Photo by Anna Shvets via Pexels.com
Disability is an essential facet of the human condition and its embrace invigorates all of our learning, work, and home spaces. The U.S. Department of Labor has been celebrating the “positive impact of people with disabilities in the workforce” since 1945, and “acknowledges the importance of increasing opportunities for people with disabilities, including those with mental health conditions and other nonobvious disabilities” (¶1). The CDC indicates that “up to 27% or 1 in 4 adults in the U.S. have some type of disability” (2025); and around the world, more than 285 million people are visually impaired or print disabled (Otike & Barát, 2023, p. 455). This would be nearly equivalent to the entire population of Indonesia (Worldmeters, 2025)!
Dual photo of visually impaired people
Photo by Thirdman photo via Pexels.com (left) and Mikhail Nilov photo via Pexels.com (right), composited by Jean Turman using CanvaPro. At the bottom portion of these two photos, Braille text converter appears and reads, “disability rights.”
In the information-for-sale ecosystem of publishing and broadcasting, all is not equitable, as 90% of published materials are not accessible for the visually impaired per the World Blind Union, and this has created what we term “book thirst” or “book famine” (Otike & Barát, 2023, p. 452). As a result, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has worked to address these disparities and increase advocacy for the rights of these disabled groups to obtain information equitably by introducing the Marrakesh Treaty.
The Marrakesh Treaty was first ratified in 2016 by 22 nation states. Today, 101 countries have joined the membership (WIPO Lex). The goal of the treaty was to increase access to and improve equitability of accessible formats of materials. Marrakesh enables an extension of the legal doctrine of Fair Use, exempting copyright restrictions for the following purposes:
Beyond the Marrakesh Treaty, there are other agencies working to enable access by the visually impaired. The Library of Congress’s National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled was the result of a 1931 Act of Congress that continues to expand its service today. It is able to serve the blind, visually or print-impaired, and otherwise disabled citizens due to the provision allowed under the U.S. Copyright Law (Sections 121 and 121a). The NLS even promotes the accessibility of games and video games! Last month I wrote about the importance of play in the Archives and also about the complexities of copyright in games at the Bellevue University Library’s Copyright Center. You can also read more about disability awareness, activism, and pride on our library blog.
To be sure, we have seen our information and access to it obliterate expectations and even go well beyond Moore’s Law. What remains, and our consideration in copyright law enables, is the understanding that “access to information materials…is a fundamental human right” (Otike & Barát, 2023, p. 452). Remember this when creating your own accessible content.
The eyes are useless when the mind is blind
Photo by Bich Tran photo via Pexels.com
Disability Impacts All of Us Infographic | Disability and Health | CDC
National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) | U.S. Department of Labor
Otike, F., & Barát, Á. H. (2023). IFLA’s role in the implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty. International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), 49(2), pp. 452-466. DOI: 10.1177/03400352221141465
Why Create Accessible Digital Materials
Worldometers.info; Population by Country (2025) - Worldometer
All photographs were obtained via Pexels.
Photo by Anna Shvets: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-in-black-spaghetti-strap-top-covering-her-eyes-with-hands-3732692/ A white female with long teal hair wearing a black camisole stands in front of a teal backdrop, her arms both bent at the elbows and her fingers covering her eyes. Her left arm from elbow to fingertips is a black prosthetic with articulated fingers. She wears a relaxed smile with her teeth revealed.
Dual photo of visually impaired people (modified by Jean Turman using CanvaPro):
LEFT: A black woman with a top ponytail sits in a coral-colored chair in a coffee shop with an open Braille text in her lap, fingers on the page. She is wearing dark glasses, a denim jacket, black pants, and black shoes. There is a German Shephard dog sitting next to her. They are both facing forward, to the viewer’s right. A table and stools, brightly day-lit window, and art on the walls is visible in the room where she is sitting. There is a cup of coffee on a table to her left. Photo by Thirdman: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-in-gray-dress-shirt-sitting-on-chair-reading-book-7268571/
RIGHT: In a well-lit office or community workspace, fully stocked bookshelves appear in the background. A white man with dark hair, full beard, and mustache wears dark glasses, headphones, beige turtleneck, and dark pants. He is seated at a light wood desk in a green fabric and metal chair with a Braille text in front of him, his hand resting lightly on the book. He is facing a computer keyboard and monitor on the desk in front of him, to the viewer’s left. Photo by Mikhail Nilov: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-in-gray-sweater-sitting-on-chair-6981085/
At the bottom portion of these two photos, Braille text appears. The text was generated via https://wecapable.com/braille-translator/english-to-braille-converter/ and reads “disability rights.”
Blindness Photo by Bich Tran: https://www.pexels.com/photo/white-and-black-text-760725/ A downward angled view of a graph paper notebook opened to the page January 15 which appears at the top of the page in block letters. Toward the bottom half of the page, two closed simply drawn eyelids with eyelashes appear above hand-lettered script, “the eyes are useless when the mind is blind.”
Thank you for visiting the Bellevue University Library Copyright Center, where we are ready to guide you on your path to understanding copyright. This guide offers numerous resources, including links to sites, tutorials and quizzes, frequently asked questions, and feature articles that will inform you about copyright.
Do you have a copyright question? Ask me by sending an email to copyright@bellevue.edu, or reaching out via my contact information. You can also submit your question using our Copyright Request form.
Need a refresh on copyright basics? Check out the feature article for a refresher on copyright!
Though copyright can feel woefully wearying, this article provides an overview of the Who–What–When–Where–How—and Why of copyright, in order to offer a navigable path toward understanding.