Accessibility First

Scribe produces publications from the ground up to be fully accessible and cater to a diverse audience.

Content for People with Visual or Print Impairments

As a leading producer of accessible publications, Scribe designs content to be fully inclusive. Each publication we build is accessible to readers with disabilities that limit access to print and is available across multiple formats (including ePub3, NIMAS, HTML, and others). Our editing, design, and typesetting team collaborates with numerous accessibility centers, staying abreast of the latest assistive technologies and accessibility standards. Our Digital Hub and Well-Formed Document Workflow (WFDW) incorporate the augmentative information needed to achieve equality in content access.

 

Developing for Accessibility

Accessibility has various meanings. Narrowly defined, it means ensuring books meet accessibility standards for visual or print impairments. It also means editing, indexing, and designing books to have a wider reach with easier discoverability. In its broadest sense, it can mean making a book inviting and easier to comprehend—no matter how it’s read. Through our editorial services, indexing program, and leading development of accessibility standards, Scribe’s staff and our technology are on the forefront of accessibility.

Content That Is Accessible to All

Fundamental to accessibility is developing content in ways that help people find your publications. Strategies for content optimization, information design, and the use of structure to improve “findability” are employed by Scribe at every stage. We produce books that are discovered by a larger audience.

 

Scribe—Helping Develop the Industry Standards in Accessible Content

As part of our mission to improve accessibility at every level of the publishing chain, Scribe’s staff actively sits on the boards of accessibility projects and contributes to developing industry standards in this area. We continually collaborate with our clients to pioneer new editorial and indexing methods, and we frequently adapt our systems and markup language to facilitate the creation of accessible outputs.

Accessibility First Initiative

With the Accessibility First project, we aim to connect with as many people in the industry to better understand the act of reading and to rethink the ways in which we edit, design, typeset, and create ebooks. Our goals are to not only meet standards for ePubs but also produce publications that reach the greatest audience. We also hope to learn best practices, improve our processes, discover more efficient approaches to the work we do, make better use of technology, and increase our chances to remain relevant and sustainable.

If you have an interest in producing accessible content or if you have ideas about new methods to publish, information to impart, or a desire to participate in our project, reach out to us through this form to start the conversation.