New Accessible Books Consortium (ABC) Application Gets Accessible Books Directly to People Who are Print-Disabled

From the Accessible Book Coalition:

WIPO’s Accessible Books Consortium (ABC) has launched a new application that makes accessible digital books available for direct download by individuals who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print disabled.

ABC Global Book Service’s business application is provided free of charge and connects participating libraries for the blind, known as authorized entities, to allow the sharing of accessible books.

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The initial catalogue offered through the new ABC beneficiary application comprises the collections of the following five libraries for the blind:

• l’Association pour le Bien des Aveugles et malvoyants (Switzerland);
• l’Association Valentin Haüy (France);
• Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (Canada);
• The Canadian National Institute for the Blind (Canada);
• The Centre for Equitable Library Access (Canada).

As a first step, only print-disabled users of the new application residing in Canada, France and Switzerland will have access to the 63,000 specially adapted texts provided by the organizations listed above.  The new ABC application can be found at: www.abcglobalbooks.org

ABC partner libraries will need to confirm that the users of the new ABC beneficiary service are persons who are print-disabled, in accordance with the terms of the Marrakesh Treaty, which is administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

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