I decided I should probably write this entry while listening, with bleary-eyed nostalgia, to New Order. Because this story quite simply evokes the line, “I used to think that the day would never come.” I have been writing about the European Union’s Accessibility Act for years now. Such is the way with European legislation—its journey into law has more hidden levels than Super Mario Brothers.
ALLi News Editor Dan Holloway
But the Accessibility Act has made it and, as of last Saturday, it has come into law.
So what does that mean? Well, as I have explained several times, in essence it means that digital products sold into the European Union need to follow basic principles of accessibility.
The Four Core Principles
In fact, there are four such principles. It’s worth reminding ourselves what they are, because failure to comply with them could now incur a fine. For us as author-publishers, what it’s actually most likely to do is lead to our exclusion from this market.
The principles, which are the same as the foundation of the WCAG model, are that work should be:
Perceivable. That is to say, all audiences should be able to take in what is being conveyed, irrespective of sensory issues. This means including alternative text for images, for example.
Operable. This means keyboard as well as mouse navigation, and the use of headings that are navigable.
Understandable. This primarily applies to layout and means that users should be able to find their way around. Using links that say what they are linking to is a good example.
Robust. This means that content should be compatible with a wide variety of assistive and other technology.
Making Formats Work for You
As I have also mentioned before, following W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines is a great start to getting the principles right. And using the EPUB format for ebooks, which is maintained as a format by W3C, will cover issues around screen readers and other technology better than most alternatives. In particular, it is worth being aware that the PDF format has a lot of issues that may not be compliant with the new Act.
To understand why accessibility matters in publishing, this overview offers useful context. For background on how the publishing industry has been preparing, see Publishing Perspectives.
Thoughts or further questions on this post or any self-publishing issue?
If you’re an ALLi member, head over to the SelfPubConnect forum for support from our experienced community of indie authors, advisors, and our own ALLi team. Simply create an account (if you haven’t already) to request to join the forum and get going.
Non-members looking for more information can search our extensive archive of blog posts and podcast episodes packed with tips and advice at ALLi's Self-Publishing Advice Center.
