How to Write (and Publish!) More Accessible Books
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Not long ago, the following Facebook message landed in our inbox:
Hi FriesenPress — I’m wondering if you have any tips or advice on accessible ways to write a book. I recently had an accident that broke both of my arms; I have an urge to write, but I’m having trouble finding tools that might help me.
We responded with as much detail as we could, but this great question was worthy of further inquiry and could have wider application beyond a one-to-one conversation.
For folks living with temporary or permanent disabilities, writing and reading books can be a significant hurdle to tackle. In one outstanding example near and dear to us, “the man in the iron lung” and FriesenPress author Paul Alexander typed his entire manuscript one letter at a time with a pen in his mouth. Talk about perseverance!
While there are plenty of authors who still draft their novels with notebook and pen, we’d like to highlight some tools that can make drafting your novel easier if handwriting or typing may not be accessible. And once the book is written, we also want to touch on things all authors can do to make sure readers of all kinds can engage with your text.
Accessibility Writing Tools
While data entry services (such as those offered by FriesenPress) can support authors who have hand-written or old typewritten hard copies that they need transcribed into a live digital format, other aspiring authors need help getting the words on the page in the first place.
Customized software and hardware is available, from “dark mode” or large font settings that make screen reading easier on the eyes to braille keyboards and dyslexia-friendly fonts. Depending on your needs, there is likely an assistive tool out there that can make your drafting experience more accessible.
Here we’ll focus on a few that can be useful to all authors.
Dictation Software
For authors who want to literally “tell” their story, writers who struggle with typing, those with visual disabilities.
Using any kind of keyboard may be a significant challenge for some authors. Dictation or speech-to-text software may provide a useful solution. Options like Windows Speech, Microsoft Word’s Dictate feature, or the Dictation tool on Apple devices are available by default on all newer computer models. These enable you to click the record button and start speaking; the software then uses your computer’s microphone to transcribe your spoken words in real time.
You’ll need to be able to speak clearly and to verbally organize your thoughts to make the most of these tools. As far as this technology has come, they may still stumble over homophones, colloquialisms, or conlang (created language) names or terms. You’ll need to review what it has typed on your behalf to make corrections as needed, but these reviews should limit the amount of use needed on a mouse or keyboard.
Depending on the nature of your project, you might consider recording each chapter in a separate document to more easily organize your content later. You can also consider recording a spelling guide for names that the software misspells to aid your editor in correcting.
Read Aloud Software
For authors who want to hear how their text sounds, writers with visual impairments, those with attention deficit disorders.
Conversely, if you have difficulty reviewing what’s on the screen, text-to-speech or “read aloud” software reads what’s on the page to you through your computer’s speakers. Both Microsoft Word and Apple’s Pages include this feature as a default. Like the dictation equivalents, they are generally reliable, but they may struggle with the pronunciation of certain words or formatting choices. Poetry, for instance, is likely to sound very disjointed when read aloud through this software.
However, the fact that the machine is not human can provide invaluable clues to places where your writing may need some revision. Overly long sentences will wind up with awkward reading breaks. Repetition of the same sentence structure or length or even of close-repetition of the same word will jump out auditorily when your tired eyes may not have noticed.
You’ll be able to adjust the reading voice, accent, and speed to suit your audio-processing preferences. For those who are able to see the screen but find “subtitles” helpful for comprehension, playing the read aloud while visually reading along with the text can also help you catch errors like homophones, duplicated words, or missing letters or words. Scanning along in this way also enables you to make edits as you go. Simply click to other sections of the document for further review (such as for citations or footnotes).
Cloud-based Word Processors
For authors on the go, writers squeezing drafting into busy schedules, middle-of-the-night ideas, and those working from their phones or tablets.
Software like Dabble Writer or Google Docs enable authors to have easy access to a live document that they can add to, edit, and export to Word’s docx format when ready. These cloud-based word processors can be accessed from any computer or smartphone with an Internet connection, which prevents a writer from needing to copy a document between machines — and worse, possibly overwrite the wrong copy of the file in the process.
By logging into your working document, you can jot down ideas as they strike. These services also provide offline modes for when you don’t have an active Internet connection and sync once you’re again online. And if you’re working with a co-author, these softwares also provide the option to invite your fellow writer (or reviewer) to the document to either draft together or leave notes that you can review and implement as you see fit.
Keep in mind, these word processors are stripped back compared to Microsoft’s Word or Apple’s Pages and lack the features necessary for complex formatting, citations, and cross-referencing. For those who are less familiar with traditional word processors or less confident with computers, their simplicity can be easier to learn how to use. If using them on a smartphone, you can even use a stylus to tap the keys rather than needing to use a full keyboard.
Accessibility for Readers
While print trade books are still the most popular reading format, you can broaden your book’s reach by offering additional formats or special editions that make your text more accessible to readers who, for various reasons, don’t engage well with traditional print formats.
Here we’ll cover the alternate ways readers can engage with books. Not all of these formats may feel suitable, depending on your subject matter and intended readers, but we hope you’ll think more broadly about your design and promotions choices to see if there might be a segment of your audience who is currently underserved.
