NNELS Wins ABC International Excellence Award for Accessible Publishing

October 20, 2021

Congratulations to the National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS) on receiving the 2021 ABC International Excellence Award for Accessible Publishing (Initiative Category)!

The recipients of the awards were announced today by WIPO Deputy Director General Sylvie Forbin during a ceremony at the Frankfurter Buchmesse (Frankfurt Book Fair), the largest gathering of publishing industry professionals in the world.

In the initiative category, NNELS was recognized for their work in converting content to accessible formats for their client base. The jury was particularly impressed by NNELS’ work organizing the Accessible Publishing Summit for the past three years. The Accessible Publishing Summit assembles key stakeholders such as accessibility experts, publishers, and libraries to advocate for inclusive practices in the publishing industry.

The National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS) is a digital public library of downloadable titles for Canadians with perceptual disabilities, supported and fueled by a growing network of readers, community organizations, librarians, publishers, and accessible format producers in Canada and abroad.

The ABC International Excellence Award for Accessible Publishing recognizes outstanding leadership and achievements in advancing the accessibility of digital publications for persons who are print disabled. Two awards are presented each year, one to a publisher and one for a project initiative.

Awards Ceremony

News Release: NNELS Wins ABC International Excellence Awards for Initiative 2021

Wednesday, October 20, 2021

NNELS is proud to announce that we have been awarded the 2021 Accessible Books Consortium (ABC) International Excellence Award in the initiative category.

Taylor & Francis Group of the United Kingdom was recognized in the publisher category, and NNELS was recognized in the initiative category for both of our respective achievements in the field of accessibility to benefit people who are blind, visually impaired, or otherwise print-disabled.

We would like to thank the other nominees in this category for their dedicated work in achieving equitable reading and accessibility publishing. We are also grateful to the expert jury and our nominator for recognizing our growth and work in this area.

This award recognizes our tireless work in converting content to accessible formats for our client base. The jury was particularly impressed by our work organizing the Accessible Publishing Summit for the past three years.

NNELS puts users at the center of our work, and builds capacity by employing people with lived experiences of print disabilities including low vision, blindness, dyslexia and learning disabilities. Our staff apply their expertise as accessibility testers and consultants.

Much of our work is from the support of the Canadian Government’s Social Development Partnership Program Disability Component. We are also thankful to NNELS territorial and provincial funders. We also owe gratitude to our other partners including: publishers, libraries, library organizations, other alternative content producers, content creators, and of course people with print disabilities.

We want to thank our staff who helped  convert content for our wonderful patrons. If you are looking for a book in an accessible format, a member of our production team would be proud to convert it for you. You can request a book here!

We also want to thank everyone who has worked with and participated in the Accessible Publishing Summit. We recognize our dedicated staff and shareholders who help make it possible. The Accessible Publishing Summit assembles key stakeholders such as accessibility experts, publishers, and libraries to advocate for inclusive practices in the publishing industry.

This is an exciting time for accessibility in publishing and libraries. This award motivates us to continue our hard work in creating a true equitable future for people with print disabilities in Canada and beyond. We look forward to future years of growth and development in accessibility, libraries and publishing.

(Via Accessible Books Consortium (ABC) and National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS))