Inclusive publishing is important. We’ve all encountered situations where we’ve run into a barrier when trying to use a service, a tool, a gadget, or a system. These can be a source of frustration. Sometimes we can find a workaround that is simple and effective. Sometimes the system releases a new version that addresses the problem and things are happily resolved.
When it’s something that we’ve created or built ourselves, we have the idea that we should improve as we go. And while this is a helpful and valid notion, there are many design problems that should be pulled forward into the initial development phase so we’re addressing that at the earliest possible stage.
This is where inclusive design comes in: not as an afterthought, but as a core principle from the very beginning.
Design has evolved over time from designing for the sake of invention, to designing with a group of people in mind, to designing for a specific audience, to designing with a user base to meet a defined need or problem. The direction of travel is towards greater collaboration and a more organic sense of community driving which challenges we address and how we address them.
The publishing industry has wrestled with many problems in this area, particularly around how to build wider audiences and appeal to a broad spectrum of people in inclusive ways. This reflects the wider drive towards accessibility across the creative sector, particularly in terms of collaborative design.
In publishing, the conversation around inclusive design has often focused on content: whose stories get told, whose voices are included, and who has access to the tools of authorship. The bounds of what is considered a book or a text have widened considerably with the broadening of design thinking and the diversity of audience needs to be met. Increasingly, attention is also turning to format and delivery. Who gets to read, or hear, the stories? And in what ways?
There has never been a greater set of tools and supports available to drive inclusive publishing. But knowing where to start, far less which options to choose can be daunting. And how do we make sure we’re making good design decisions from the outset to best develop tools that support our diverse communities?
Personalised audiobooks hold great promise for inclusive publishing because it is adaptable by nature. They can meet a broad set of use cases, and invite users to co-create the experience, blending professional-quality production with the intimacy of personal storytelling. It also needs to work with specific users to better tailor and develop the next generation of publishing products. As part of that journey, voice technology can build that community connectedness while taking the initiative and defining what publishing can be. It is why the focus has always been on creating connection and inclusion.
This is an excellent opportunity for the sector to enhance their range of tools to support inclusive publishing, influencing the development of a critical new approach at a vital juncture. The way to solve these challenges is through collective effort focussed on meeting the needs of our audiences through collaborative design approaches. Through this, excellent solutions can be developed with personalised audio offering an exciting new frontier to explore.