- [Ben] Hello everybody,
and welcome.
Thank you for joining the webinar today.
My name is Ben Steward,
and I'm the Chief of Staff to Bodour Al Qasimi,
who is the current president
of the International Publishers Association
and the founder of the Kalimat Publishing Group,
which is based in the UAE.
I'm your host for today's webinar
called Accessible Publishing in Africa, The Fundamentals.
Okay, so let's get started.
This webinar is the first step in a new partnership
between the Africa Publishing Innovation Fund,
which is an initiative that I manage,
that is led by the International Publishers Association
and the DAISY Consortium.
The webinar will support you African publishers
in your pursuit of greater publishing expertise.
You'll learn how accessible publishing practises
mean your publications can be read by people
with print disabilities,
including blindness low vision and learning disabilities.
And this introductory session will be followed
later in the year by detailed technical training
for those that want it,
and that comes with the possibility of financial support
from the APIF to produce
and bring accessible works to market.
We have a lot to cover today,
so I will hand over very right now to our panel
and ask them to introduce themselves.
- [Martin] Hello everyone.
My name is Martin Kieti,
I'm speaking from Nairobi Kenya.
I work as the programme manager for Africa,
for Benetech, a nonprofit that works towards
provision of accessible digital content.
I self-identify as someone with low vision
and therefore a beneficiary of accessible publishing.
Thank you.
- [Richard] Hello everyone.
My name is Richard Orme,
I'm speaking to you from England.
I'm the Chief Executive of the DAISY Consortium,
an international nonprofit organisation
focused on accessible publishing and reading.
And I'm also proud to be a member of the UK's
Publishers Accessibility Action Group.
Okay. Well, let's give you a quick overview
of what we'll cover in this session.
After some important welcomes, we'll get started
with an introduction to accessible publishing,
before diving deeper into all about print disability.
And we'll learn how people with print disabilities
could read your publications, before then,
learning about some accessible digital publishing practises.
We'll cover some next steps in this initiative,
and we'll also, as Ben mentioned,
go through some questions and answers.
So, let's start with our messeges of welcome
from distinguished persons,
beginning with Bodour Al Qasimi,
president of the International Publishers Association.
- [Bodour] Hello everyone, I am delighted to be addressing you today
at the start of this important training webinar
on the fundamentals of accessible publishing in Africa.
For far too long, people with different reading disabilities
have mostly gone unsupported and unnoticed
by the book industry, governments, and NGOs.
Thankfully, this is now changing.
There is a great consciousness about the need
to accommodate those with reading disabilities
in the books and material we publish.
But, while publishers have begun to understand
that producing accessible books
is a moral and legal obligation,
we also realized that making different formats of books
also has a sound business case,
as it expands the publishers’ product offering range and reach.
So, the business opportunities are tremendous
given the significant global gap in demand and supply of accessible books.
The IPA is a staunch proponent of book accessibility.
We were one of the founding members
of the Accessible Books Consortium,
which was launched as part of the implementation of the Marrakech Treaty.
And through the IPA African Publishing Innovation Fund,
IPA recently announced the theme
of this year focusing on projects promoting accessibility.
The IPA’s Inclusive Publishing and Literacy Committee covers many areas,
an essential part of which is book accessibility.
They are working hard alongside many colleagues
to make book accessibility an integral part of publishers’ business models.
Our motivation is based on the principle
that everyone has the right to read a book
in whatever format is accessible to them.
Our goal is to keep supporting any initiative
that promotes this fundamental right.
There is a broad consensus that the next big economic growth will be in Africa,
not just because of its natural resources….
it’s also because of its human resources.
The majority of the African population are young
and will be driving the continent’s future,
so providing them with all the necessary tools and access to knowledge…
to all of them without exception…
will go a long way to unlocking their potential and that of their continent.
So…. I want to thank all of you for being here today
and congratulate you on your willingness
to promote book accessibility in your businesses and communities.
Thank you, Daisy Consortium, for partnering with us for this webinar
and for the excellent work you do
to educate and raise the profile of this crucial subject.
We are launched on a crucial path now…
a path of inclusion where literature and knowledge
are open to everyone regardless of their circumstances.
So good luck to all of you,
and I look forward to seeing the impact of these training sessions soon.
Thank you
- [Richard] The second of our welcome messages
is from the African Publishers Network.
- [Ernest] My name is Ernest Oppong,
Acting Executive Director of African Publishers Network.
On behalf of APNET Chairman, Mr. Samuel Kolawole,
I welcome you organisers, trainers
and participating publishers across Africa,
to this Accessible Publishing kickoff webinar.
