The Accessible Books Consortium (ABC) Persons with Print Disabilities The Marrakesh Treaty and The Accessible Books Consortium (ABC) Bringing Books to Persons with Print Disabilities Nigeria November 2017

Context WBU estimates that over 90% of all published material is not accessible and that rate is higher in developing countries Of the 285m blind and visually impaired people worldwide, only 10% will go to school or get a job. The World Health Organization estimates that some 285 million people worldwide are visually impaired.   39 million are blind, and 246 million have low vision. More than 90% of persons who are visually impaired are resident in developing countries. According to the World Blind Union, less than 10% of blind children in developing countries go to school, leading to increased rates of illiteracy and sustained impoverishment, thus perpetuating the cycle of poverty. In North America and Europe, employment of blind people is approximately 25%. In Africa, Asia and Latin America, the number of employed blind people falls below 10%. The World Blind Union estimates that over 90% of all published material cannot be read by blind or low vision people. This is called the “global book famine”.

The Marrakesh Treaty Adopted on 28 June 2013, entered into force on 30 September 2016 Allows for copyright exceptions to facilitate the creation of accessible versions of books and other copyrighted works for visually impaired persons Sets a norm for countries ratifying the treaty to have a domestic copyright exception covering these activities, and allowing for the import and export of such materials. The ABC was established in June 2014 and acts as a complement to the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons who are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled. ABC provides technical assistance at the operational level in the production, distribution and cross-border transfer of accessible books. The ABC Governance document states that “The ABC constitutes one possible initiative, amongst others, to implement the objectives of the Marrakesh VIP Treaty at a practical level”. 31 countries have ratified Marrakesh: Ten of the initial 20 countries that have ratified the Marrakesh Treaty are in Latin America. The Treaty came into force on September 30, 2016. The Marrakesh Treaty sets out the legal framework to create exemptions in national copyright law for the production of books in accessible formats. It also allows the exchange of accessible format works across borders by organizations that serve the print disabled.   The ABC has launched practical initiatives with the aim of increasing the number of accessible books worldwide and to make them available to people who are print disabled. 

The Marrakesh Treaty Nigeria’s accession, October 2017 The ABC was established in June 2014 and acts as a complement to the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons who are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled. ABC provides technical assistance at the operational level in the production, distribution and cross-border transfer of accessible books. The ABC Governance document states that “The ABC constitutes one possible initiative, amongst others, to implement the objectives of the Marrakesh VIP Treaty at a practical level”. 31 countries have ratified Marrakesh: Ten of the initial 20 countries that have ratified the Marrakesh Treaty are in Latin America. The Treaty came into force on September 30, 2016. The Marrakesh Treaty sets out the legal framework to create exemptions in national copyright law for the production of books in accessible formats. It also allows the exchange of accessible format works across borders by organizations that serve the print disabled.   The ABC has launched practical initiatives with the aim of increasing the number of accessible books worldwide and to make them available to people who are print disabled. 

The Marrakesh Treaty Nigeria’s accession, October 2017: ‘Nigeria places a high level of priority on the promotion and protection of intellectual property rights. We are gradually moving from an innovation consuming nation to an innovation generating economy’. Afam Ezekude, Nigerian Copyright Commission The ABC was established in June 2014 and acts as a complement to the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons who are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled. ABC provides technical assistance at the operational level in the production, distribution and cross-border transfer of accessible books. The ABC Governance document states that “The ABC constitutes one possible initiative, amongst others, to implement the objectives of the Marrakesh VIP Treaty at a practical level”. 31 countries have ratified Marrakesh: Ten of the initial 20 countries that have ratified the Marrakesh Treaty are in Latin America. The Treaty came into force on September 30, 2016. The Marrakesh Treaty sets out the legal framework to create exemptions in national copyright law for the production of books in accessible formats. It also allows the exchange of accessible format works across borders by organizations that serve the print disabled.   The ABC has launched practical initiatives with the aim of increasing the number of accessible books worldwide and to make them available to people who are print disabled. 

