Spotlight on Gerbera Ediciones of Argentina, Winner of the 2024 ABC International Excellence Award

The Accessible Books Consortium (ABC) recently sat down with Gerbera Ediciones, the recipient of the 2024 ABC International Excellence Award for Accessible Publishing, in the “Publisher” category.

In a candid conversation, Fabiana Nolla Portillo, Director of Publishing at Gerbera Ediciones, shared the publishing house’s unwavering dedication to accessibility. The discussion explored Gerbera's innovative strategies for improving access to literature for readers that are print disabled, the impact of their work, and the inspiration behind their mission to make reading truly inclusive.

Could you tell us about the story behind Gerbera Ediciones? How did it all begin?

Gerbera Ediciones has been around for 17 years, but our journey with accessible books began 12 years ago. It all started with a personal experience: my son’s close friend, who is dyslexic, struggled to read and share stories. I decided to find a solution, and in 2016, we published our first book using a dyslexia-friendly font.

Our mission is to bring people together through literature, regardless of disability. That’s why we combine illustrations with dyslexia-friendly fonts and braille. For us, inclusivity is not about creating a braille book for visually impaired children only, but about fostering a shared reading experience where children of all abilities can get together over a good story.

What types of books do you specialize in, and what sets your work apart in the publishing industry?

We specialize in children and young adults’ books. Most of our books are original stories, but we’ve recently also launched a collection of previously published titles from notable authors, namely Edgar Allen Poe and local Spanish-speaking writers. This targets the young-adolescent audience who is learning braille and wants to practice with shorter, engaging books, and we know they may also appeal to an adult audience.

What sets us apart is how we combine usability and aesthetics. Just because a book is for the visually impaired or in braille, doesn’t mean it has to be white with bulging spirals. We created custom spines that preserve the shape of the book when it’s displayed on the shelf and still lies flat on the table for braille reading.

What challenges have you encountered in designing and producing accessible materials, and how have you overcome them?

When we started producing accessible books, we didn’t have the equipment to do it in-house. We had to outsource the process, which required additional time and funds. As the demand for accessible books grew, we decided to acquire all the machinery and equipment needed for us to manage the production ourselves, and with the help of our experts, we’ve have been doing it all at Gerbera Ediciones. It’s been a learning curve, but it was worth it.

Another challenge was also expanding our reach beyond our borders, and we’ve been able to do that by making our books available in libraries across Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, Europe, and the US, namely in the New York Public Library.

What are some books that you are most proud of?

Two books that are very dear to our hearts here at Gerbera are Una vaca que habla, Saturno y Plutón, and Detrás de él estaba su nariz, both by the author Istvansch. They are available in a multitude of formats: print, braille, audiobook, descriptive reading, dyslexia-friendly, and a reading with Argentine sign language.

For these books, most versions are available for free on our website for everyone to enjoy. It was a challenge to create and sync all of these versions together, but we’re very proud of the outcome and hope that we can replicate this experience with other books.

I’d also like to highlight the new collection Siempre Vivos, which includes books by Edgar Allan Poe and Horacio Quiroga. Even though they’re not available in all formats, they feature significant advances in design and audio compared to previous publications.

Congratulations on winning the ABC International Excellence Award! What does this recognition mean for your team?

This award means a lot to me and to the entire team. A lot of work and effort go into each book, and this award is a testament to the contribution of every member of our team. It reaffirms our commitment to accessibility and the importance of inclusivity.

We hope this recognition inspires other publishers to prioritize accessibility—not as an afterthought but as an essential element of publishing. We can create not just accessible books but shared literary experiences that unite readers of all abilities.

Background

According to a 2017 study published in The Lancet, approximately 253 million people are blind or visually impaired world-wide. Nearly 90% of these are resident in developing countries, where the World Blind Union (WBU) estimates that people who are blind have only a one in ten chance of going to school or getting a job. A lack of accessible books remains a very real barrier to getting an education and leading an independent, productive life.

About ABC

The Accessible Books Consortium (ABC) is a public-private partnership led by WIPO that, together with its many partners around the world, has had real impact over the past decade.  Since its inception, the ABC Global Book Service catalogue has quadrupled in size to over one million titles thanks to the inclusion of the collections of participating authorized entities. ABC delivered a total of 164,000 accessible digital files from the ABC catalogue to persons with print disabilities through its authorized entities in 2023. In addition, through ABC’s training and technical assistance partners, more than 20,000 textbooks have been made accessible in over 40 low-income countries, improving access to education for thousands of young people. ABC was established in June 2014 to implement the goals of the Marrakesh Treaty.

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About WIPO

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is the global forum for intellectual property policy, services, information and cooperation. A specialized agency of the United Nations, WIPO assists its 193 member states in developing a balanced international IP legal framework to meet society's evolving needs. It provides business services for obtaining IP rights in multiple countries and resolving disputes. It delivers capacity-building programs to help developing countries benefit from using IP. And it provides free access to unique knowledge banks of IP information.