Providing broad and equitable access to information and scholarly knowledge is the core mission of libraries. Individuals with print disabilities, however, face a myriad of barriers to scholarly information. CARL is engaged in work to develop broader and more equitable access for these individuals and to contribute to the Canada’s commitment to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
The Marrakesh Treaty
From 2021 to 2024, CARL engaged in a joint project with the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) on the implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled in libraries in Canada and the United States. The project was designed to guide the academic and research library community towards universal access to the 760 million books collectively held across member libraries in the US and Canada.
The work is carried out under the guidance of the ARL-CARL Task Force on Marrakesh Treaty Implementation (PDF) on the Marrakesh Treaty Implementation and conducted its work through four working groups with mandates to explore beneficiary needs, metadata requirements and standards, systems implementation, and overall project strategy.
Resources and Webinars
- Accessible Content: A Guide to the Canadian Copyright Act on Searching for Accessible Formats and Producing and Distributing Alternate Formats (PDF) (2025)
- Accessible Content: A Guide to the Canadian Copyright Act on Searching for Accessible Formats and Producing and Distributing Alternate Formats (EPUB) (2025)
- Repositories of Accessible Scholarly Materials (2025)
- Beyond Marrakesh: Fair Dealing and Creating Accessible Copies of Works for Disabled Persons (2025)
- CARL Welcomes Federal Government’s Announcement of Continued funding for CELA and NNELS (2021)
- CARL’s letters on the Marrakesh Treaty: Industry Canada (2014), Canadian Heritage (2013)
- Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
- Canadian Human Rights Act
- Criminal Code
Work of the Joint Task Force
- ARL/CARL Task Force on Marrakesh Treaty Implementation: Final Report (December 2023)
- Addressing the 7% Problem: The FRAME Project and the CARL-ARL Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Project
- “If It’s Open, Is It Accessible?,” blog post by Pascal Calarco
- ARL Views podcast with Victoria Owen on libraries and the Marrakesh Treaty