The DAISY Consortium in collaboration with Amnet and Benetech has published a new white paper under the leadership of George Kerscher, that encourages the use of Born Accessible EPUB 3 files for corporate, government, and university publications and documents. EPUB 3 provides the opportunity to significantly improve the accessibility of digital content for all readers, regardless of ability.

There is a growing understanding that laws and social commitment require documents, books, and corporate publications to be accessible for everyone, including persons with disabilities. People with sensory, physical, and cognitive disabilities have, historically, struggled to gain access to publications in a timely and cost-effective manner.

The EPUB 3 format, offers the greatest opportunity for access to documents at the same time, in the same format and the same cost as everyone else. This white paper encourages other organizations and companies to do the same, enabling greater access to internal and external documents.

A group of six people sitting around a table with their laptops. Two of them shake hands.
  • EPUB 3 documents can be produced using existing document processes, negating the need for costly and time-consuming remediation processes.
  • All modern word processors now support EPUB 3.
  • There is a legal requirement for organizations to produce accessible documents
  • Organizations can extend the reach and read-through of their documents
  • EPUB 3 improves the reading experience for everyone. If it’s Born Digital, it should be Born Accessible