The call for nominations has been announced for the WIPO Accessible Books Consortium International Excellence Award 2023

The award recognizes exceptional leadership and progress in enhancing the accessibility of commercial e-books and digital publications for individuals who are visually impaired, blind, or have other print disabilities.

on Aug 03, 2023

The call for nominations has been announced for the WIPO Accessible Books Consortium International Excellence Award 2023

Nominate a publisher or project initiative for the ABC International Excellence Award for Accessible Publishing. This award recognizes exceptional leadership and progress in enhancing the accessibility of commercial e-books and digital publications for individuals who are visually impaired, blind, or have other print disabilities. The winners will be announced during a ceremony on October 30, 2023, at the Publishers Conference in Sharjah, UAE, preceding the Sharjah International Book Fair. The ABC International Excellence Award was previously presented at the London Book Fair from 2015 to 2020, at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2021, and at the Guadalajara International Book Fair in 2022.

The publisher category of the ABC awards has seen remarkable winners such as Kogan Page in 2022, Taylor & Francis Group in 2021, Macmillan Learning in 2020, EDITORIAL 5 in 2019, Hachette Livre in 2018, SAGE Publishing in 2017, Elsevier in 2016, and Cambridge University Press in 2015. Similarly, the project initiative category has recognized exceptional individuals and organizations, including Mr. Ashoka Bandula Weerawardhana in 2022, the National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS) in Canada in 2021, LIA Foundation in Italy in 2020, ekitabu in Kenya in 2019, Daisy Forum of India in 2018, Tiflonexos in Argentina in 2017, Action on Disability Rights and Development in Nepal in 2016, and Young Power in Social Action in Bangladesh in 2015.

To determine the winners, the selection panel, comprising experts in accessibility, will evaluate nominees based on certain criteria. These criteria include a commitment to making content available in accessible formats, accessibility standards built into production systems to ensure books are accessible upon or close to publication, collaboration with partners in the supply chain to maintain accessibility for print-disabled end-users, innovative practices established to advance the accessibility of e-books and digital publications, and a widespread positive impact on persons who are blind, visually impaired, or otherwise print-disabled.

ABC encourages nominations from companies, organizations, or individuals based in developing or least-developed countries.