SE-ED proposes digital solutions to enhance access to books for the visually impaired at the 31st National Book Fair.

Key summary

At the 31st National Book Fair, a seminar titled "Make a Book Accessible from Network" was held to gather ideas on reducing barriers to book access for the visually impaired. Rungkan Phaisitpanitrakul, Managing Director of SE-ED Education Public Company Limited, stated that promoting reading must provide everyone with equal opportunities to learn. This involves not only having good books available, but also making them accessible through various formats, such as audiobooks or digital media. Currently, SE-ED is collaborating with Read for the Blind to link book information through APIs and ISBNs to support networks and volunteers in developing content. In the future, SE-ED will utilize the SE-ED e-Library as a repository of books for volunteers at the Thai Foundation for the Blind, making it easier for them to search for and select books for creating audiobooks. In addition, there is a concept called "Author's Voice," which provides authors with the opportunity to record short audio messages to welcome listeners or offer encouragement before they begin listening to an audiobook. This network-building effort is not the responsibility of any single organization, but requires collaboration from authors, publishers, distributors, technology developers, and organizations working for the visually impaired. By leveraging different resources and expertise in areas such as content, data, technology, platform, and network, new channels can be created to bring knowledge to people.