Nominations are now open for the 2025 ABC International Excellence Award for Accessible Publishing. This global award recognizes a publisher and a project initiative that have demonstrated exceptional leadership and achievements in advancing the accessibility of commercial e-books or other digital publications for persons who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print-disabled.
The winners of this prestigious annual award will be announced at the World Blindness Summit organized by the World Blind Union during its gala dinner to be held on September 3, 2025 in São Paulo, Brazil. The decision of the selection panel, composed of experts in the field of accessibility, will be based on the following criteria:
- a commitment to making content available in accessible formats;
- accessibility standards built into production systems to make books accessible on, or close to, publication date;
- collaboration with partners in the supply chain to ensure that accessibility is maintained in delivering the product to the print disabled end-user;
- innovative practices established to advance the accessibility of e-books and digital publications; and
- widespread positive impact on persons who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print-disabled.
ABC especially encourages nominations of companies and organizations based in developing or least-developed countries. Individuals are not eligible for an ABC award nomination. Previous ABC award nominees that made the short-list are strongly encouraged to reapply. Past ABC award winners will not be considered for the award a second time.
Nominations for the publisher and project initiative categories should be submitted by completing the application form 
(also available in French and Spanish ) and mailed to Accessible.Books@wipo.int by Monday, July 14, 2025.
Past recipients of the ABC International Excellence Award for Accessible Publishing represent a diverse and inspiring group of global leaders in accessible publishing. In the publisher category, previous winners include Gerbera Ediciones (2024), Bokförlaget Hegas AB (2023), Kogan Page (2022), Taylor & Francis Group (2021), Macmillan Learning (2020), EDITORIAL 5 (2019), Hachette Livre (2018), SAGE Publishing (2017), Elsevier (2016) and Cambridge University Press (2015).
In the initiative category, previous winners include the Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities (Australia and New Zealand, 2024), Chetana Charitable Trust (India, 2023) Mr. Ashoka Bandula Weerawardhana (Sri Lanka, 2022), the National Network for Equitable Library Service (Canada, 2021), LIA Foundation (Italy, 2020), eKitabu (Kenya, 2019), DAISY Forum of India (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 International Publishers Association Congress in Mexico (2024), the Sharjah International Book Fair (2023), the Guadalajara International Book Fair (2022), the Frankfurt Book Fair (2021) and the London Book Fair (2015 – 2020).
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 225,000 accessible digital files from the ABC catalogue to persons with print disabilities through its authorized entities in 2024. 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 the World Blindness Summit
The World Blindness Summit and World Blind Union (WBU) General Assembly, scheduled for September 1–5, 2025, in São Paulo, Brazil, stands as the premier global gathering for the blind and partially sighted community. Under the theme “A fragile world, an unbreakable movement: together towards inclusion,” this significant event will convene advocates, experts, and leaders to discuss advancements in accessibility, inclusion, and human rights. Co-organized by the National Organization of the Blind of Brazil and the Paralympic Committee of Brazil, the summit will take place at the Distrito Anhembi Convention Center, conveniently connected to the Holiday Inn São Paulo Parque Anhembi. Attendees can look forward to an extensive assistive technology exhibition, showcasing the latest innovations designed to enhance independence and quality of life for blind and partially sighted individuals. Beyond serving as a platform for making connections and exchanging knowledge, the event will play a crucial role in shaping the future strategic direction of the WBU, making it a key event for the international blindness movement.
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.