Resources to Make Publishing and Reading Accessible

By George Kerscher

EMAIL: kerscher@montana.com

Last updated: September 24, 2026

Overview of resources

This set of resources provides authors, publishers, and content creators with an essential list of links to accessible publishing and reading information. Resources include assistive technology, EPUB accessibility, authoring workflows, accessibility validation, conformance programs, metadata, artificial intelligence, and opportunities to participate in the publishing accessibility community.

The emphasis is on EPUB 3 reflowable content. The resources will not cover PDF, EPUB 3 fixed layout, EPUB with media overlays, or Manga and comics in EPUB.

I guarantee that these links will provide you with 100% authoritative factual information! All to often I find articles that claim to provide accessibility information and guidelines , and when I review them , it is strewn with mistakes. Feel free to email me if you find anything that is inaccurate or out-of-date.

Three Primary organizational Resources

How People Who Are Blind or Have Low Vision Use Computers

Designed as a training resource for librarians, this provides a great overview for anybody of how people with disabilities access and use information. It is an in introduction to screen readers, magnification software, Braille displays, keyboard navigation, text-to-speech, and the accessibility features built into modern operating systems and applications.

EPUB Readers and Apps

Thorium Reader is available for Windows, Linux, and on the Mac. It is one of the leading EPUB reading systems available. It scores 100% on all of our accessibility tests. Many people view Thorium Reader as a reference implementation, i.e., it implements all the features of the EPUB specification.

A very interesting new EPUB App is "Paperback Reader". It is relatively new and is being developed by a blind programmer. It scores 100% on the accessibility tests with the Non-Visual Desktop Access (NVDA) screen reader.

Resources

EPUBSpecifications

Accessibility in EPUB

Authoring EPUB

Three common EPUB production workflows: WordToEPUB, Adobe InDesign, and XML-first publishing workflows.

Accessibility Checking

Accessibility Conformance

The Benetech Global Certified Accessible program, certification requirements, review process, and benefits for publishers.

Accessibility Metadata

Accessibility metadata helps readers discover content that meets their accessibility needs and how that information is displayed in reading systems and distribution channels.

Using AI in Authoring Accessible EPUB

FIDO AI can assist publishers by generating image descriptions, and much, much more, and support accessibility workflows.

Note: FIDO also includes "Checkmate" which can validate EPUB, HTML, PDF, and more. A context menu entry can be added during installation to make it easy to check validation and accessibility.

Getting Involved and Keeping Up-to-Date

Mailing lists, community groups, newsletters, standards activities, and other opportunities for participation in the accessible publishing ecosystem.