It is called the great famine.
According to the Association of Research Libraries, many visually impaired people do not have equal access to newly published books and only seven percent of books are published with accessible options.
Yet despite this data, according to the Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA), more reading resources are being made available every day for visually impaired and disabled Canadians.
“Canada has a fairly robust system between publishers, CELA and the National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS), so Canada is pretty well served in the accessible reading ecosystem,” said CELA Communications Manager Karen McKay.
NNELS, similar to CELA, provides an accessible library for people with print disabilities, and McKay said that acquiring accessible reading materials for CELA and NNELS is going more smoothly each year, with production being the biggest challenge.
The global shortage of Braille books, commonly referred to as the “Braille book shortage,” has been studied for many years and, according to McKay, poses a real challenge for CELA. However, McKay explained that 30 years ago, producing Braille was a much bigger hurdle for authors or publishers due to the high cost and long process, but today, modern technologies and organizations can overcome this hurdle.
CELA has provided a collection of accessible reading texts for people with “reading disabilities” since 2014. McKay said the Canadian Copyright Act (CCA) defines a reading disability as a visual, physical or mental disability that prevents a person from reading traditional print works. The CCA allows CELA to reproduce published material in alternative formats, and CELA policies also allow temporary access for people with temporary reading disabilities.
But print is not the only option. According to McKay, CELA has over a million public library books and 150 periodicals in its collection that have been converted to Braille, audio, PDF ePublications and other formats such as virtual Braille.
Technology influences Braille production
CNIB Beyond Print (formerly the Canadian National Institute for the Blind) is Canada’s Braille expert and the country’s only certification body for Braille production, according to Christen Thomas, director of CNIB Beyond Print.
“Our mission is to provide Canadian readers with print disabilities access to all types of reading materials, from books to magazines and other information, so people can ensure their education, entertainment and overall social engagement,” said Thomas.
According to Thomas, CNIB Beyond Print has more than a century of experience in producing braille and accessible reading material, creating audiobooks, braille, e-books and virtual braille for libraries such as CELA and NNELS across Canada.
Darlene Bogart, a long-time CNIB volunteer and CNIB National Braille Officer, said CNIB Beyond Print has revolutionized braille instruction by offering a transcription program with 22 lessons delivered 15 hours per week.
People all over the world have access to the program and students receive reports via email that must be perfect before they can move on to the next lessons to ensure absolute accuracy.
However, Bogart said that instead of using a manual Braille typewriter as in the past, a six-key keyboard to create Braille cells now allows for much greater accuracy and ease of use compared to the early days of Braille.
“It saves so much time, it’s incredible,” Bogart said. “And if you make a mistake, you can spot it immediately and correct it – with the old method, you would have had to start over again and again.”
Thomas also said that increased awareness of accessibility has made it possible to provide funding for the introduction of Braille innovations, such as a digital Braille reader that can convert any text into Braille.
But despite growing awareness of the lack of Braille books and the state of accessible reading, Thomas believes there is still much work to be done.
“There is still a lot to do, but we see momentum and general awareness of the importance of this work has grown,” said Thomas.
For more information about the Centre for Equitable Library Access, visit https://celalibrary.ca/. For more information about the National Network for Equitable Library Service, visit https://www.nnels.ca/. For information about CNIB Beyond Print, visit https://cnib-beyondprint.ca/about-us/.
