The DAISY Regional Network for Africa, an initiative aimed at expanding access to accessible reading materials and promoting inclusive education across the continent, will be officially launched in Johannesburg, South Africa, on September 28, 2026.
The event, which will take place at the Emperors Palace Convention Resort in Johannesburg, ahead of the 2026 Conference of the International Council for the Education of People with Visual Impairments (ICEVI) Africa, scheduled for the same venue, will bring together education leaders, publishers, policymakers, librarians, disability advocates, and accessibility experts from across the continent.
Organized by the DAISY Consortium, a global consortium of organizations working towards equal access to information and knowledge regardless of disability, the initiative is intended to serve as a collaborative platform for advancing accessible publishing, strengthening regional partnerships, and improving learning opportunities for persons with print disabilities.
According to the DAISY Consortium, the new regional network will bring together governments, educational institutions, publishers, libraries, organisations of persons with disabilities, and technology specialists to coordinate efforts to increase the production and availability of accessible books and other learning resources throughout Africa.
The launch programme will feature discussions on the Visionary Learning through Technology framework, demonstrations of innovations in accessible book production, and presentations on strategies for expanding access to inclusive educational resources.
Participants will also explore opportunities for collaboration between publishers and international partners to improve the availability of accessible reading materials and facilitate access to global knowledge resources.
The organisers said that during the event, stakeholders will work together to help define the priorities and future direction of the DAISY Regional Network for Africa, in order to ensure that its programmes respond to the continent’s diverse educational and accessibility needs.
The DAISY Consortium is an international non-profit organisation that develops standards and technologies for accessible publishing and reading, and has worked with partners worldwide to promote the production of digital publications that can be used by people with print disabilities through text-to-speech, braille displays, and other assistive technologies.
The launch of the African regional network builds on years of collaboration between the Consortium and African publishers, educational institutions, and accessibility organisations to promote inclusive publishing and capacity building.
Previous initiatives have supported training for African publishers to produce accessible electronic publications (EPUB) and strengthen the continent’s accessible publishing ecosystem.
Participants at the Johannesburg event are expected to discuss practical measures for increasing the availability of accessible educational content, encouraging publisher participation in inclusive publishing, promoting the adoption of international accessibility standards, and strengthening cooperation among African countries.
The organisers said the network would also seek to foster innovation in accessible publishing, encourage knowledge sharing and support implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty by improving access to published works for persons with print disabilities across Africa.
