At Fiesole’s Villa la Torrossa, the site of the Fondazione LIA / APACE European Accessibility Summer School this month. Image: Villa la Torrossa
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
The European Accessibility Act Comes Into Force June 28
As many publishers get ready for one of the newest obligations in Europe, the 10-year-old Fondazione LIA and its APACE project are headed for one of the oldest parts of Tuscany to welcome it in. As you may recall, APACE stands for Accelerating Publishing Accessibility Through Collaboration in Europe.
As many Publishing Perspectives readers know, the European Accessibility Act is to come into force on June 28, at which time various points of ebooks’ accessibility will be required of those taking them to market. And on June 26 and 27, an “European Accessibility Summer School” will be presented by LIA and APACE in Fiesole, just above Firenze at the Villa La Torrossa to do three things:
- “Explore key aspects of accessibility in publishing, working alongside all players in the accessibility value chain;
- “Participate in hands-on sessions and collaborative discussions with peers; and
- “Engage in practical learning experiences designed to foster innovation and real-world impact.”
Cristina Mussinelli
The moment, on the eve of the Accessibility Act coming into force, will give publishing professionals, accessibility experts, and major stakeholders a chance to learn, discuss, and develop their paths forward under the new constraints. (While registration for the program is very high, it may be worth checking to see if a seat is left, organizers say, should you be interested, at apace@fondazionelia.org.)
And the Fondazione LIA, led by secretary general Cristina Mussinelli with APACE project manager Elisa Molinari, they have devised the “summer school” as a chance not only for professional publishing players to work their way through the requirements of the new act but also to bring their own “accessibility pains” to the program.
Elisa Molinari
In those cases, they’ll be going over and analyzing issues they may be having about such points as accessible contents, image descriptions, displaying accessibility metadata, and needed investments.
“An accessible ebook”, the pre-event information reads, “is an ebook whose content can be adapted to different reading needs, also using the assistive technologies used by blind and visually impaired people.” And in its decade of operation, Fondazione LIA has become well known in the accessibility community for its growing catalogue of more than 24,000 accessible ebooks for Italian readers who are blind and visually impaired—one of the best-known such efforts in Europe.
At Fiesole’s Villa la Torrossa, the site of the Fondazione LIA / APACE European Accessibility Summer School this month. Image: Villa la Torrossa
Accessibility Summer School Programming, Day One
9 a.m. Registration and Welcome
- Georg Hauesler, director for culture in creativity and sport with the European Commission, Creativity and Sport in the European Commission (DG EAC)
- Elisa Molinari, project manager APACE
Round table: The European Accessibility Act Is Here. Now what?
- Inmaculada Placencia Porrero, senior expert in disability and inclusion at directorate-general employment in social affairs and inclusion at the European Commission (a video presentation)
- Cristina Mussinelli, secretary general with Fondazione LIA
- Kristina Kramer, deputy director for European and international affairs with the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels
- Moderation: Publishing Perspectives
10:45 to 11:30 a.m. Networking Break
Round table: Beyond Compliance and Checklists: How To Build a Culture of Accessibility
- Alessandra Porcelli, strategic publishing consultant and learning consultant Mondadori Education’s accessibility PMO
- Stacy Scott, head of accessibility with Taylor & Francis
- Tobias Giversen, digital project manager with Politikens
- Moderation: Publishing Perspectives
Fireside Chat: Accessibility Standards
- Gregorio Pellegrino, chief accessibility officer with Fondazione LIA
1 to 2:30 p.m. Lunch
Round table: European Publishers and Their Roadmap Towards Accessibility
- Leena Rautjärvi, Helsinki University Press
- Miia Kirsi, accessibility specialist, Celia
- Alisa Žarkova, head of the publishing department, Lithuanian Audiosensory Library
- Moderation: Publishing Perspectives
Pitch Your ‘Accessibility Pain’
“Wrestling with a tricky accessibility issue? Bring your real-world questions, challenges, and sticking points. We’ll tackle them together, breaking down the toughest problems and tapping into the collective experience of peers and experts.”
- Pitch your “accessibility pain” about production of accessible contents
- Pitch your “accessibility pain” about image description
4:15 to 5 p.m. Networking Break
At Fiesole’s Villa la Torrossa, the site of the Fondazione LIA / APACE European Accessibility Summer School this month. Image: Villa la Torrossa
Accessibility Summer School Programming, Day Two
9. a.m. Recap of Day One
Keynote Speech on Accessibility Metadata
- Chris Saynor, standards editor with EDItEUR
Round table: Mainstreaming Accessible Distribution
- Nina Rubach, senior platform product manager with Bookwire
- Virginie Bouilhac, director of content management with Rakuten Kobo
- Dani Molina, operation and support specialist with De Marque
- Bruna Benvegnù, senior product manager on books publishers’ experience at Amazon
- Moderation: Publishing Perspectives
11 to 11:30 Networking Break
Fireside chat: Accessible Ebooks at Readers’ Fingertips. How Do Accessible Ebooks Reach Readers?
- Gautier Chomel, project manager with the European Digital Reading Lab
Round table: Libraries: Where Accessibility Happens
- Francesco Pandini, project manager with MediaLibraryOnLine
- Luisa Gaggini, head of e-content and partner relations, with Casalini Libri
- Moderation: Publishing Perspectives
1 to 2:30 p.m. Lunch
Round table: Accessible Platforms and Where To Find Them
- Paolo Casarini, IT director with Il Mulino
- Paolo Pancaldi, head of software developers with Il Mulino
- Francesca Avanzini, digital project manager with Sanoma Italia
- Moderation: Publishing Perspectives
Pitch Your ‘Accessibility Pain’
- Pitch your “accessibility pain” about how to assure the quality of your production and distribution flows: Quality Assurance, tools, display of accessibility metadata
- Pitch your “accessibility pain” about the cost of accessibility: investments, disproportionate burden, backlist, conversion
4:15 to 5 p.m. Networking Break
At Fiesole’s Villa la Torrossa, the site of the Fondazione LIA / APACE European Accessibility Summer School this month. Image: Villa la Torrossa
The two-day program in Fiesole is organized in the framework of the APACE program, which is co-founded by the European Union.
The Apace Consortium includes Fondazione LIA; the Italian Publishers Association (AIE); the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels; the Bulgarian Book Association; CELIA, the Accessibility Library; Dedicon; and the Lithuanian Audiosensory Library
More from Publishing Perspectives on trends and issues involving accessibility in world book publishing is here, more on the Italian market is here, more on the work of Fondazione LIA is here, and more on issues and publishing in Europe is here.
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