At the opening of the Effractions Festival, the contemporary literature festival organized by the Public Information Library (BPI) of Paris, the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union is organizing a day of meetings and round tables dedicated to the most interesting issues concerning the future of the book.

The event, What Are the Challenges for Books and Reading in Europe?, will be held on February 24th. Here you can consult the entire program of the day.

Experts and professionals will be invited to discuss five themes: “Booksellers and Europe”, “The Role of Libraries in Sustainable Development”, “Steps Towards Implementing Inherently Accessible E-books”, “Translation Contributing to a European Culture” and lastly “Books and Freedom of Expression”.

A round table on born-accessible e-books

Earlier this month, the French Ministry of Culture has inaugurated its six-month presidency by organizing the forum “Innovation, technologies and multilingualism”. One of the issues of the event was how a common sense of belonging to Europe can be formed through the inclusion and participation of all in culture .

The interest in disability by French Presidency is now reconfirmed with the organization of around table that gathers international experts to talk about born accessible e-books.

Publishing natively accessible digital books: preparing for the implementation of the “accessibility” directive

(Éditer des livres numériques nativement accessibles : préparer l’entrée en vigueur de la directive “accessibilité”)

February 24, 2022

Time : 14:00 – 15:45 CET

The round table will be moderated by Laurent Le Meur, Technical Director of EDRLab, and will feature a panel including:

• Anne Bergman-Tahon, Director of Federation of European Publishers (FEP)
• Cristina Mussinelli, Secretary General of Fondazione LIA
• Fernando Pinto da Silva, Vice-president of the National Consultative Council of Disabled People in charge of the accessibility
• Ted van der Togt, researcher at the KB National Library of the Netherlands, expert in digital publications and accessibility.

The panel will discuss the steps for implementing the requirements of European Accessibility Act, at each stage of the supply chain: from production of born accessible e-books to the user experience with reading applications. The topic of metadata will also be dealt with, which allows the reporting of accessibility features so that the user can make the choice that best suits their needs.

The entire seminar will be held online. Simultaneous translation will be provided in French, English, German, Spanish and Italian.

More information and the registration form will be available from February 22nd at this address: https://presidence-francaise.consilium.europa.eu/en/events/what-are-the-challenges-for-books-and-reading-in-europe/