ABC International Excellence Awards Recognize Gerbera Ediciones, Argentina, and Round Table on Information Access, Australia and New Zealand

Gerbera Ediciones of Argentina and the Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities, representing Australia and New Zealand, have been named the winners of the 2024 ABC International Excellence Awards in the publisher and initiative categories, respectively. Both organizations were praised for their exceptional contributions to advancing the accessibility of digital publications for persons who are blind, visually impaired, or otherwise print-disabled.

The winners of the 2024 ABC International Excellence Award for Accessible Publishing were announced by Ms. Sylvie Forbin, Deputy Director General, Copyright and Creative Industries Sector on December 4th during a ceremony held at the International Publishers Association Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Gerbera Ediciones was honored in the publisher category for its dedication to inclusivity, particularly for children and young readers. The jury commended Gerbera’s commitment to producing books in multiple formats—braille, dyslexia-friendly print, and audio—all available under the same title. These formats are supplied to public libraries and education departments, fostering greater access to literature for children with print disabilities.

Speaking on the occasion, Fabiana Nolla Portillo, Director of Publishing at Gerbera Ediciones, said: “We are convinced that we all have the right to read and that is why inclusion is our driving force. We publish stories that explore childhood through friendship, bonds, diversity, humor, love and even fear. We are proud to be pioneers in the use of dyslexia friendly fonts which makes us the first children's publishing house with a totally inclusive profile in our country.”

In the initiative category, the Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities was celebrated for its enduring contributions to accessibility since its establishment in 1981. The jury praised its wide-ranging impact across sectors such as education, government, and business in Australia and New Zealand. Particular emphasis was placed on the resources developed by the Round Table to support the creation of accessible formats and its role in uniting diverse stakeholders through its annual accessibility conferences.

Reflecting on this recognition, Sonali Marathe, President of the Round Table, said: “This award acknowledges our commitment to making information accessible to everyone, ensuring that people with a print disability can fully participate in education, work, and leisure. We share this achievement with the incredible community of advocates, partners, and professionals dedicated to breaking barriers and advancing inclusion. Our shared vision of a more accessible world continues to drive us forward.”

About the ABC International Excellence Award

Award nominees were evaluated on the criteria of outstanding leadership and achievements in improving the accessibility of e-books or other digital publications for persons who are blind, have low vision, are dyslexic or have mobility impairments that impact their ability to read the printed word. The expert jury was composed of representatives of publishers, standards bodies and organizations representing people who are visually impaired, as well as accessibility experts. 

In 2023, the winners were Bokförlaget Hegas AB of Sweden, the Accessible Reading Materials Library, Chetana Charitable Trust of India, and the Kalimat Foundation of the United Arab Emirates.

Previous winners in the publisher category include Kogan Page and Constantine Editores (2022), Taylor & Francis Group (2021), Macmillan Learning (2020), EDITORIAL 5 (2019), Hachette Livre (2018), SAGE Publishing (2017), Elsevier (2016) and Cambridge University Press (2015).

Previous winners in the initiative category include Mr. Ashoka Bandula Weerawardhana of Sri Lanka and Dorina Nowill Foundation for the Blind – Brazil (2022), National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS) - Canada (2021), LIA Foundation - Italy (2020), ekitabu - Kenya (2019), Daisy Forum of India (2018), Tiflonexos - Argentina (2017), Action on Disability Rights and Development – Nepal (2016) and Young Power in Social Action – Bangladesh (2015).

The ABC International Excellence Award was previously presented at the London Book Fair between 2015 and 2020, at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2021, at the Guadalajara International Book Fair in 2022 and at the Sharjah Publishers Conference in the United Arab Emirates in 2023.
 

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 nearly 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, almost 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.

Subscribe to receive regular ABC news updates via email

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.