The APACE project is among the finalists of the International Excellence Award 2025 for accessible publishing, as announced today by the Accessible Book Consortium (ABC).

The ABC Award is the most prestigious award for accessibility in the publishing industry and is now in its eleventh edition. Each year, a publisher and an initiative are selected for their leadership and achievements in promoting the accessibility of e-books and digital publications for people with print disabilities and visual impairments.

In 2024, the winner of the Publishing Award category was the Argentine publishing house Gerbera Ediciones, for its “focus on inclusivity, especially for children and young readers.” In the Initiative Award Winner category, the first prize went to the Australian initiative Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities, for its “long-standing contribution to accessibility since its foundation in 1981.”

This year, APACE is among the finalists for the first prize in the Initiative Award Winner category.

The shortlist

In the Publisher category, the finalists are:

• Canada: Éditions Les 400 Coups
• Colombia: DADO Editorial Sensorial
• United Kingdom: Royal Yachting Association/RYA Publications

In the Initiatives category, the finalists are:

• European Union: Accelerating Publishing Accessibility through Collaboration in Europe (APACE)
• India: Mitra Jyothi
• Trinidad and Tobago: National Library and Information System Authority (NALIS)
• United Kingdom: RNIB Bookshare

The winners will be announced on September 3 in São Paulo, Brazil, during the gala dinner of the World Blindness Summit, hosted by the World Blind Union.