Amazon announced to its partners two significant updates on Publish to Kindle (P2K), available from March 31 and aimed at improving catalog management for publishers and enhancing accessibility for readers:

• ONIX upgrade: P2K will now support ONIX 3.1, in addition to ONIX 3.0 and all revisions up to 3.0.8. This upgrade aligns P2K with the latest industry standards.
• New accessibility metadata: publishers will be able to include detailed accessibility information for their digital books through ONIX 3.1, the Excel template, or directly in the P2K interface. This enhancement ensures that digital books meet global accessibility standards, making content more inclusive and user-friendly.
  The implementation is based on the W3C Display Techniques for ONIX Accessibility Metadata 2.0 guide.

How to display the accessibility metadata to end-users

After ingesting the accessibility metadata, it is essential to present this information to end users in an understandable way. The Accessibility Metadata Display Guide for Digital Publications 2.0, recently released as the third and final public draft by the Accessibility Task Force of the W3C Publishing Community Group, serves as the industry reference for displaying accessibility metadata.

The co-editors of these guidelines are: Gregorio Pellegrino (Fondazione LIA), Christopher Saynor (EDItEUR), Gautier Chomel (EDRLab), George Kerscher (DAISY Consortium), and Charles LaPierre (Benetech).

Why this update is so relevant

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) requires that every ebook must be accompanied by accessibility metadata, namely information describing its accessibility features so that everyone can determine if a digital publication meets their needs. This information has to be displayed in product pages of ebooks.

With this enhancements, digital books on Kindle meet compliance with the EAA taking effect on June 28, 2025, while also improving the reading experience for all audiences.

A training course on accessibility metadata and strategies for implementation

Fondazione LIA is organizing the course: “Accessibility Metadata Display: Strategies for Implementation” on March 24th, 2025 (2.30-5.30 pm CET).

This course will provide a comprehensive overview of how to distribute and effectively display accessibility metadata throughout the digital publishing supply chain, based on the Accessibility Metadata Display Guide for Digital Publications 2.0.

By combining theoretical knowledge with practical examples and implementation techniques, participants will develop both a solid understanding and actionable skills for effectively displaying accessibility metadata in their digital publications.

The course will be held by Gregorio Pellegrino and Christopher Saynor, co-editors of the guide.

For more information about the course: www.aie.it/Cosafacciamo/Corsieformazione/EnglishCourses/Courses2025.aspx