African Publishing Innovation Fund, APIF,
an initiative from International Publishers Association, IPA
has contributed positively to African publishing
booths, libraries, among others.
APNET is grateful that this core of APIF
has been expanded to capacity building of African publishers
on accessible publishing for readers with print disabilities
including blindness, low vision and learning disabilities.
Publications for the visually impaired in Africa
have not received much attention and interest
by many African publishers.
However, we believe that this capacity building
will positively change the story.
APNET is thankful to African Publishing Innovation Fund,
International Publishers Association
and DAISY Consortium for organising this project,
and we are glad to partner them.
Thank you.
Y3da mo ase! Merci! Danke!
- [Richard] Well, thank you Bodour and Ernest
for your words of welcome and encouragement.
So let us begin then with our journey
towards accessible publishing.
You know, in developed countries,
digital publishing is big business,
and it has been for some time.
Back in 2011, e-book sales in the US
overtook print sales for the first time,
and this has continued ever since.
And in the UK last year where I'm speaking from,
sales income in the education sector grew by 1% for print,
but by a massive 28% for digital.
And the increasing digitization of books
and educational information is contributing to the growth
of the digital publishing market.
Conversion of publications into digital formats
contributed to a change in learning methods
from traditional printed textbooks
and expanding to digital modes,
such as e-readers, smartphones and tablets.
For instance, due to COVID lockdown,
in mid 2020 across the globe,
the sale of physical books has gone down
as most of the publishing houses and book stores were closed
and readers spent most of their time reading e-books.
In India, the sale of physical books went down by 80%
and sales of e-books had almost doubled during the lockdown.
Earlier pre-COVID,
e-books or online newspapers and journals,
were popular among younger people,
but during COVID-19 older people too, got aligned to this.
And therefore, this trend is expected to be continued
post COVID-19 also,
thus driving the market for digital publishing
during the period.
Among the people benefiting from this trend
are people with disabilities,
who find it difficult to read print books,
but can read digital books,
if they're produced using accessible publishing principles.
Later, we'll learn from publishers for the reasons
that they're on board with accessible publishing.
But first, let's learn more about print disabilities.
Over to you Martin.
- [Martin] Thank you, Richard.
So let's begin, like Richard said,
with what it means to be a person with a print disability.
And the definition that is becoming increasingly adopted
is that a person who has a print disability is:
"a person who cannot effectively read print
because of a visual, physical, perceptual, developmental,
cognitive, or learning disabilities."
Therefore people with print disabilities include
those people who cannot see the text of a printed book
because they have blindness or because they have low vision.
It includes people who cannot read the text of a book,
due to a learning difficulty, such as dyslexia.
And it also includes people who cannot hold a book
or turn pages, which means they cannot manipulate a book
due to physical disability.
And on the next slide,
you will see individuals with print disabilities
who are reading and they're reading accessible books.
So, basically some of these people that we gonna meet
with print disabilities have different kind of needs
when it comes to accessible publishing.
Would you proceed to the next slide, please.
Good.
So, according to the World Health Organisation,
approximately 26.3 million people in the continent alone,
have a form of visual impairment,
it's called a large population.
Of these, 20 million have low vision,
so about 20 million people have low vision
among other people who have a visual disability.
And to read your publications,
persons who love vision require to increase the text size
and to adjust the colours, what we call background colours,
in order for them to able to read comfortably.
- [Richard] So, this is an image on the screen
of a regular e-book on a smartphone.
And the text is pretty small
and there's black text on the white background.
But because it's an accessible publication,
I can increase the size of the text,
I can increase the line spacing
and I can change to white text on a black background,
which reduces the glare,
which is necessary for many people with low vision.
So here we have a regular book in a regular reading app
and someone with low vision
is able to adjust the way the book is presented to them
to suit their own individual reading needs.
Martin, back to you.
- [Martin] Thank you.
So on the next slide,
we have a person at a desk using a computer with headphones,
and you can also be able to see icons down there
of the different devices that people can use reading,
you know, smartphone, tablets, and a basic phone.
So according to the World Health Organisation,
approximately 5.9 million, almost 6 million people,
in the continent are totally blind.
So this is basically the difference
between 26 million total number
and about 20 million who of low vision.
And for blind people, to read accessible books,
they're able to use programmes called screen readers.
And as screen reader is an application that allows people
to access what is being shown on their computers,
on their tablets and also own their smartphones,
and that also includes some of the basic phones
that have capabilities for using accessible
or access software.
