According to the World Blind Union, of the million or so books published each year in the world, less than 5 per cent are made available in formats accessible to people who are blind or have low vision.
Currently, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is holding a diplomatic conference in Marrakesh, Morocco, to conclude a treaty to facilitate access to published works for people with print disabilities.
Vision Australia’s Maryanne Diamond, General Manager International and Stakeholder Relations, and Immediate Past President of the World Blind Union is at the conference and is concerned that time will run out before issues that are crucial to the effective implementation of the treaty get resolved.
“We are here in Marrakesh for a very important reason. There is a book famine in the world for people who are blind. This diplomatic conference can end the crisis, but we need the treaty to clearly permit cross-border sharing of
accessible books both between organisations and directly from
organisations to blind or print disabled individuals."
"We are urging the delegates to negotiate a treaty, to stop debating and find agreement. We want them to remember who this treaty is for. It is for blind people, a marginalised part of our community."
View a YouTube clip of Maryanne Diamond, President of the World Blind Union (WBU), commenting on the negotiations for a new treaty to improve access to books for visually impaired persons (VIPs).
Background information
An end to the “book famine”
Even in 2013, people who are blind and others living with a print disability still have very limited access to books. Only some 7% of published books are ever made accessible (in formats such as braille, audio and large print) in the richest countries, and less than 1% in poorer ones. This is a “book famine”.
An international treaty for blind people
The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) makes treaties and other international laws on copyright
Back in 2009 the World Blind Union, Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay proposed a WIPO treaty to help relieve the book famine in which fewer than 1% of books are published accessibly in developing countries, and only some 7% in the most developed.
Briefly, the new treaty would:
- Allow specialist organisations to make accessible copies of books in all signatory countries
- Make it legal to send accessible books across national borders
- Still respect copyright law: it is not an attack on publishers!
- Make more books available for blind people