WIPO Accessible Books Consortium — Cross-Border Exchange of 500,000+ Accessible Titles Under the Marrakesh Treaty

The Accessible Books Consortium (ABC) was launched by WIPO in June 2014 as a public-private partnership with six founding members, including the World Blind Union, libraries for the blind and organisations representing publishers and authors. It puts into practice the Marrakesh Treaty (adopted 2013, in force 2016), which permits cross-border exchange of accessible formats without publisher permission.
Its ABC Global Book Service is a free online catalogue through which authorized entities, meaning libraries for the blind, search, order and exchange books in Braille, e-text, audio and large print. WIPO reported 238,000+ titles in 55 languages among 12 participating organisations in its magazine article, and on 2 April 2020 announced that 500,000 accessible works in 76 languages were available for cross-border exchange, with 90+ countries then covered by the Treaty.
The problem remains large: the World Blind Union estimates that under 10% of published materials are available in accessible formats, about 90% of people with print disabilities live in developing countries, and WIPO's own example contrasts roughly 18,000 accessible books in India with 184,084 held by the US National Library Service. Access is restricted to people who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print disabled.
Evidence caveats: the sources give catalogue and participation counts, not measured outcomes such as reading, education or employment, and the figures come from the operating organisation and a sector news outlet rather than an independent evaluation.

Read the full analysis: https://www.accessiblebooksconsortium.org/