Large print books - an amazing update
When I first learned about the Custom Eyes service, I had an email exchange with them about how they struggled to get publishers to give them access to their files, and so from that moment, I set myself a personal goal to do everything I could to get them access to files. Was this a lofty and absurd goal for a single person? Absolutely. But I hoped that working in tandem with the goal I’d set for myself as a freelancer: to be positive and to carry myself into every situation with the confidence of a mediocre, middle-aged white man – I hoped I’d be able to move the needle slightly in a positive direction.
The thing is though, this wasn’t a confidence or skills issue, as on this particular issue, I am incredibly qualified, both professionally and personally to tackle this exact problem. I’ve said time and time again over the last two years or so, that I can’t, in good conscience, sit still at this particular intersection and not use what I know and who I know, in collaboration with my ‘big mouth’ and sparkly personality traits of stubbornness, tenacity, sense of justice and confidence to affect some positive change for something I am passionate about for my son (whom I hope will proud of me one day) and others.
That being said, I still had no idea how to approach achieving the goals I’d set for myself but I thought that if I started talking about it as much as I could, to anyone who would listen, and even those that wouldn’t – in real life, online, on Linked-In, in a blog, out to the universe – that maybe I’d find a way. Hard-work, research and determination have always been my go-to tools for every situation I find myself in. Maybe one day, I’d send the right combination of words at the perfect time to the correct person and it could start something that would lead to the change I wanted to see.
So, two years ago, I started blindly (intentional pun) sending emails to anyone and anywhere I could think of or find. Sporadically. Just asking questions about what was available in large print format or otherwise for my visually impaired son who loved to read. Lots of emails to libraries and to the various charities I’d been put in touch with along our journey – mostly getting back emails with links that were hoped might be helpful and other advice. But the more research I did, the more I realised the huge chasm that existed for accessible picture books.
The initial result was frustration on behalf of my son and that he lived in a house FULL of books – books he wanted to read – but half of them he couldn’t visually access. Of course, some of that was quite literally my fault. I’d be reading with him and would come across a page he would be unable to see, and I’d be transported back in time to the meeting moments when developing that book. When the questions of black text legibility against a dark background was discussed and it was always the design aesthetic that won out against the readability of the text. That was the concession we made at the time, agreed to and didn’t see anything wrong in that decision, which given what I know now, seems ludicrous (see a previous post on easy changes to books to make them more accessible.)
My research provided me with glimmers of light though. I could see that by the time he will be reading pre-teen novelisations or black and white fiction, they’d all be accessible for him, as those formats are available as ebooks, where he can make the text any size he wants. The glimmer of light though was quickly obscured by thoughts about how I could go about continuing to build and maintain his love and enjoyment of reading without appropriate accessible picture books for him for the first 7 or 8 years of his life: the line in publishing is always that this is such a crucial time for building a life-long reader. And it is.
Next came the direct emails to publishers, asking them about what they do or supply for books in terms of accessibility for children’s picture books. Finding anything on their accessible format or options, in the majority of cases for publishers’ websites, involved looking and searching deep into the pages of their websites, scrolling down to the bottom to the fine print, downloading PDFs… it wasn’t, and still isn’t, easy to find. It took time, effort and the knowledge that you only have as a publishing industry insider that these sorts of books are possible and things that should exist.
Often, what all this effort and time achieved were a (very) few emails in reply that these things weren’t available or something that was being looked into, accompanied by the line that they were committed to offering accessible options but these were often for black and white fiction only.
Sometimes, I didn’t receive replies.
Sometimes, it was just an acknowledgment that these things don’t exist.
Sometimes it was a link to the few books that were available in ebook or PDF in Bookscan.
Back then, in dark moments where the glimmer seemed entirely extinguished, I consoled myself with confidence that at least when he got to school, EHCP in hand, there would obviously be things in place to supply large print editions of the books used in the classroom.
A meeting with school showed me that this confidence of mine was misplaced and I wrote about this here.
Little Wandle Letters and Sounds
My interaction with Little Wandle was different to all the other interactions I’d had – they immediately engaged with me actively, exchanged several emails, asked me questions and acknowledged the issue and said they’d speak to Big Cat, HarperCollins about a solution. I got the sense immediately that I had pointed something out to them that they weren’t aware of but that they were determined to come up with a solution. I suggested Custom Eyes to them as a possible option, and at that time, I’d also started talking to Huw Alexander at the Publishing Accessibility Action Group who informed me that Custom Eyes were in touch with HarperCollins. It was all falling into place, I hoped.
I could tell from my research and deep-dive into Little Wandle that this was an issue that would be important to them; the week all this kicked off, in fact, they’d been awarded a prize for their SEND provision, which at the time, incensed me since for my own SEND child, their books were inaccessible.
But, as it turns out, I’d finally come up with the right combination of words, sent to the right person working for the right organisation at the right time.
I do acknowledge that I have been a huge pain in the arse for Little Wandle, especially when I sent an angry mob of parents and concerned citizens in their direction, who bombarded them with emails over 3 or 4 days. In my defence, I originally thought I’d only be able to convince 5 or so people to email … and before I knew it, it spiralled beyond what I thought was possible or feasible. The number of people – other parents, friends, acquaintances, people I knew from my school days whom I hadn’t spoken to for years and former colleagues who actually worked in publishing – who just assumed, as I did, that large edition formats would be available in schools and were alarmed enough about this situation to lend their names and time to sending an email on the behalf of this cause astounded me. I cried a few times (I’m an emotional soul) as I felt overwhelmed by this support, especially after feeling alone in this fight I’ve taken upon myself for so long. To each of the people who emailed for this, I am so deeply grateful for your time and I owe each of you a big favour.
I also spoke to the CEO of my son’s school (who is a headmaster and works with OFSTED in some capacity too) and even he was surprised that large print books weren’t available when I attended a session he led for SEND parents of the school and ranted passionately about this issue. He reminded me of the old adage that the squeaky wheels are the ones that get oiled, and that was what sparked my outraged email campaign.
But as much as I acknowledge my role in sending an angry mob at Little Wandle and HarperCollins, I won’t apologise because these are all small steps on the way to the joyful outcome which is that large print editions of all the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds will be available for RRP via Custom Eyes.
And, it isn’t just large print editions, but fully customisable editions to accommodate the various needs of the SEND reader – which I know will help so many children to learn to read in a way that is accessible and comfortable for them and their needs. It’s an outcome I’d dreamed about but for a long time I didn’t think was possible or feasible, especially in this timeframe. When I spoke to my former publisher about this issue a few years ago, she warned me that what would take the most time would be the legality and copyright issues involved in getting permission from all the authors and illustrators to make these editions. And that this would be a huge cost for the publishers; thus such a proposition would have big barriers. But to quote River Song, spoilers! as I found out yesterday, the Print Accessibility Act is a thing of beauty and negates all that.
So, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks and gratitude (again) to all at Little Wandle, HarperCollins and Custom Eyes at Guide Dogs UK who worked to get this project up and running, resulting in access to fully customisable and accessible books for more children who need them. As I told Little Wandle when they emailed me with this news, I have cried and shed many tears of pure joy at this news.
To add a cherry to this already sundae of delight, we now have a successful blueprint for how providing accessible books for children in the classroom is possible in publishing. So if I may take a second to remark about how honoured and proud I am to have played my small part in all this, I also wanted to declare that my self-appointed work and advocacy for accessible books will not end here. And if you work in publishing or for a phonics scheme, expect to have an email drop into your inbox from me in the near future.