Announcement: New Release of the Digital Publishing - Accessibility Metadata Crosswalk

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce the latest release (March 26, 2026) of the Digital Publishing - Accessibility Metadata Crosswalk. This resource remains a cornerstone for ensuring that accessibility information is preserved and discoverable as it moves between Schema.org, ONIX, and MARC 21.

Key Improvements in This Release:
This version includes several critical updates to align with evolving standards, some of which go beyond what is listed in the formal Change Log:

Expanded Conformance Mappings: We have added comprehensive mappings for WCAG 2.1 and 2.2 (Levels A, AA, and AAA), ensuring modern compliance standards are accurately represented.

New Guidance on Bidirectional Mapping: A new section provides clarity on the conceptual equivalence between vocabularies, specifically addressing the challenges of "round-tripping" data (e.g., the nuances of mapping ONIX code 09 to Schema.org).

MARC 21 & RWPM Updates: We have updated best practices for MARC 21, including the use of field 856 for certifierReport, and introduced references to the Readium Web Publication Manifest (RWPM) for JSON-based distribution.

Refined Definitions: Definitions for core properties like accessMode and accessModeSufficient have been updated to maintain parity with the latest Schema.org vocabulary.

A Special Note of Thanks
This update is the result of an immense collaborative effort. I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to our co-editors for their continued leadership:

Madeleine Rothberg (WGBH)
Gautier Chomel (EDRLab)

I would also like to call out several individuals whose specific expertise was vital to this release. A huge thank you to Chris Saynor for his invaluable contributions to the ONIX mappings, and to Christopher Carr for providing his deep technical expertise on MARC.

Finally, a very special thanks to Matt Garrish. This project owes a great debt to Matt for his tireless work across the entire specification; his dedication and oversight have been instrumental in bringing this update to fruition.

We invite you to explore the updated crosswalk here: Digital Publishing - Accessibility Metadata Crosswalk<https://www.w3.org/2021/a11y-discov-vocab/latest/crosswalk/> [1].

Please forward this to any other group or individual who may be interested in this updated accessibility metadata crosswalk.

Best regards,
Charles LaPierre (co-editor)
Principal, Accessibility and Content Quality Architect
Benetech

[1] https://www.w3.org/2021/a11y-discov-vocab/latest/crosswalk/