Taylor & Francis Signs Accessible Books Consortium and Publishing Accessibility Action Group Charters

Taylor & Francis, one of the world’s largest publishers of academic books and journals, has reaffirmed its ongoing commitment to accessibility by signing the Accessible Books Consortium (ABC) and Publishing Accessibility Action Group UK (PAAG) charters.

The objective of the ABC Charter for Accessible Publishing is “to make e-books accessible to all” by asking publishers to focus on implementing a range of practical steps. Taylor & Francis already meets all eight commitments set out in the Charter, which include publishing an accessibility policy, technical training for staff, incorporating accessibility features within digital publications, and providing a point of contact to assist people with print disabilities.

Taylor & Francis was the publisher winner of last year’s ABC International Excellence Award for Accessible Publishing, recognized by the Award’s judges for an “innovative approach to alternative text for images, graphs, and diagrams.”

Signatories of the new UK-based PAAG Accessible Publishing Charter commit to “making content accessible to all and to aid others in this endeavor”. Taylor & Francis also meets all 10 requirements of this charter, which include appointing a company accessibility champion, utilizing available accessibility metadata opportunities, and testing and validating content to ensure it is usable by people with print disabilities. PAAG is chaired by Stacy Scott who is also Taylor & Francis’ Accessibility Officer.

Scott, who signed the charters on behalf of Taylor & Francis, explained their significance, “These charters are a great opportunity for our industry to state our shared commitment to ensuring everyone can access the same content at the same time, regardless of their reading requirements. The team at Taylor & Francis has made tremendous progress in improving the accessibility of our publications over recent years and we’re proud that the standards set out in these charters are not just aspirations but our practice.”

“There is though always more to do, so signing these charters also demonstrates our determination to reach the goal of every Taylor & Francis product and service being born-accessible”, Scott added.

Taylor & Francis recently became a Global Certified Accessible Publisher and publishes  all new eBooks in EPUB format. Full details about the accessibility program can be found on the Taylor & Francis Corporate Accessibility Statement page.