Big news from the world of accessibility metadata: September saw the release of the Public Draft of the User Experience Guides for Displaying Accessibility Metadata 2.0, a significant milestone in our efforts to make ebooks accessible to all readers.

These guidelines are the result of the work of the W3C Publishing Community Group with key input from Fondazione LIA: Gregorio Pellegrino, LIA’s Chief Accessibility Officer is co-editor of the document. They offer valuable guidance on how to present ebook accessibility information clearly and consistently across different distribution channels (such as online bookstores, platforms, and reading apps) to the end users. The idea is that for the same accessible ebook, the end user can find the same accessibility information across the different distribution platforms where the ebook is available.

The metadata to describe the accessibility features of ebooks are many (over 50) and often highly technical, resulting in little understanding for the end user. This complexity risks making crucial information inaccessible to the very people who need it most. The new guidelines, following an approach taken by the Fondazione LIA more than 10 years ago, address this challenge by simplifying and grouping metadata into categories that are intuitive for end users. For example, instead of presenting mathematical formulas in MathML or those described separately, the guidelines suggest grouping them under a single heading related to scientific content.

This approach allows a technical and potentially daunting list to be transformed into clear and useful information, enabling all readers, regardless of their technical knowledge, to quickly understand the accessibility features of an ebook and assess whether it meets their specific needs.

Why are these guidelines so important?

The answer is twofold. First, with the impending enactment of the European Accessibility Act in June 2025, publishers and retailers will be required to provide detailed information on the accessibility of digital books. These guidelines are a valuable tool to help the entire publishing supply chain meet these new regulatory requirements.

Beyond the legal aspect, there is an even more important goal: to enable all readers, especially those with disabilities, to easily find books suitable for their needs. Presenting accessibility metadata in a consistent and understandable way across platforms will greatly improve the purchasing and reading experience for all.

The Guidelines

The guidelines are designed for a wide range of players in the digital publishing world: from publishers’ websites to ebook e-commerce platforms, from digital libraries and lending platforms to ebook reading apps and software developers. The goal is to create a coherent ecosystem in which accessibility information is consistently presented wherever a reader might encounter an ebook.

The guidelines are divided into two parts: the Principles and the Techniques.

The Principles document provides a high-level overview of how to present accessibility metadata to end users. This document is intended to be understood and used by anyone involved in the ebook publishing and distribution process, from product managers to user interface designers. The Principles outline best practices for grouping and presenting ebook accessibility information clearly and consistently, regardless of platform or specific context.

Techniques, on the other hand, are more technical and detailed documents specifically for developers. Currently, two sets of Techniques are available: one for EPUB Accessibility Metadata and one for ONIX. These documents provide precise instructions on how to implement the Principles using metadata-specific standards.

LIA’s commitment

Fondazione LIA played a central role in the development of these guidelines. Gregorio Pellegrino, LIA’s Chief Accessibility Officer and co-editor of the document, made a key contribution by bringing LIA’s experience in the field of digital accessibility to the metadata field, which began with collaboration with EDItEUR back in 2011 on the definition and creation of Onix’s CodeList 196. Again, LIA promoted and facilitated EDItEUR’s involvement in the W3C working group to ensure that the guidelines were aligned with what was already available in terms of descriptions of accessibility features in the most widely adopted standards in the publishing world.

From the beginning of this work, he also solicited and listened carefully to feedback from Italian users with visual impairments, ensuring that the guidelines met the real needs of readers. In addition, aware of the importance of a coordinated approach at the international level, it promoted dialogue between different entities in different countries that were working in anticipation of the implementation of the European Accessibility Act, to the definition of national guidelines. This made it possible to avoid duplication of efforts and to create a document that reflects best practices at the global level.

Public Draft

The Public Draft is now available for community review and we strongly encourage you to read it and provide us with your valuable feedback: w3c.github.io/publ-a11y/UX-Guide-Metadata/draft