Accessible
Digital Design
Accessible Books
Reading and Inclusion
Image: A pile of multi-coloured books.
Overview
Reading offers the opportunity for lifelong learning, community building, fun and recreation and socio-political engagement, as well as engaging in conversation in order to enhance understanding. It’s a way to connect with others over interests and new, exciting concepts (NNELS, n.d.).
This section will share information about accessible books and print disabilities realized across different communities. It will also look at barriers that may prohibit access and inclusion for print disabled people. You will learn about accessible books, assistive devices, accessible formats, and what it means to be ‘born accessible’. By this point in the course, you may have noticed that this a recurring theme.
Incorporating accessibility into the design process means that it becomes normalized rather than treated as an inconvenience. Once you begin uncovering inequities in media, it becomes impossible to ignore them, and an act of justice to defy them and choose to make inclusive media.
Developing an Understanding
Without reading books, journals and magazines, people cannot gain an education or participate fully in society, and they cannot realize their full potential. Not just a personal loss, it is also a serious loss to the economies and societies they live in (World Intellectual Property Organization, 2016).
However, not everyone has equal access to books. People with print disabilities are often unable to access printed material if it is not provided in a format that they can read, and it is estimated that only 1-7% of published material is available in accessible formats (World Intellectual Property Organization, 2016).
Typically, books are published in conventional formats first, and later converted to accessible formats, resulting in a delay between the original publication date and when the estimated 1 in 10 people with print disabilities in Canada can read these books (CELA, n.d.).
What does it mean if a book can’t be accessed by all at the same time? First of all, it sets up a pattern of inequality as to who deserves to read a book first. In the age of social media, culture consumption moves at a very fast clip – books get adapted into films and tv shows. Reviews, memes and discussions abound all over the internet. This pace won’t change, but the inequities around publishing could change by incorporating accessibility into every step of the editing and publishing process.
Deepening your Understanding
Equity around reading is important for a variety of reasons, including the physical and mental health benefits of reading itself. Regular reading can change the neural pathways of the brain and improve general well-being.
Research shows that reading:
- Improves brain connectivity
- Increases vocabulary and comprehension
- Empowers you to empathize with other people
- Aids in sleep readiness
- Reduces stress
- Lowers blood pressure and heart rate
- Reduces depression symptoms
- Prevents cognitive decline as you age
- Contributes to a longer life
(Healthline, n.d)
It is an ableist notion that people with print disabilities would not benefit in these ways as well, or they would not want to. Everyone deserves to benefit from the social, emotional and educational aspects of reading. Not only can it open new worlds and new ways of understanding – it’s just fun. There is no singular way to learn – every way is valid and should be represented as such.
Reading books can also benefit both physical and mental health and can change the brain and body for a lifetime. And research shows that regular reading:
- Improves brain connectivity
- Increases vocabulary and comprehension
- Empowers you to empathize with other people
- Aids in sleep readiness
- Reduces stress
- Lowers blood pressure and heart rate
- Fights depression symptoms
- Prevents cognitive decline as you age
- Contributes to a longer life
(Healthline, n.d)