Thank you.
- [Richard] So, we thought you might be interested to hear
how a screen reader sounds,
as a blind person reads through a book.
So a screen reader uses a computer voice
to read out the text that's on the display.
So, let's hear how that sounds as I read through this book.
- [Computer Screen Reader] Heading level three
Case Study 4: Nairobi, Kenya.
- [Richard] So there, it told me the heading
and it actually told me that this was a heading
and the heading level it was in.
I'll move down to read the next sentence.
- [Computer Screen Reader] Nairobi,
the capital city of Kenya was founded in 1899
and is now home to circa 4.4 million residents.
- [Richard] Now, most people who use a screen reader
would be listening at a much faster speed than that.
But sometimes we come across a word
that we're not quite sure about,
maybe we didn't hear it or we want to spell it out.
Well, the screen reader will allow a blind person also,
to spell the words on the screen.
Let's hear how that sounds.
- [Computer Screen Reader] R-E-S-I-D-E-N-T-S-.
- [Richard] Okay. So that how a screen reader sounds,
you know, you can also use a screen reader
with electronic braille
and Martin will now tell us about that.
- [Martin] Thank you.
So what you have on this slide
are fingers on top of an electronic braille display device,
and an electronic braille display device allows a reader
who requires to read in braille, to feel and read content
that is generated through the device
and displayed or a braille display device.
This particular gadget is called an Orbit Reader,
which is one of the many devices available
for people with total blindness to read braille.
The device can be connected to a smartphone,
as you can see on the photo for those are able to see that,
and it can also be used in isolation
for someone who's got a card that already has the content
and they slot it into the device.
And the device also be used with the screen reader software,
if it is on the phone,
and some of these devices also have capabilities
for screen to enable much easier reading.
- [Richard] So refreshable braille devices,
how do they work?
Well, they control small plastic pins,
and they push these pins up to form
the various braille patterns
that can be red with the fingers.
And we see some close up images of this now,
and there's the Orbit Reader again, being read.
And here is a group of young women
in Pretoria, South Africa,
who are so excited to read braille
on their electronic braille devices.
Their fingers are eagerly filling
and reading the braille on this device.
In recent years, electronic braille has come to Africa.
And for example, the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust of Africa
has developed refreshable braille devices
to 2,200 children and young adults in 200 schools
across Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Malawi.
Okay. So let's move now to learning disability, Martin.
- [Martin] So, you are seeing on the screen,
the photo of a person who's reading with a device.
And people with dyslexia, for instance,
who form a large category
of people with learning disabilities,
require the ability to connect
between text and the pronunciation of the text.
And by using accessible content that is well programmed,
they're able to read easily
between basically,
to connect between the words and the content.
They're able to customise text layout
and Read Aloud features to be able to highlight
and follow each text as it has been read by the system
or by the device they are using.
- [Richard] Okay. So let's see a short demonstration
of Read Aloud, working in a digital book.
- [Computer Read Aloud] The senses of smell and taste
are closely linked.
If you've ever temporarily lost your sense of smell
because of a bad cold,
you've probably noticed that your sense of taste
was also disrupted.
Even a hot fudge sundae tastes bland.
- [Richard] So what we saw there,
was the screen that had been adjusted
in terms of its colours and font.
And as the voice was reading out,
bit different to the screen reader,
we see a highlight that highlights each word as it's spoken.
And this whole way of reading,
using both sight and listening
is something that really reinforces the reading skills
of people with dyslexia and aids their comprehension.
And as Martin mentioned,
adjusting the layout on the screen
and the presentation on the screen
can really help the reading.
So, here I have an image of an e-book
in a different e-reader.
This publication has produced
using accessible publishing principles,
and someone with dyslexia may prefer to make the text
in the display bigger,
so I'll do that now.
They may like to change the colours,
unlike people with low vision,
typically, often people with dyslexia
like a lower contrast reading environment.
So, a light blue or a light brown background
is often preferred.
They also might like to choose a familiar font.
So I'm choosing a font here, which is called open dyslexic,
or it may be that someone prefers a sans serif
or a serif font.
What's important here is,
the individual is able to choose a font that works for them.
And there's a lot of research that says that, you know,
a shorter line length is easier for some people
with specific learning disabilities,
to be able to understand the text.
Well, we don't wanna print a different book
for every individual and their own individual requirements,
but the joy of accessible digital publishing
is that the user can personalise the display.
So here in the standard programme, I'll choose wide margins,
which will now give me a really short line length,
and I have my perfect reading environment.
