Last month the Congress of the Latin American Union of the Blind (ULAC) took place in Lim, Peru. The event, organized by WIPO’s Accessible Books Consortium (ABC) and ULAC, was focussed on advancing the Marrakesh Treaty and highlighted the ongoing challenges in making books more accessible across Latin America.
The conference gathered delegates from 19 countries to discuss strategies aimed at increasing the availability of accessible books, promoting Marrakesh Treaty’s objectives. The treaty facilitates the production and international transfer of specially adapted books—such as braille, audio, and e-text—making them more accessible to people who are blind, visually impaired, or otherwise print disabled. WIPO’s Accessible Books Consortium’s Global Book Service plays a key role in providing free access to these books worldwide.
German Bautista, ULAC’s Second Vice President, praised the ABC Global Book Service for reaching the milestone of over one million accessible titles, with 70,000 in Spanish. Pablo Lecuona of Tiflonexos stressed the need for affordable reading devices and better cross-border book sharing. Furthermore, Martin Moscoso, former Director of the Peruvian Copyright Office, called for renewed implementation strategies and stronger collaboration across sectors to expand access to reading materials.
Delegates agreed on several priorities including raising awareness about accessible books, improving distribution systems, and encouraging authors and publishers to embrace accessible formats. While there is still much work to be done, this event showcased the important steps being taken to making books accessible to all.
You can find more information on ABC page.