lunchBOX

lunchBOX: Hello, good day, and welcome to lunchBOX. On the menu today, we're delighted to welcome Martin Klopstock and Arthur Thompson from renowned business publisher, Kogan Page, for a suitably socially distanced lunch. Martin and Arthur are the mild-mannered masterminds behind Kogan Page's award-winning digital publishing workflow, designed with accessibility firmly rooted at its core. We'll find out all about their work, their favourite people, their reading habits, and, of course, we'll answer the burning question of the day: what do they like for lunch? Let's find out. Bon appetit everyone...

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1. Who are you and what do you do?

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MK: I'm Martin Klopstock, Operations Director at Kogan Page.

AT: And I'm Arthur Thompson, Content Solutions Manager at Kogan Page.

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2. How did you come to be involved in the world of accessibility?

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MK: We were always aware of the need for progress in this area, ever since the Marrakesh Treaty was announced. Latterly, we realized that when we were developing our own XHTML Schema it was possible to add accessibility metadata and features into our workflow without having to re-engineer it.

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AT: A few years ago, we began redesigning the production workflows for our print and ebook products. One of the aims was to create industry leading EPUB 3 files. After a little research, it became clear that designing ebooks for accessibility was tantamount to creating high-quality ebooks that would serve everyone. And so, accessibility became one of our primary goals.  

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3. What does accessibility mean to you?

MK: We have a responsibility as a publisher to reach the widest possible readership for the content we publish for our authors. Helping those readers who struggle with traditional printed books or digital content that has no accessibility features is therefore high on the list of priorities. Everyone deserves the opportunity to pursue goals they set for themselves and having accessible content is absolutely key in educational settings.

AT: One book format that can be read by everyone, with the same quality of reading experience.

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4. What has been your biggest challenge in promoting accessibility?

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MK: There was a perception that it would be expensive to implement. Once we had made the decision to develop our own Schema, the decision was much easier, as it was the schema development that needed to be costed, not specifically the accessibility dimension we added.

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AT: Making progress seem achievable. There is often the assumption when it comes to improving accessibility in ebooks and websites that it must be all or nothing. But it is possible to make piecemeal adjustments. One could focus on writing image descriptions or improving the structure and navigation. Small, simple changes can make a large difference to screen-reader users.  

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5. What’s been your biggest success in relation to accessibility?

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MK: Providing the best possible files we can to support readers with accessibility requirements. The other aspect is external recognition for our efforts: among these we count Global Certified Accessible™ accreditation, an ASPIRE award for our website accessibility statement and being this year’s winners of the IPG Digital Publishing Award for our Accessible Ebooks Programme. We are very proud of these achievements.

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AT: Most recently, being named the first UK publisher to receive Global Certified Accessible™ (GCA) accreditation from Benetech. This certification formally recognises the accessibility of our ebooks.

6. What is the most enjoyable part of your job?

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MK: Too many to list – but basically coming up with solutions to business related problems and challenges. These often involve inter-departmental communication and an awareness of all business critical systems and processes. Being part of an indy publisher makes this still (just) possible. Underlying this is the real satisfaction of helping colleagues, customers and (dare I say it) the bottom line. 

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AT: Learning. Specifically, when its for the purpose of finding solutions to difficult problems that have a beneficial impact on my colleagues or our customers. Working on accessibility has been extremely rewarding for this reason. It’s also pleasant when projects yield unexpected benefits. As I mentioned earlier, improving our ebooks for the print-disabled community has made the reading experience better for all readers, but it has also helped our writers reach a wider audience; the purchasing power of the disabled community is estimated to be $220 billion in the US alone but less than 10 per cent of all publications are currently accessible to people who are blind or have low vison.

7. How have you or your organization made a difference?

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MK: Internally by providing solutions in various areas (see above). The most recent example was to find a solution for continuing to fulfil web orders once our distribution centre closed down direct-to-customer fulfilment after the first lockdown. I hope my colleagues find me helpful and engaged and that they can approach me with any issue whatsoever.

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AT: I hope, by sharing knowledge. Martin and I have talked at various events, including London and Frankfurt book fairs, about our journey towards improved accessibility. We have also written case studies and articles on the creation of born-accessible workflows. The aim is to encourage other publishers to pursue a similar path and advocate for accessibility within their organisations.

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8. If you could click your heels and make one thing easier for yourself at work, what would it be?

MK: Mmmm – not sure, as my sense has always been that problems are like the snake hair of the Medusa: if you cut one off, two re-grow… but overall, it would be great if the critical business systems on which we rely allowed for faster customization.

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AT: When reading an ebook, the experience is governed as much by the interface (where readers read the content) as by the quality and accessibility of the ebook itself (the file the publisher produces). It would therefore give me peace of mind if every e-reading app, device and platform was made compatible with the latest accessibility standards. We could then ensure an excellent reading experience for every single customer. Usefully, epubtest.org has data on how well various reading environments perform in terms of accessibility. The results are mixed, but they are improving – accessibility has been pushed up the agenda in the past few years.