Okay. So back Martin to you,
to talk about physical disability.
- [Martin] Thank you Richard.
So people with physical disabilities, like we said earlier,
are people who are not able to hold, turn,
or manipulate a book,
as these are people who might have spinal injuries,
who might have paralysis or any other conditions that,
such as muscular dystrophy,
that might hinder them from using
and manipulating a book like any other persons.
And so, for these people,
accessible books enable them to access and interact
with content in much more easier forms.
As you can see on the screen,
this slide shows someone using a mouth switch
to control their computer.
This is a person with paralysis from the neck downwards,
which means they're not able to hold
and they're not able to manipulate a book.
And so, with accessible books and appropriate devices,
they are able to read comfortably like any other person.
- [Richard] So, now we've met several people
with different print disabilities,
let's review how they could read your publications.
So with your books, if they were produced
using the principles of accessible publishing,
persons with low vision could increase the size of the text
and adjust the colours.
People who are blind could use screen readers
to listen to the text or feel the text with their fingers,
using refreshable braille displays.
People with dyslexia or other learning disabilities
may customise the text layout and colours and font,
and they may use Read Aloud.
And people with physical disabilities
could use switch or voice control technology.
The great news is that,
by making your digital titles accessible,
they're all able to read your publications.
The same book can be read by people without disabilities,
and those with disabilities.
Not a special version for people with disabilities,
it's the same book that can be read through vision,
through listening or through touch.
We sometimes refer to this as reading with eyes,
ears, and fingers.
So how is this possible?
Well, to make accessible digital books,
you use regular software and file formats
that are used in the publishing industry.
And because the publishing industry has developed standards
and specifications that support accessibility
for people with disabilities,
you can then follow these accessible practises
to make sure your publications are accessible.
Some of these examples of accessibility practises include,
ensuring that text is text.
So sometimes we see in an inaccessible title,
there may be an image of text,
and the problem with this is,
images of text can't be read by assistive technology,
nor are we able to do things like,
change the font or the colours and so on.
So we make sure that all the text content
is included as text, not as pictures of text.
A second great principle to follow
is to provide good structure.
This means using the features
of your digital publishing software,
to use headings and headings at different levels,
to make sure that when there is a list,
this is encoded and marked up as a list within the title.
This means that someone who is reading
using a screen reader, for example,
they'll hear when they enter into a list
and they'll be told how many items are in there.
If you include tables in your publications,
maybe in textbooks,
you make sure that you include a table as a table,
and not as a picture of a table,
because a table is accessible to someone
who is using assistive technology.
They're able to navigate around
and hear the column headings and the row headings,
but only if it's been included
using the appropriate accessible publishing techniques.
And if you have links in your publication,
maybe to jump to another part of the title
or to an external resource, don't just have it as the text,
make sure it's a live link.
This really aids the navigation,
not just only for people with print disabilities,
but for everyone.
Images.
Should you include images in an accessible book?
Yes, you should.
Images can make the title much more easier to understand,
can make it more interesting and exciting for people,
and also for people with learning disabilities.
People who are blind, aren't able to see those images,
so it's important then to include short text descriptions,
to make them accessible, where they convey meaning.
And in the training that Ben mentioned,
we'll show you how to do this.
And so these are just some examples
of accessibility practises,
if you follow these and more, you'll be doing great work.
So the last point on this slide
is to provide accessibility metadata.
This is providing information about your title,
which you will do at the moment, anyway.
You'll be talking about the title and the offer,
and the rights and so on,
where there are also standards to include information
about your title in terms of accessibility.
If you've done the work, tell people about it,
let them know that the title is accessible,
that it has described images, for example.
And this means that people who are purchasing titles
for a course, or if they're doing procurement,
they'll be confident that they will be buying books
that can be read by everyone.
So we mentioned earlier,
that it would be good to hear from some publishers
who are already publishing accessible titles,
the reasons that they talk about,
why they're doing this.
And in their welcome messages,
Bodour and Ernest gave compelling reasons
why publishing in Africa has to address the needs
of people who are currently left behind.
But let's hear from other publishers
why their companies have addressed accessible publishing.
And one of the reasons that are given
is to reach more readers.
The market for accessible content is large.
More than a billion people in the world
are living with some sort of disability,
according to the World Health Organisation
and the World Bank,
and if your publications are not accessible to them,
well, you are limiting your market.
The second reason given by publishers
is to comply with the law.
And legally you'll find that many and increasing markets,
require digital content to be accessible to everyone.
