Materials on accessibility for today's call

Dear Publishing Business Group,

 

In prep for our calls, I wanted to provide some information and links. I can speak to this today.

 

 


Best Practice technique for extended descriptions


 

First, a new best practice for extended descriptions is available. This is the technique on how to do it. It is not guidance on what to insert in the extended description.

 

Technique for including extended descriptions in EPUB. <https://daisy.github.io/transitiontoepub/best-practices/extended-desc/ExtendedDescriptionsBestPractices.html> 

 


File In Document Out (FIDO) AI is now freely available 


 

Second,  DAISY wants to share information about a wonderful tool that people should know about.

 

The DAISY Consortium is pleased to announce that File In Document Out (FIDO) AI is now publicly available for Windows and macOS.

Developed by the DAISY Consortium, FIDO uses AI to accelerate the conversion of PDFs, EPUBs, and other formats into accessible formats such as Word and EPUB, automating tasks like document structure, page numbers, tables of contents, image placement, and both short and extended image descriptions. Individuals and Organizations are reporting dramatic time savings—reducing work that once took days to just hours—while reinforcing that FIDO is a powerful time‑saving accelerator, not a replacement for skilled accessibility review. 

FIDO supports both local AI models and cloud APIs, and includes a Word add‑in for Windows to help refine headings and image descriptions as part of existing workflows.  When FIDO is installed, there is the option to add this functionality to the Word ribbon.

 

Learn more and download FIDO at:

https://daisy.org/activities/software/fido/ 

 

 

 



 

George Kerscher Ph.D.

-In our Information Age, access to information is a fundamental human right.

Chief Innovations Officer, DAISY Consortium

 <http://www.daisy.org/> http://www.daisy.org

Senior Advisor, Global Literacy, Benetech

 <http://www.benetech.org/> http://www.benetech.org

Email:  <mailto:kerscher@montana.com> kerscher@montana.com

Cell: +1 406-544-2466