Fondazione LIA project director Elisa Molinari accepts the 2025 ABC International Excellence Award for Accessible Publishing in the Initiatives category at São Paulo. Image: Fondazione LIA
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
See also:
Accessibility: BISG, EDItEUR, and STM Join Italy’s Fondazione LIA
In Italy, Working ‘APACE’ on the Eve of Europe’s Accessibility Act
Italy’s LIA and APACE: Accessibility Programming at Fiesole
Europe’s APACE: Only One in Four Publishers Produces Accessible Ebooks
Accessibility: Italy-Based Fondazione LIA Hits Its 10th Anniversary
Mussinelli: ‘An International Network of Expertise’
Our internationalist readership at Publishing Perspectives is well aware of the work of the decade-old nonprofit Fondazione LIA, Milan-based organization that—with the June 28 implementation of the new European Accessibility Act—has quickly moved to the fore of issues and debates around accessible reading for those who are blind and otherwise visually impaired.
Overnight at the World Blindness Summit seated in São Paulo, Fondazione LIA’s new APACE project co-funded by the European Union through Creative Europe, was named the winner of the 2025 ABC International Excellence Award for Accessible Publishing in the Initiatives category.
This is a major honor in its field, promoted by the Accessible Book Consortium (ABC) and led by the World Intellectual Property Organization‘s (WIPO) in Geneva. As WIPO’s announcement of the award today (September 4) points out, APACE brings together publishers’ associations in Germany, Italy, and Bulgaria, connecting three libraries for the blind: Dedicon in the Netherlands, Accessibility Library Celia in Finland, and the Lithuanian Audiosensory Library.
As WIPO’s article reads, “The jury in particular praised APACE’s collaborative model of seven partners in both the publishing and library sectors, located across six countries. Through training, resources, and cross-border cooperation, the project aims to equip organizations to embed accessibility in their day-to-day practices.”
And that, of course, was a core element of the APACE conference organized at Fiesole by Fondazione LIA in June.
Elisa Molinari
Elisa Molinari, LIA’s project director and coordinator of the APACE project, was on-hand to receive the award in São Paulo, saying, “Accessibility succeeds when we work together.
“APACE has created a strong European network that helps publishers and libraries face the challenges of accessibility with confidence and purpose.
“This award celebrates our shared commitment to ensuring that every reader has equal access to books.”
Cristina Mussinelli
In speaking about the award and the foundation’s program, Fondazione Lia secretary general Cristina Mussinelli, today says, “The APACE project was born out of the international network of expertise developed around LIA, which for more than 10 years has been supporting publishers in the creation of accessible digital publications, and collaborating with the entire supply chain to make the experience of choosing, purchasing, and reading accessible.
“I would like to thank in particular the Italian publishers’ association, the German publishers and booksellers association, the Bulgarian Book Association, the Dutch company Stichting Dedicon, and the Finnish and Lithuanian libraries for the blind, which are partners in the project and whose commitment has been fundamental to the success of the initiative.”
The Association of Italian Publishers (Associazione Italiana Editori, AIE) established Fondazione LIA in 2014, in collaboration with the Italian Blind and Visually Impaired Union (Unione Italiana dei Ciechi e degli Ipovedenti, UICI).
Innocenzo Cipolletta
And today, AIE president Innocenzo Cipolletta, says, “This award confirms AIE’s commitment to accessibility issues.
“Giving everyone the opportunity to access a wide and up-to-date catalogue of texts is—even before it becomes a legal obligation with the entry into force of the European Accessibility Act—a strategic commitment for those who, like us, believe in the centrality of books and the value of inclusion for the development and growth of democratic communities.”
The winner of a second ABC award, the publisher award, went to Colombia’s DADO Sensorial.
At Frankfurt: Fondazione LIA Events
At Frankfurter Buchmesse, Fondazione LIA and its APACE project will make a presentation on Frankfurt Wednesday, October 15, from 4 to 4:30 p.m., with Publishing Perspectives moderating.
- The program, Voices From the Inside: What’s Next for European Accessibility Publishing? is set in Frankfurt Studio, on ground floor directly off the Agora, Hall 4.0. Descriptive text about the program: “The European Accessibility Act (EAA) is no longer on the horizon—it’s here, and it’s transforming the publishing landscape across Europe. In this dynamic 30-minute fireside chat, representatives from the publishing industry will discuss how the industry is adapting now that the EAA is in force. The conversation will dive into the critical areas that still need to be addressed, how national implementations are unfolding, and differences emerging across countries.”
- That event in Frankfurt Studio will be followed by A Meet-Up on Accessible Publishing, Quality Assurance, and Metadata. “Participants are invited to join a networking event with international colleagues and accessibility experts. This meet-up will provide opportunities to raise questions, challenges, and solutions when it comes to quality assurance, metadata, and accessible publications. After the walk-in with drinks and a snack participants can choose between two thematic tables led by accessibility experts.”
- Fondazione LIA is exhibiting this year in Hall 4.0, G34. Appointments are available in which trade visitors can book discussions with LIA experts on accessibility, a chance for publishing professionals to ask LIA experts about accessibility goals and best solutions to challenges, using YouCanBookMe.
More from Publishing Perspectives on trends and issues involving accessibility in world book publishing is here, more on the work of Fondazione LIA is here, and more on issues and publishing in Europe is here.
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