Designing accessibility practises into your workflow,
means that accessibility
will just become one of the building blocks
that make up your digital content workflow.
The third reason is meeting purchasing requirements.
And with accessible content being necessary
for government contracts and many education institutes,
it makes good practise sense
to ensure that you can meet the terms of those contracts.
To enhance the image of your company.
Well, business reputations are greatly improved
by creating products and services
that are accessible to people with print disabilities.
Ethically and morally it's the right thing to do,
but we see publishers are no longer stating accessibility
in terms of contract compliance,
they're using it as a brand differentiator,
and they're proud to say
that they produce accessible titles.
And making accessible e-books is also making better e-books.
Accessible publications contain
not just the text of the book,
but structure information and metadata.
And having high quality files
creates a richer digital archive and legacy of your work,
and it makes any future necessary transformation
into new formats in the future,
less costly and difficult,
with far greater possibilities for automation.
Better e-books
will improve their longevity in a marketplace,
and by including accessibility features within your content,
you'll enhance the user experience for everyone,
leading to more sales and improved reputation.
And, you know, accessible publications
impact in the supply chain too.
Benefits will have a positive impact
throughout the supply chain.
A well structured digital file,
won't be rejected by vendors down the line,
and if it meets certification standards,
it will sail into the marketplace without a hiccup,
and they may even get privileged positioning
within the marketplace.
And finally, as I mentioned, promote your good work.
When you've ensured that your publications are accessible,
then declare this,
using that accessibility metadata
to give yourself a competitive edge,
with enhanced search engine discoverability
to attract new users to your content.
And so, this is the case that publishers use
within their businesses and within the industry,
and I hope some of these ring really true for you.
So in this presentation,
we are covering the fundamentals of accessible publishing,
and I hope that by now you feel a little bit more informed
about the need for accessible publishing in Africa,
and how persons with print disabilities
can read accessible publications,
and I hope you are inspired for your publications
to be accessible to persons with print disabilities.
The webinar is just a taster session,
we wanna help you though on your journey
with more training and more advice.
Soon, we'll be offering more free webinars
that will dig deeper into accessible publishing concepts,
including demonstrations of, for example,
adding image description and adding structure,
dealing with languages and testing for accessibility.
And the webinars will be complimented
by a free online training course,
where you can take lessons at your own pace.
And be offering small group training to assist publishers,
to make accessible titles,
using familiar software and free tools,
and will be providing technical support
via email and WhatsApp
to answer your question
and help solve problems that you may encounter.
We'll tell you more about next steps
in this initiative at the end,
but for now let's check if we have any questions
for our panel.
- [Ben] Thank you, Richard.
Okay. So I have a question here for you.
You mentioned some accessible publishing principles,
how complicated is it to produce access accessible books?
- [Richard] Okay.
So there are, as I mentioned already,
that there are standards and best practises
that are already established,
and in most cases you can use the tools
that you already have in place, if you are a publisher.
So this might be Adobe InDesign,
it might might be Microsoft Word, for example.
And there are free tools that can be used
together with those software applications.
As I mentioned in the coming months,
we'll be providing training to show the techniques
that you can use to make your publications accessible,
and we'll provide you with support if you have questions.
But remember, so there is a bit of a learning curve,
but by learning the techniques for making accessible books,
you are learning skills that will make better publications
for all your customers,
and I think that's what we refer to as a win-win.
- [Ben] Okay. Thanks, Richard.
I think this one is best directed at Martin.
The accessible reading experiences we've seen today,
rely on children and adults with print disabilities
having access to technology,
is this realistic in the African context?
- [Martin] Thank you, Ben.
Yes. Africa is currently experiencing a high influx
of digital technology, especially personal devices.
Some countries like, like Kenya are in the top twenties,
I think, in device and connectivity around the world,
and so, we have access now,
and as you have heard from this discussion,
it is not necessarily that someone
should have a specialised device to read accessible books.
The smartphone at home, the tablet at home, the laptop,
or the computer somewhere down the road,
are all devices that people can use
to read fully access books.
So, the use of access books in Africa
is becoming increasingly possible
as a result of the mainstream devices
that are penetrative to most countries.
In addition, likewise,
we have quite a good number of organisations and governments
that are now understanding the need
to enhance access to content as a right,
and so they're providing more specialised devices
for people to use in education, in employment,
and in their leisure.
So, this is becoming a big demand within the continent
that books need to be made accessible
because increasingly, there are platforms
that people can use to read accessible content.
- [Ben] Okay. Thank you, Martin.
