Where would you keep a valuable book or document if you had one? You are certain that you want to conserve it in the best way possible to ensure that it will last for many generations. A safe box or a library archive may be appropriate for tangible property, but what about digital assets?

Because of the expansion of global computer networks and high-speed Internet in recent years, there has been a significant demand for digital information. This online migration has prompted multinational technology companies to digitize books in order to make them available to the general public.

According to a 2018 infographic on world reading habits by Global English Editing, African mobile users spent an average of four million hours reading books on their mobile phones in 2018, representing a 32% increase from 2017.

As the demand for mobile reading increases as a result of COVID stay-at-home requirements, we are reminded of the importance of inABLE’s inclusive mission to empower blind and visually impaired youth through computer assistive technology and to promote digital accessibility in Africa. Nonetheless, despite the amazing digital age progress that we all enjoy, barriers to inclusive education remain. Too many educational and interesting books are still out of reach for our students who are blind or have low vision.

Fortunately, inABLE has discovered a way to increase the supply of accessible books through a collaboration with the Daisy Consortium, which trains our inABLE-Africa computer program team on how to convert analogue books into digitally accessible content. This month-long online training (held during COVID-19 school closures) included lessons on validating documents with the Accessibility Checker and Non-Visual Desktop Access (NVDA), as well as converting word documents into accessible EPUB files.

“We can now check, fix, and advise on digital accessibility issues for all PWDs,” says Carol Ngondi, Computer Instructor at inABLE.

Written by: Esther Mwangi, inABLE Public Relations Officer