Audiobooks
Audiobooks are the fastest growing segment of the book industry for a reason. They make books accessible to people who struggle with print reading, including those with dyslexia, visual impairments, memory issues, or who cannot hold the book in their hands when they have reading time. This enables some readers to engage with your book while multitasking (such as helping them get through their chores or commute). For others, it engages different areas of the brain, which can improve comprehension and retention.
Not every subject will work well as an audiobook—a math textbook full of complex equations, for instance—but most general audience books make the transition very well. The oldest storytelling tradition is an oral one, after all. Difficult vocabulary is often easier to parse when spoken aloud, emotional inflection in the voice connects more deeply to the listener, and many audiobooks can incorporate song, verse, or sound effects to create fully immersive experiences. Readers can also adjust the reading speed to customize this format to their auditory processing needs.
The narrator plays a big part, of course. Memoirs, self-help, and expert nonfiction have more weight with readers when read by their authors. A human connection is made between the author and reader. For fiction, voice talent can bring to life characters, drama, and suspense in ways that provide a richer experience than simply reading the words on the page. In both cases, real human performances are more engaging than read aloud or AI-narration as they are able to properly use inflection, rises and falls in volume, and proper pronunciation.
Flowable eBooks
While e-readers strive to mimic the physical book equivalent as much as possible, the digital nature of these devices provides unique advantages for readers who struggle with print books. Aside from the devices typically being more compact and lighter than print books (especially hardcovers), they can also allow readers to customize their reading experience.
However, this is only possible with flowable eBook formats. Books that rely on a strict layout, like cookbooks, textbooks, or children’s picture books, won’t work in this format. Their fixed eBook formats are much less flexible, but they still offer the benefit of allowing authors to zoom into pages to better see details or read the text. However, readers who use screen reader software may find this experience jumbled and overwhelming.
Setting up eBooks with a flowable format allows the text to “flow” to fit any screen size—such as the difference between a smartphone and tablet—rather than using strict page sizes. Readers can then adjust settings for their personal needs. This includes being able to increase the font size, change the screen brightness or background colour, and sometimes even replace fonts with easier-to-read alternatives.
These devices can also be navigated with a stylus or one or two fingers, which may be easier for those with limited mobility. Today’s readers expect book releases to also offer an eBook version, so talk with your designer about ways to set up your eBook file for maximum reader accessibility.
Plain Language
The plain language movement is an effort to use simpler language to ensure that reader comprehension is optimized, especially for those individuals with a lower level of reading comprehension due to a variety of socioeconomic factors. Using a smaller vocabulary and simpler sentence structure alongside sparser design choices and easy-to-read (or dyslexic-friendly) fonts make a book easier to read — not only for those with disabilities but also for everyone else, too.
While it may not be suitable for all books to be presented in plain language format, consider your audience. If you aim to attract readers with less formal education, English as an additional language, younger or much older readers, or those with disabilities, consider ways to simplify the information you’re presenting to make your book more inviting and easier to follow.
One place plain language has been gaining steam is in government and administrative writing. People of all categories are much better able to absorb information and follow instructions when plain language has been used. So, if you’re working on a nonfiction, self-help, how-to, workbook, or a memoir for marginalized communities, using plain language might be a smart choice.
Large-Print Formats
For readers with visual or cognitive impairments, large-print format books lower the visual load by having more negative space on the page, such as wider margins, larger font sizes, and simpler page designs. Generally, any text set at a 14 pt or larger is considered a large-print format. Some distributors allow these editions to be flagged as large-print format books, which can help bring your book up in search results for readers looking for more accessible books.
Unless your target audience is primarily those who need large-print formats, it’s unlikely this design style will be your primary edition. However, if your book covers topics like disabilities, education, aging, or impairments to vision, cognition, or memory — you might want to take these readers’ needs into consideration.
You can always release a custom edition of your book (with its own ISBN) in a large-print format alongside your standard edition. With the majority of books not offering this format, you’ll stand out from competitors by making your work more accessible to a wider cross-section of readers.
Translations
While all of this advice has been specific to English-language books, there are many reasons to consider including multiple languages in your book or producing a translation of your English-language book in other languages. The specific language(s) you select will depend on your subject matter and region. If you’re a Canadian author, consider a French edition; if American, consider a Spanish edition. Each language offered potentially opens your book up to wider — and international — markets.
If you’re a bilingual author, you can translate your own work into the next language. If you’re not fluent, however, it’s crucial to work with a professional translator to ensure your text makes sense in its new language. Colloquial phrases, formality levels, and regional dialects make online translation services (like Google Translate) unreliable. For example, try translating “it’s raining cats and dogs” into another language; you’re probably going to wind up with a literal translation that makes no sense to native speakers of that language!
Or, your book might include multiple languages in order to teach readers vocabulary in other languages. Multi-language books are most common in education, where English words, phrases, or even full narratives are presented alongside their counterpart in another language. Here, font choices will be crucial, especially in languages that use accented characters not present in English. Not all fonts support these characters, so you’ll want to work with your designer to ensure all the script appears correctly. Other options, like colour-coding each language presented, might be a good option — but colour interior books have higher production costs to take into account.
In short, there are plenty of options to improve both your writing and reading experiences. Consider which options might make the most sense for your book and its readers. By making books accessible for those with different reading needs, you make them more accessible to everyone. And that’s the best way to reach a broader audience.
