UBC Press achieves global accessibility certification
June 3, 2022
In the 50 years since UBC Press first launched, the publishing landscape has changed immensely. Print books have been joined by audiobooks and e-books as the expected offerings from a modern publisher.
E-book technology itself is rapidly evolving. Earlier generations of e-books posed significant barriers to accessibility, limiting how a reader could navigate through the book or display the text on a screen. Recent developments in e-book production give readers flexibility, allowing them to access the content the way that suits their needs – for example, by enlarging the font, or jumping to the next chapter using voice commands, or reading the book in the reading system of their choice.
Publishers are beginning to remove those barriers to provide e-books that are truly accessible. UBC Press is one of the first publishing houses in Canada to achieve certification as a Benetech Global Certified Accessible™ publisher. Benetech, a nonprofit that empowers communities with software for social good, issues this accreditation to those publishers who produce e-books (in EPUB format) that meet a full range of accessibility features required to support the needs of all readers, including those with disabilities and learning differences. UBC Press completed certification through eBOUND Canada, a not-for-profit that enables independent Canadian publishers to engage in the digital marketplace.
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