
What is inclusive publishing and accessible publishing? Yesterday, the Library was visited by dozens of Lithuanian publishers, publishing lecturers and students who are interested in this topic.
Inclusive publishing is a branch of publishing in which publishers themselves strive to make their publications accessible to all readers, regardless of how they read (for example, through screen reading software). Why is this particularly important today?
- Because from June 2025, the Accessibility Requirements Legal Act will come into force, in line with EU legislation;
- Because accessibility = quality for all readers. In an accessible publication, you can enlarge the typeface, change the contrast, and navigate the publication easily (active content, footnotes, links). It can also be made accessible using speech synthesis or read by a narrator, in which case it has text and voice synchronisation.
- Because at least 10% of the country's population cannot read conventional paper books due to visual impairment, various physical conditions or dyslexia. For another 10%, due to visual impairment, a digital book would provide a more comfortable reading experience.
Foreign studies show that people who cannot read are usually particularly active users when given the opportunity to read. According to Italian data, people who cannot read normally read three times more books! In Canada, around 53% of those who cannot read in a standard way read 4 or more books per month.
We hope that the number of accessible publications will only increase! LAB is developing a training programme to this end, and will invite publishers in spring 2024. Follow the news on our social networks and itraukiojileidyba.lt