Today is World Book Day, a celebration of authors, illustrators, books and reading. It is marked in over 100 countries all over the world.
However, for one group of Australians the number of books they can enjoy is severely limited. The process of choosing what to read is best described as a coin toss rather than an informed decision. The World Blind Union has described the situation as a “book famine”.
While over 333,000 Australians are blind or have low vision, only 5% of books in Australia are ever converted into readily accessible formats, such as braille or audio. Outside of Australia, there are 285 million people in the world who are blind or have low Vision. Around 5% of books are made accessible in the developed world and around 1% in the developing world.
In June 2013, 186 countries made a commitment to help remedy this problem by working with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) to develop a treaty to loosen international copyright laws on books published in accessible formats.
While, 51 countries signed what is commonly referred to as the Marrakesh Treaty, none have yet ratified this treaty which will enable organisations to share books directly with individuals who are blind or have other print disabilities as well as enable the international exchange of books between relevant organisations.This will significantly expand the choice of books available for people with print disabilities to read.
This World Book Day, on behalf of Vision Australia I urge the Australian Government to ensure Australia takes a leading role in ending the book famine by signing and ratifying this important treaty.
Maryanne Diamond, General Manager of Advocacy and Engagement at Vision Australia and the Immediate Past President of the World Blind Union.