What are the benefits of the Marrakesh Treaty to publishers? producing books in digital formats expands the market to new consumers accessible formats make for a better product for all readers and streamline the digital process

Accessible Books Consortium ABC is one possible initiative, amongst others, to implement the objectives of the Marrakesh Treaty Established June 2014

Perkins School for the Blind International Publishers Association ABC includes: WIPO World Blind Union International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI) DAISY Consortium International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) Sightsavers Perkins School for the Blind International Publishers Association International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organizations and International Authors’ Forum. Public/Private Partnership led by WIPO ABC Board has: 4 seats for organizations representing the print disabled (with one seat reserved for the WBU) 4 seats for authorized entities (with one seat reserved for the DAISY Consortium) 5 seats for rightsholders (with seats reserved for IAF, IPA and IFRRO) Up to 5 seats for donors Chair – Director General or his authorized representative

ABC’s Three Main Activities Capacity Building ABC Global Book Service Inclusive Publishing   ABC has three main activities. Capacity Building – training and technical assistance in developing countries in how to produce accessible books. ABC Global Book Service (TIGAR) – an online catalogue of accessible titles located at WIPO’s headquarters in Geneva. Inclusive Publishing – promoting the production by publishers of books that are « born accessible ».

First Activity: Capacity Building Bangladesh India Nepal Sri Lanka Argentina Botswana Uruguay This slide has a picture of two women from India using a DAISY reader. Pilot projects were completed in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka in 2015 – it was estimated that there were over 23,500 beneficiaries. We completed the second phase of capacity building in these same four countries by July 2017. We established a project in Argentina in January 2017, and established projects in Botswana and Uruguay in early 2017. By December 2017, nearly 3950 accessible educational books will have been produced through ABC capacity building projects.

Training in production of accessible format books for: NGOs Ministry of Education Commercial Publishers Production of accessible books in national language(s) By December 2017, nearly 3950 accessible educational books will have been produced through ABC capacity building projects.

Second Activity: ABC Global Book Service

What is it? A free, global, on-line catalogue of accessible books for libraries “A libraries’ library” Over 360,000 books and growing

How does it help? A ready-made technical platform Wide selection of accessible books Collections can be supplemented from other libraries

Exchanging books across borders Authorization by Rightsholder not required if the two countries exchanging books each have copyright legislation that is consistent with Treaty Authorization by Rightsholder is still required if only one country has implemented the provisions of the Treaty and the other has not

8800 digital files of accessible books downloaded Statistics 128,000 accessible books lent 8800 digital files of accessible books downloaded Top six libraries using the ABC Book Service: Canadian National Institute for the Blind Association Valentin Hauy in France Blind Foundation in New Zealand South African Library for the Blind Association pour le bien des aveugles et malvoyants in Switzerland National Library Services in the U.S.

Third Activity: Inclusive Publishing ABC Charter for Accessible Publishing ABC International Excellence Award for Accessible Publishing Starter Kit for Developing Countries Guidelines for Self-Publishing Authors ABC promotes the production of “born accessible” works by publishers, that is, books that are usable from the start by both sighted persons and the print disabled through its support of the ABC Charter for Accessible Publishing, which contains eight high-level aspirational principles relating to digital publications in accessible formats that publishers are invited to sign.   This year ABC again organized the ABC International Excellence Award for Accessible Publishing. The winners of the 2017 award were SAGE Publishing and Tiflolibros, an NGO in Argentina. The awards were presented at the London Book Fair in April 2017 to recognize these organizations for outstanding achievement in the advancement of the accessibility of digital publications. Two guides were released in 2016 to supplement the existing online resources on accessible publishing located on the ABC website: Accessibility Guidelines for Self-Publishing Authors Starter Kit for Accessible Publishing in Developing Countries  

How can publishers help or become involved in ABC? establish contacts with authors, other publishers, the national association for the blind and educational agencies when requested by libraries, education agencies or the association for the blind, provide authorization so that your books can be produced in an accessible format, and exchanged across borders facilitate the production of accessible format works by providing these organizations with the digital copies of your books adopt accessible publishing standards, such as using Unicode compliant fonts and using available accessibility features in your publishing workflows sign up to the ABC Charter for Accessible Publishing

For more information: Kevin. Fitzgerald@wipo. int Monica. Halil@wipo For more information: Kevin.Fitzgerald@wipo.int Monica.Halil@wipo.int Accessible.Books@wipo.int www.AccessibleBooksConsortium.org