Include! 2023 speakers and programme

The speakers at Include 2023 conference range from legal experts to accessible publishing specialists and cutting edge technology inventors.

The conference takes place on April 24-25, 2023.

Monday 24th

On Monday 24th the event will start at 12.30 CEST. The registration desk is open from 10.30 am and there will be a light complimentary lunch available. The first day will end with some snacks and drinks at 17.30 CEST. Online stream is on from 12.30 to 17.30.

Speakers and schedule for Monday

12.40

  • Elin Cullhed, (Sweden), award-winning author of “Euphoria” will talk about reading and writing as life-changing experiences.

13.00 The changing legislation and requirements

  • Inmaculada Placencia Porrero, Senior expert at the European Commission will discuss the intentions and implications of the European Accessibility Act.

Coffee break

14.00-15.30 Accessibility through the value chain

  • Maija Lähteenmäki, Publishing Editor at Aalto ARTS books, (Finland) reminds us that accessibility is also editor’s business.
  • Gautier Chomel, Accessibility expert at EDRLab (France) will tackle the big topic with the presentation How to cope with backlist titles? ABELab, a research and development project
  • Lars Wallin, Colibrio (Sweden), discusses the accessibility in reading systems in Building Inclusive Reading Experiences

Coffee break

15.45-17.15 Accessibility of different contents and formats

  • Gregorio Pellegrino, Chief Accessibility Officer at Fondazione LIA (Italy) will discuss Accessible fixed layout books: dream or reality?
  • Panel discussion with representatives from the Nordic Publishing Industry; Anna Torsteinsrud, Bonnierförlagen (Sweden), Maija Lähteenmäki, Aalto ARTS Books (Finland), Morten Wendel Devantier, Gyldendal (Denmark), on the possibilities and challenges in accessible publishing.
  • Benetech, a presentation on making science and math books accessible.
  • Richard Orme, CEO of the Daisy Consortium, (United Kingdom) will reflect on the development of accessible digital publishin with Onwards and Upwards!

Tuesday 25th

Tuesday 25th is for the onsite participation only, no live stream will be available. The day will start with some coffee at 9.30 CEST. There will be workshops, discussions and demos until afternoon. We’ll wrap up at approximately 14.30-15.00 CEST.

Topics and speakers for Tuesday

10.00 Welcome to the second day of Include! 2023

10.05 Meet the readers!

Meet readers with print disabilities. Seize the opportunity to learn more about the users’ needs and how different accessibility features and tools work. Ask yourself if your production could become more inclusive thanks to the wishes of the readers? Welcome to join the conversation!

  • Anna Balte works at The Swedish Association of the Visually Impaired. She is also a member of The Swedish Braille Authority. Anna Balte reads braille, both printed and digital and will demonstrate how a braille display works.
  • Lina Ydrefelt In her daily work as school librarian, Lina Ydrefelt gives support to pupils with
    reading impairments, making sure they get the right tools and services.  Lina Ydrefelt has autism 1 and adhd and she gets the best reading experience by switching between reading with her ears and her eyes.
  • Mickaela Persson is a writer and a poet. Her debut collection of poetry was awarded with Katapultpriset 2022, the Swedish Writer’s Unions prize for a promising literary debutant. She is visually impaired, a tactile reader and writer.
  • Eva von Bahr reads via the accessible reading system Legimus. When she discovered titles with both sound and text, her reading changed completely. Eva will show you what she thinks is are some great examples of titles with these functions.
  • Catharina Åkerman is a teacher and uses books written in easy language to encourage her students to read. She has seen a huge development in the quality of books written in easy language. She will show us a few examples of some of the books that she uses in class.
  • Klas Nelfelt  is the chairman of The Association of the Swedish Deafblind. The Association is raising awareness about deafblindness and the different kinds of support needed by persons with deafblindness. Klas reads by listening. He wishes that more non-fiction would be available to listen to.

11.00 Andreas Ekström, speaker and educator for digital equality, on how AI may be transforming the publishing industry.

11.30 Jonas Manley, Head of sound production and IT at Nota, Text-to-speech in accessible books

12.00 Gautier Chomel, EDR Lab, EDRLab – A digital innovation laboratory for the publishing industry focusing on users needs.

12.30-13.30 Lunch break

13.30-14.00 Richard Orme, CEO, The Daisy Consortium. What’s in the toolbox? Learn more about useful tools and programmes for ensuring the accessibility of your epubs.

14.00-14.40 Image descriptions – Changed plans due to illness, more info TBA.

14.40  Marius Bredsdorff, sound technician at Nota, Hearing Comix.