I've got time for a couple more questions, I think.
They're starting to come in thinking fast now.
Can existing textbooks be turned into accessible books?
How would you deal with the length or extent of the book?
- [Richard] So I'll take that Ben.
So, absolutely. Yes, and in fact,
maybe for those that are gonna participate in the training,
let's use titles that you are already publishing
and turn them into accessible titles.
This is common practise.
Of course, the best approach is to build accessibility
into your workflow as you produce a new title,
but the legislation that's coming in in Europe shortly,
for example, will impact on the BAT list.
So publishers are now busy going through
their existing published titles
and converting them to accessible titles.
And of course, the amount of work will depend
on the complexity of the title, the length,
and what they're starting with.
Also, the question made reference
to the length of the title.
You know, I have seen huge titles,
really complicated titles, you know, scientific, technical,
lots of university textbooks, and so on, you know,
the digital formats don't have a problem
with the length of a title.
In some ways it's much easier to read a title like that
or access a title like that,
when it's in a digital form,
'cause you have all the superpowers of navigability,
search and bookmarking.
So the consumer experience for a big title
can be really, really good.
- [Ben] Great. Thanks Richard.
You've got a couple of questions as well,
which tend looking like they're sort of,
veering towards the technical.
For instance,
please elaborate on metadata for accessible books.
Can you suggest any software or apps
that could be used to create braille
and how do we control sharing of e-books?
I would suggest that those will be addressed
further down the line when we get more technical,
but unless you, not sure,
Martin, would like to take any of those points now.
- [Richard] We are gonna have so much fun
in our later sessions, digging in,
and we'll be able to do questions like that,
a lot more justice.
So, I suspect what we need to do is,
let's keep up the kind of introductory level.
We have answers for all of these,
you know, come back for more.
I think to try and answer them now,
we probably wouldn't give you a full answer.
So- - [Ben] Okay.
All right. So why don't we...
I'm afraid we don't have time to take all the questions,
but we'll, I'll pick one more.
Is there an existing catalogue of accessible books
by African publishers?
If not, might this be a potential partnership area
for the DAISY Consortium and IPA?
- [Richard] Well, you know,
this concept of knowing which titles are accessible
is a really powerful one and this, you know,
without going on about it too much,
this is where accessibility metadata really comes into play,
because for some people what's really important is,
the book is reflowable and they can make the text bigger,
but they may not require the images to be described,
this could be someone with dyslexia, for example.
For someone else, the fact that a book has accessible images
is really, really important,
so telling information about the accessibility properties
of your book is important.
And I think, the general thrust is let's make sure
that the catalogues that are used in libraries
and book sellers, expose accessibility metadata,
then we don't need a specialist catalogue
for people with disabilities,
they can use the main kind of, retail and library platforms,
and then we can all see which titles are accessible.
And for those people that are asking questions
that we don't have time for,
we will be writing to you individually with answers to them,
so please don't feel like we've left you hanging,
we'll respond to all of the many questions
that we have flowing in right now,
but Ben, as you say, we can't handle all of these.
It's great to have such an engaged audience.
- [Ben] Yes, indeed. Brilliant.
Thank you all for your questions,
and like Richard said,
we will endeavour to get back to everyone that's written one
and has been frustrated here by not receiving an answer.
So, quickly moving on.
We have to talk about next steps initiative.
So, we will send an email
to everyone who registered for the webinars,
I say webinars, plural, because as you know,
we've got two more of them coming up
in different languages tomorrow,
the day after, French and Arabic,
if any of you wish to attend in those languages.
The email will include a link to a form
where you can enter the details
about your company and organisation,
and we'll ask you about the titles
you currently publish and the software you use.
So we wanna get a picture of where you are,
on your accessibility journey.
We want to make sure the training
that we organise down the line is relevant to you,
so we'll use this information to help us sort of,
inform that training.
By providing us with your contact information,
we will be able to write to you again,
with information about the free training and support
that will be offered in the coming weeks.
Everything will be free
and at no point will you be asked to pay.
Okay.
Unless, I think that's it.
So, we're at the end of our time for today,
so again, I'd like to say "thank you"
to everyone for attending,
to our wonderful presenters,
which include Bodour Al Qasimi,
to Richard and to Martin and to Ernest,
please do take the time to complete the survey
when you receive it, it's very important.
And let us know if you'd like to apply
for the training and support
that we are making available for free
under this initiative.
In the meantime, thank you for your time.
Stay safe, be well, have a wonderful rest of the day.
Take care. Goodbye.