Creating Accessible Digital Content: Best Practices for Inclusivity

Accessibility is a noble and empowering venture that enables people of all ages, capabilities, and skill levels to participate in society. It is even more important for the publishing industry because books still remain the primary medium of learning today.

However, with the rise of digital media, the need for inclusivity in eBooks has never been so critical, ensuring everyone can utilize them, including people with disabilities. Presently, around 15% of the global population experiences some sort of disability. However, a report by APACE reveals that fewer than four in every 10 publishers produce books that are accessible.

Understanding that every individual has their own unique skills, qualities, and capabilities, it is important to create eBooks that can adapt to their reading needs flexibly. Let’s take a look at how publishers can create accessible digital content using industry-standard best practices.

Table of Contents:

I. Understanding Accessibility Standards for eBooks

1. Discoverability
2. Content Accessibility

II. How to Make eBooks Accessible: Key Best Practices

1. Incorporating Closed Captions and Transcripts
2. Navigating Content with Accessible Table of Contents and Headings
3. Optimizing eBooks for Screen Readers
4. Testing Your eBook for Accessibility

III. Benefits of Creating Accessible eBooks

1. Wider Reach
2. Better User Experience
3. Positive Brand Image
4. Enhanced Educational Impact

IV. Conclusion

DAISY Consortium determines the accessibility of eBooks in the ePUB format. The specifications prescribed by this organization define two key areas where eBooks need to be conformant for accessibility:

Discoverability specification requires that publishers include the schema.org metadata in the ePUB document. This metadata includes a list of accessibility features, the access modes of the content, any potential hazards that the content might present (like flashing visuals).

These specifications are further broken down into two parts:

• WCAG Conformance: The eBook publications are required to fulfill WCAG2.0 Level A at the minimum for accessibility.
• ePUB-Specific Conformance: The eBooks should have page boundary allocation and page navigation assistance. Additionally, there should be synchronized text-audio playback.

You can visit this DAISY Consortium page to read more about ePUB accessibility requirements in detail.

Accessibility isn’t just limited to providing text-to-audio and page navigation guides. There are several things that publishers can do to make their digital content more inclusive for their audience, including:

Closed captions and transcripts provide a text-based rendition of the audio content in an eBook. This is a necessary accessibility feature for people who require hearing assistance or cannot hear at all. It helps them follow along with the audio using closed captions or read the transcript separately to understand the information being presented.

These features also work well with videos and help people understand audio content in noisy environments or using devices without audio output.

An accessible table of contents and headings provide proper structure to a book or documents, making it easier for the readers to navigate the content. This is particularly helpful for people who use screen readers to consume digital content, as these applications can easily use the table of contents to navigate the book.

It also helps users with comprehension difficulties to identify important sections in an eBook and establish a proper flow of reading.

Screen readers are the primary tools for people with reading or comprehension difficulties to read digital content. You can optimize the eBook content for these apps by providing clear formatting for the text. Also, ensure that there is sufficient spacing between words, sentences, and paragraphs and a high contrast between the page and text colors.

Additionally, include alternative text for all the visual media in the eBook that screen readers can describe to the users.

Make sure to test your eBook for accessibility using DAISY Consortium’s accessibility checker tool. It checks your eBook for issues with alt text for images, heading structure, compatibility with screen readers, etc.

You can also test your eBook’s accessibility for functionality on different devices (laptops, mobile phones, eBook readers, etc.) to ensure a seamless user experience.

Publishers have a lot to gain from creating eBooks that are accessible to everyone, including:

Accessible eBooks have a wider reach, because they empower people with visual/hearing/other challenges to peruse eBooks as well. People with cognitive, learning, motor skills, or other limitations can easily understand eBooks, making them a potential audience for your publishing business.

Accessibility enhances user experience by providing multiple modes for readers to consume content. People who cannot read very well can listen to the content; people who cannot hear very well can read the closed captions to understand the audio/video in the eBook. Text-to-speech enables readers to listen to the entire eBook effortlessly.

Commitment to creating accessibility has a positive impact on brand image. It establishes your publishing house as a responsible, considerate brand that cares for readers’ needs. In the long run, it may even enhance customer loyalty.

Accessible content in educational eBooks helps enhance students’ learning outcomes. By leveraging accessibility features incorporated into eBooks, all students get an equitable opportunity to level with each other in the classroom.

Designing and publishing accessible eBooks has benefits beyond facilitating ease of reading to the users. Brands can enhance their reputation and reach by creating accessible digital content and raising awareness in their industry about inclusivity.

Using robust digital publishing platforms like KITABOO, digital publishers can incorporate accessibility features into their content from the get-go. KITABOO offers compatibility with WCAG and ADA requirements, helping you create accessible publications that are engaging and contain modernized eBook features like interactivity and gamification.

Contact us today to explore more about its accessibility enhancement features.

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