We’re launching a new project to leverage the collective expertise and experiences of DAISY Consortium members and friends to develop a document that expresses user requirements for reading digital publications in a way that is accessible to individuals with diverse print disabilities. The purpose of this project is to enhance the experience of users of DAISY libraries. The project output will benefit DAISY members involved in evaluating, procuring, or developing solutions for reading services. The user requirements will be highly valuable for the developers of specialized reading systems and provide inspiration for mainstream reading solutions.
The launch meeting takes place on Monday Dec 16. Further details are on the Establishing Reading Systems Requirements news page.

At DAISY we closely follow the latest developments in AI, working with companies to test and provide feedback on some of those initiatives. To help inform our work we conducted a short survey of library services around the world about their AI use and interests. The analysis provides an exciting insight into the potential application of AI technologies in library services, and we're happy to announce we will be hosting a series of AI related workshops and briefing sessions in 2025.
Read our AI Survey Results article.

Our webinar series counting down to the implementation of the European Accessibility Act continues to share valuable information with the publishing community. Full recordings, summary notes, transcripts and related links for our latest webinars are available on the DAISY website:

• November 27, 2024 "Accessibility In Practice - T-206 Days"
• October 23, 2024 "Reading Solutions - T-241 Days"
• September 25, 2024 "Image Descriptions - T-269 Days"

The next three webinars in the series will be:

• January 22, 2025 “Accessibility Metadata – T-157 Days”
• February 26, 2025 “The Essentials in your Toolbox – T-122 Days”
• March 26, 2025 “Accessible Math and Science in Digital Publications – T-94 Days”

Information about the webinars and the full list of previous sessions is available on the DAISY webinars page.

New guidelines are now available to advise on how ebook accessibility metadata should be displayed to enable informed purchasing and borrowing decisions by users. Information about the accessibility of digital publications often exists within the title, as well as in the retail or library system, but those details are not routinely made available to aid consumers in deciding which book will meet their accessibility requirements.
The new Accessibility Metadata Display Guide for Digital Publications is a timely revision to an earlier draft, helping publishers and vendors meet legislative requirements, including the European Accessibility Act.
 

The ABC  International Excellence Awards recognize achievements in accessible publishing around the world in categories covering publishers and specialist initiatives.
The Publishing Award Winner this year was Argentinian publisher Gerbera Ediciones. Other finalists included Book Publishers Association of Alberta (Canada) and Children’s Fun Publishing Co., Ltd. (China).
The Initiative Award Winner was the Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities, working across Australia and New Zealand and celebrated for its “enduring contributions to accessibility since its establishment in 1981.”  Other finalists were Lithuanian Audiosensory Library (Lithuania) and UNICEF Helsinki (Finland).
Learn more on the Accessible Books Consortium Awards page.