Fondazione LIA’s APACE analysis reports that fewer than four in 10 European publishers are now producing accessible ebooks yet, with the European Accessibility Act scheduled to go into force in June. Image – Getty: Giulio Fornassar
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
Innocenzo: ‘To Share and Capitalize on Our Expertise’
As Publishing Perspectives readers know, the Milan-based nonprofit organization Fondazione LIA—which reached its 10th anniversary in May—promotes and enables a culture of accessibility for print-impaired readers in the international book publishing sphere.
Today (October 2), the program has announced a new element of its leadership in the field: Its new project, APACE, has revealed that although more than seven out of 10 European publishers say they’re aware of the forthcoming requirements of the European Accessibility Act, fewer than four of 10 publishers are producing accessible ebooks yet. And the clock is ticking.
The EU’s Accessibility Act goes into force on June 28 of next year, 2025, and yet APACE is revealing that only 37.4 percent of Europe’s publishing houses have made the investments required to move into compliance—and a similar percentage say they expect to take that step by the end of 2024.
The APACE survey clearly highlights a strong interest in specialized accessibility training covering various aspects: from producing accessible ebooks to providing alternative descriptions for images and creating accessibility metadata. However, 93.1 percent reported not having access to or being aware of public funding, either national or European, to support the necessary investments or initiate training projects in this area.
On October 16, at 1 p.m. at Frankfurter Buchmesse, Publishing Perspectives will moderate The Accessibility Era: Are You Ready For It?, a special session on the issue, which now is becoming time-critical. The program will feature:
- Elisa Molinari of Fondazione LIA and APACE
- Simon Holt of Elsevier UK
- Alessandra Porcelli of Mondadori Education
Attendees will be presented with both the revelations of the new APACE data and an understanding of what’s necessary to meet the European Accessibility Act’s deadline in June.
Mussinelli: ‘Only Through a Joint Effort Can We Be Ready’
In a presentation of APACE’s data, several telling data points will come quickly to light:
- The vast majority of European publishing houses surveyed and affected by the directive—94 percent of those with revenues over €10 million and 83 percent of those with revenues between €2 million and €10 million—is aware that the European Accessibility Act will impact their activities.
Overall, 70.5 percent of the publishing houses surveyed are aware that the European Accessibility Act will impact their activities: however, only 37.4 percent is already producing accessible ebooks, with a similar percentage planning to start by the end of 2024.- Significantly, 52 percent of micro-enterprises—publishers with revenues under €2 million and fewer than 10 employees—are aware of the regulation’s impact, even though they will not be bound by the regulatory requirements. This highlights the sector’s strong social awareness.
- Furthermore, about 30 percent of the microenterprises that publish ebooks already have accessible titles in their catalogs.
- Complying with the Accessibility Act’s requirements involves significant investments, because it’s necessary to adapt existing production and distribution processes and acquire new skills in accessibility.
However, an estimate of the actual economic impact is difficult to make. Some 62.4 of the publishers surveyed reported that they have not yet allocated a specific part of their budget to meet the directive’s requirements, although 17.3 percent say they plan to do so by January 1.
Levi: ‘A Lack of Public Policies Supporting Private Efforts’
APACE’s new view into the actual state of readiness for the European Accessibility Act in Europe, in other words, shows that there’s a great deal to be done—in a quickly dwindling period of time.
Ricardo Franco Levi
“So far,” says Ricardo Franco Levi, president of the Federation of European Publishers, “innovation to ensure the accessibility of ebooks has been entirely entrusted to the social responsibility and sensitivity of European publishers.
“The APACE survey shows that publishers are responding admirably, but it also highlights the lack of public policies to support the private sector’s efforts.
“I hope these findings will spur policy changes both in EU member states and the union itself, given the ambitious goals of the European Accessibility Act.”
The goal of APACE is to understand emerging challenges in complying with the European Accessibility Directive and identify the training needs required. Clearly, this first tranche of data makes it clear that much remains to be done.
Cristina Mussinelli
“This survey highlights the growing commitment of the European publishing sector toward accessibility, ” says Fondazione LIA secretary-general Cristina Mussinelli. “But it also underscores the need for continuous training, collaboration between countries and stakeholders, and the role of the European Union in supporting change.
“Many challenges remain for the sector, such as the availability of efficient software for producing accessible versions, as the current options are not fully adequate.
“Only through a joint effort can we be ready by June 2025 and, more importantly, ensure truly accessible publications for all.”
Innocenzo Cipolletta
And Innocenzo Cipolletta, president of the Association of Italian Publishers (Associazione Italiana Editori, AIE)—this year at Frankfurt driving the sprawling Guest of Honor Italy program—says, “The work done by AIE and Italian publishers, in constant collaboration with the Italian Union of the Blind, since 2014, with the creation of Fondazione LIA, has enabled our country to develop a model of excellence recognized internationally, which anticipated the European Accessibility Act’s requirements for accessible content and digital publications.
“However, it is crucial that all other players in the supply chain, such as online bookstores, platforms, and aggregators, also adapt.
“APACE is a further support and acceleration in this direction, and this survey is the necessary starting point to share and capitalize on our expertise across Europe.”
The APACE partners include:
- Fondazione LIA (project coordinator)
- The Italian Publishers Association (AIE)
- The Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels
- Sdruzhenie Asostsiatsia Blagarska Kniga, the Bulgarian Book Association (ABK)
- Stichting Dedicon
- Accessibility Library Celia
- Lietuvos audiosensorine biblioteka, Lithuanian Audiosensory Library (LAB)
Acronyms and Urgency
The Apace Consortium includes Fondazione LIA; the Italian Publishers Association; the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels; the Bulgarian Book Association; the Accessibility Library CELIA; Dedicon; and the Lithuanian Audiosensory Library
The LIA Foundation takes its name from Libri Italiana Accessibiliti (Accessible Italian Books), and was started in 2011 as an attempt supported by the Association of Italian Publishers (AIE) to catalogue accessible Italian books.
So broad has the reach and influence of Fondazione LIA become as a central driver of accessible publishing in world publishing markets that it’s LIA that has led the APACE project to determine just where the challenge of accessible publishing in Europe stands ahead of the new Accessibility Act’s deadline.
APACE, for Accelerating Publishing Accessibility through Collaboration in Europe, is co-financed by the European Commission as part of the Creative Europe program, its mission being to survey and discern the state of the art as what is arguably history’s largest mandate for accessible publishing rolls onto the field, empowered by the European Directive on accessibility requirements for products and services.
APACE makes its assessments through analysis of accessibility practices adopted by European publishers in fiction, nonfiction, academic, professional, and educational publishing, in 17 nations: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
The goal is to understand emerging challenges in complying with the European Accessibility Directive and identify the training needs required. The full report from the APACE project is here.
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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