italian, and Spanish)
- Australian Inclusive Publishing Initiative (2019): Inclusive Publishing in Australia: An Introductory Guide
- Book Industry Study Group (2016): The BISG Quick Start Guide to Accessible Publishing
- DAISY (Living site, regularly updated): Accessible Publishing Knowledge Base
- Matt Garrish (2012): Accessible EPUB 3
Image Descriptions
- NNELS Resources:
- Additional resources:
- Cooper Hewitt: Guidelines for image description
- DIAGRAM Centre: an initiative of Benetech, has developed image description guidelines, a training tool, and more
- WEBAim: Alternative Text (geared towards content on websites but it has some great suggestions for writing concise alt-text)
Audiobook Recommendations & Resources
- NNELS Resources:
- NNELS (June, 2021): Audiobook Recommendations for Publishers
- To help get started with narrations and recording, check out NNELS’ video series, Tips and Techniques for Audio Recording and Narration.
- To learn how NNELS approaches audiobook recording, check out our guide to Recording Audiobooks
- Additional resources:
- Read the W3C’s Audiobook Specification to learn about the developing standards for audiobooks
Working With Conversion Houses & Ebook Producers
- NNELS Resources:
- NNELS (July, 2020): Accessibility Checklist for Conversion Houses & Ebook Producers / Liste de vérification pour l’accessibilité des entreprises de conversion de fichiers
- NNELS (July, 2020): Assessing the Accessibility of Conversion Houses & Ebook Producers / Communiquer avec les entreprises de conversion de fichiers
Working with InDesign
- NNELS Resources:
- NNELS (July, 2020): InDesign Guide
- NNELS (June, 2019; updated regularly): App & Scripts for EPUB Accessibility: Within this GitHub repository, you will find technological solutions for the automation of some tasks that can be used on EPUB files to improve their accessibility. These scripts can also be modified by anyone to suit specific needs.
- Additional Resources:
Accessibility Evaluation
- NNELS Resources:
EPUB Semantics, ARIA Roles, & Metadata
- NNELS Resources:
- Additional Resources:
Frequently Asked Questions
- NNELS Resources:
Videos
- NNELS Resources:
- Additional Resources:
Acknowledgements
The creation of the NNELS-produced materials on this page was made possible in part by the Government of Canada.