Introduction to Born-Accessible Ebook Production
Creating born-accessible books in-house requires both a commitment to accessibility and an eagerness to learn. This brief introduction covers how to begin strategizing and planning for this goal.
Suggested Prerequisite
Before reading this, you might want to read:
Committing to Accessibility
Creating well-made, accessible ebooks from the get-go (aka “born-accessible ebooks”) rather than retro-fitting them post-production can seem a little intimidating if you haven’t done it before, but if you are committed to accessibility and are even a little bit tech-savvy — or have people on your team who are — it’s easier than you think.
A ton of technical help is available online. Check out our “Next Steps” section, which will guide you through every step of ebook production. Creating born-accessible ebooks requires more than technical knowledge, however; it also requires commitment — and maybe even some excitement.
Building accessibility into your projects as early as possible in the process is key. Identifying those steps in your current workflows will go a long way to easing the transition to accessibility.
Step-by-Step: Instructions for building an accessible workflow
- Build awareness: Start talking about accessibility with your team. It’s important for everyone involved in the book production cycle to understand what accessibility means for readers with print disabilities. Striving for born-accessible ebooks is a journey made much easier when there is a collective effort.
- Start small: You don’t need to incorporate every accessibility feature at once; start where you feel comfortable and keep building with each publication.
- Ask for assistance: Reach out to experts working on accessible publishing. Accessibility experts can support publishers by helping to solve problems that publishers may encounter in implementing changes to their workflows, answering questions and providing advice on accessibility standards, and testing accessibility features. Awareness of different reading styles and familiarity with users who access content in non-traditional ways will go a long way toward helping publishers strive to create ebooks that are accessible for everyone.
- Update your documentation: Consider updating your workflow documentation, manuscript review guidelines, and/or your layout and design instructions with steps that feature accessibility.
Accessibility is most successful when everyone in the company is involved. This short overview is intended to serve as a jumping-off point. Explore the information provided throughout this website to see what might work for you and your team, and then don’t be afraid to start asking questions. If you are visiting this site, you are probably already interested in making more accessible books — and that’s an important first step.
Next Steps
1
Preparing a Book for Conversion
Ebook Workflow Guide: In-house Production of Born-Accessible Ebooks
To prepare a book for conversion, with accessibility in mind, the steps covered in Ebook Workflow Guide: In-house Production of Born Accessible Ebooks should be followed (if you use Word and InDesign for your manuscript…
Subject(s): Ebook Production
Resource Type(s): Standards and Best Practices, Step-by-Step
2
Reviewing the Produced Ebook
Introduction to Accessible Ebook Production – Reflowable Ebooks
Reflowable books are the most flexible types of EPUB, and they can incorporate many accessibility features that all readers can benefit from and take advantage of. This brief introduction discusses the benefits of the reflowable…
Subject(s): Ebook Production
Resource Type(s): Foundations and Rationale
3
Final Quality Assurance (QA) Pass
Quality Assurance of Completed Ebooks
Once your ebook has been created, it is time to do a quality assurance check for accessibility. This resource contains both simplified and advanced checklists to help you review your ebooks.
Subject(s): Ebook Production
Resource Type(s): Checklist
External Links to More Information
Best practices for accessible workflows: An experimental project
This blog post encourages publishers to start taking steps to publish accessibly. Even small steps and changes to a workflow can have a big impact.