January 2020 Summit

The Accessible Publishing Summit 2020 is an opportunity to bring various stakeholders from across the accessible publishing landscape together to continue creating guidelines and processes that support a common vision of increasing the accessibility of ebooks and audiobooks. This year’s Summit will build on the foundation which was created during the Accessible Publishing Summit 2019, which was the first of its kind in bringing together sector stakeholders to work on the ways in which the accessible publishing landscape can be developed and improved upon in Canada.

The purpose of the 2019 Summit was to create a sense of connection and foster collaboration among stakeholders across the sector, to work toward gaining a common understanding of the current context for accessible publishing (identifying opportunities and challenges), and to begin developing guidelines for improving digital accessibility. With approximately 50 stakeholders, most of them new to one another, this meeting was a unique opportunity to better understand the diversity of experiences and perspectives across stakeholder groups, and to gain clarity on the complexity of the issues, with particular focus on the experience of accessibility testers. 

Our hope with this year’s 2020 Summit will be to continue the work that we have seeded. We will build on the sense of connection, collective understanding and creative collaboration we established last year. We will integrate new participants, have stakeholders from across the sector share relevant updates and evolutions over the last year, and ensure there is a common understanding of the current context for digital accessibility. From this place, will be well equipped to revisit the working group process, gaining further clarity on their respective purposes and goals, and making time and space for stakeholders to engage in the development of outputs and work plans that are realistic and sustainable beyond the Summit itself.