Transcript Alternative Format Access to Printed Material

Alternative Format Access to
Printed Material
Shifting the Responsibility to Producers
Anthony Tibbs, B. Comm. (Hon.)
LLB/BCL Candidate (McGill University)
National Treasurer, Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians
Vice-President, Guide Dog Users of Canada
[email protected] / [email protected]
(514) 908-7347
Introduction: Who am I?
 A student
 An advocate
 Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians
 Guide Dog Users of Canada
 Centre for Students with Disabilities
(University of Ottawa)
 A self-employed individual
 A user of multiple formats
The “Right” To Information
 “Access to information is a fundamental
right of Canadians.” Really?
 Section 32 of the Copyright Act
 Exemptions are not limitless
 Does not allow large print copies
 Does not allow for commercialization of
transcription and reproduction services
 Publishers precluding formats (Braille)
 Stringent requirements (“re-permission”)
Adapting Print Material
 Scanning & OCR technology
 Positive impacts
 Challenges (errors, time, target format)
 NPO production decisions
 <5% of publicly available material
 Tends to exclude technical materials

Exception: O’Reily Books & Bookshare.org
 “Special Formats” (DAISY, etc.)
The Role of Publishers
 Ideally, alternative format publication
becomes part of production process
 Minimizes unit cost
 Not unlike cable television levies
 Less ideally, publishers commit to
provision of “cleanest possible” e-files
files to alt. format producers
 Either they do it, or we do, so ...
Do publishers care?
 Target market for any given book tends
to be limited
 Population of PWD requiring alternative
format materials even smaller
 Mainstream sources can help
 Audible.com, standard audiobooks
 Limited academic and professional use
Strategy
 Copyright exemptions & NPO production
not succeeding (3-5% available)
 Target large, institutional purchasers
 Professors & educational purchasers

Production vs. Facilitating production
 Libraries
Strategy (continued)
 Channel alternative format production
funding into producer incentives
 Tie governmental grant funding for
authors/publishers to accessibility
requirements
 Development of new funding assistance
initiatives
 e.g. Book Industry Development Program
(BIDP) through Dept. Of Canadian
Heritage
Conclusion
 Minimal availability of alternative format
material (academic, technical, literary)
 Technological improvements and
mainstream audio not complete solution
 Strategies
 Institutional purchasers demand
accessibility
 Funding initiatives and incentives
 In short: Universal design!