Millions of readers with disabilities can now easily identify accessible e-books on Amazon, thanks to new accessibility metadata displays for titles that meet Benetech's Global Certified Accessible (GCA) standards.
The move comes as publishers face increasing legal pressure to make digital content accessible, positioning accessible publishing as both a competitive advantage and a necessity as new laws such as the European Accessibility Act and expanded digital accessibility requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act drive industry momentum toward universal accessibility.
Amazon's accessibility metadata appears in a dedicated section when customers click "See all details" on book pages, then select the "Accessibility" tab with "Learn more" option.
Benetech administers the GCA program as the first independent, third-party certification system for accessible e-books. The nonprofit works with publishers worldwide to integrate accessibility specifications into production workflows and certifies ongoing compliance. Amazon's decision to display this metadata ensures that readers vision impairments or dyslexia can easily find and access titles that work seamlessly with screen readers and other assistive technologies.
While all big five publishers produce accessible e-books, Simon & Schuster is the only publisher to have earned GCA certification from Benetech. S&S began working with Benetech in 2018, and earned GCA certification in 2022.
"Simon & Schuster's current ability to provide high-quality accessible content is a case study in the power of incremental progress and long-term planning," said Alex Del Negro, director of e-book development at S&S. "Accessibility has been a focus for us for years, and Benetech's guidance, expertise, and advocacy helped navigate and shape this new and necessary frontier."
The publisher, which releases some 800 titles per year, is moving from certifying about 60% of its catalog annually in 2022-2024 to 100% in 2025, meaning every S&S e-book is now "born accessible." The company has also implemented a process to review backlist titles and, as of today, has delivered approximately 3,600 accessible e-book titles. It says its goal is to make all active catalog titles accessible by 2030.
The publisher's accessibility process initially faced challenges with alt text generation for images, requiring coordination across departments beyond Del Negro's e-book team. S&S now uses AI-assisted image recognition with human review to generate alt text and long descriptions, though Del Negro views this as a temporary solution until the process moves upstream to involve authors and editors earlier in production.
"As the only GCA-certified major trade publisher in the U.S., they set the bar for the industry and show what's possible when accessibility is built into every book from the start," said Michael Johnson, VP of content at Benetech.
The European Accessibility Act has increased visibility around accessibility requirements, making it easier to secure internal support for necessary process changes across departments. Del Negro emphasized the incremental nature of accessibility progress.
"If you're just starting now, you start small. You take the first step. Since 2018, we're still evolving seven, eight years later, and we'll continue to do that," Del Negro said. "But every change is a positive change."
