GENEVA, Switzerland,29 June, 2022,-/African Media Agency (AMA)/- The Africa Publishing Innovation Fund (APIF), a grant-giving program co-led by philanthropic organization Dubai Cares and the International Publishers Association (IPA), and the DAISY Consortium, a world authority on publishing for people with visual impairments and other print disabilities, are offering African publishers free expert training on the production of accessible works.
Under the scheme, African publishers are invited to join a first webinar called Accessible Publishing in Africa – the Fundamentals, which will be delivered in English, French, and Arabic, respectively on 5, 6, and 7 July.
DAISY’s international experts will explain how accessible publishing practices open books to people with print disabilities, including blindness, low vision, and learning disabilities. Participants will also share their own experiences, which will be used to help shape technical accessible publishing training to be offered later this year.
The July webinars will cover the fundamentals about print disabilities and the assistive technologies they use, as well as how publishers can better serve print disabled readers, and why it is mutually beneficial to do so.
Publishers that further pursue the programme with DAISY will be able to secure APIF financing to support the production of accessible works and their introduction to the market.
IPA President Bodour Al Qasimi, the architect of the Africa Publishing Innovation Fund, said: ‘It’s so important – particularly in these tempestuous times – that publishers play a part in ensuring that no one is denied access to information and content. Accessible publishing opens the literary world to everyone, regardless of physical status, and as a founder member of the Accessible Books Consortium, this is a core principle of the work we do at the IPA. We hope that by dedicating APIF financing to this specific issue we can make a big contribution to increasing the range of accessible African works available to the readers that need them.’
DAISY Consortium CEO Richard Orme said: ‘Many publishers in Africa are accelerating their adoption of digital publishing solutions, especially following the global pandemic. This also provides the opportunity to create publications that can be read by children and adults who were previously excluded, including those with blindness and low vision. Accessible publications are better publications for everyone, and we’re excited to share the practical steps that can be taken by publishers to reach new audiences and address long-standing inequities.’
Register for the webinar here.
Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) on behalf of African Publishing Innovation Fund (APIF).
About the African Publishing Innovation Fund (APIF)
The APIF is a four-year, USD 800,000 fund provided by Dubai Cares, a UAE-based global philanthropic organization, and administered by the IPA. The decision to incentivize learning innovations to help African students pursue their education followed the confinement measures imposed worldwide in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Around 190 countries had to close schools and universities, affecting more than 1.5 billion school-aged children – around 90% of the world’s student population.
About the International Publishers Association (IPA)
The IPA is the world’s largest federation of publishers associations with 83 members in 69 countries. Established in 1896, the IPA is an industry body with a human rights mandate. The IPA’s mission is to promote and protect publishing and to raise awareness of publishing as a force for economic, cultural and social development. Working in cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and numerous international NGOs, the IPA champions the interests of book and journal publishing at national and supranational level. Internationally, the IPA actively opposes censorship and promotes copyright, freedom to publish (including through the IPA Prix Voltaire), and literacy.
www.internationalpublishers.org
About Dubai Cares:
Since its inception in 2007, Dubai Cares, part of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, has been working towards providing children and youth in developing countries with access to quality education through the design and funding of programs that aim to be impactful, sustainable and scalable. To date, the UAE-based global philanthropic organization has successfully launched education programs reaching over 21 million beneficiaries in 60 developing countries.
Dubai Cares plays a key role in helping achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, which aims to ensure inclusive and quality education for all, and promote lifelong learning by 2030, by supporting programs in early childhood development, access to quality primary and secondary education, technical and vocational education and training for youth as well as a particular focus on education in emergencies and protracted crises. Moreover, Dubai Cares adopts a strategic approach to improve student enrollment and learning outcomes through an integrated school health and nutrition model that is made up of school-based deworming activities, school feeding, and WASH (Water, Sanitation & Hygiene) in schools.
Dubai Cares is a member of the United Nations Department of Global Communications (UN DGC), as well as a registered non-government organization under IACAD, the charitable activities regulator in Dubai. The UAE-based global philanthropic organization is authorized to raise funds through direct donations and fundraising campaigns, as well as process all permit approvals with IACAD.
Volunteerism is a powerful tool to Dubai Cares in order to engage people in tackling development challenges. Dubai Cares rallies the UAE wider community through a large spectrum of volunteering and awareness initiatives that are linked to its global mandate.
To learn more, please visit www.dubaicares.ae
About the DAISY Consortium
The DAISY Consortium is a registered not-for-profit global collective of organizations committed to delivering worldwide change to achieve a common Vision that “People have equal access to information and knowledge regardless of disability; a right confirmed by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.”
Together we contribute to mainstream standards, develop guidelines to promote best practices, create tools which support accessible publishing, raise awareness of accessible reading systems and support open standards for inclusive publishing.
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