Main content

File Delivery Requirements for Publishers

Want to help Canadians with print disabilities? Share your digital books (ebooks or audiobooks) with NNELS by emailing support@nnels.ca with the subject line "Deliver files to NNELS."

At NNELS, we don't provide compensation for shared books unless they're acquired through our official distribution partners. If a shared book is already accessible for individuals with print disabilities, we may publish it immediately. Otherwise, we might keep it for potential future publication if needed.

File formats | Metadata | Naming your files | Transferring your files | Minimal accessibility requirements

File formats

NNELS accepts the following formats:

  • MP3 and DAISY for audiobook content
  • EPUB for ebook content
  • BRF for braille

Metadata

MARC and/or ONIX records must be submitted with your files:

  • ONIX 2.1 or ONIX 3 (reference/long form)
  • MARC (.mrc or .mrk or .xml)

Required fields:

  • title of book
  • creator of book
  • publication details including name of publisher, location of publisher, date of publication
  • ISBN
  • language of work
  • summary/abstract 
  • subject terms

Highly recommended fields:

  • accessibility features

Naming your files

The filename must contain the title of the book and the book's ISBN.

Do not use punctuation in the filename. Use an underscore to separate words.

Example: My_best_friends_wedding_9781333653211.epub

Transferring your files

Contact support@nnels.ca with the Subject Line: Deliver files to NNELS.

Include a Dropbox, Google Drive or other cloud storage link to the files. 

Minimal accessibility requirements

Books included for distribution in NNELS must meet the following minimal requirements:

  • No reading system accessibility options are disabled (no DRM):
    The enabling or disabling of accessibility features lies with content producers (for example, DRM restrictions). To meet the criteria, do not bundle or distribute your publications with restrictions on them that would disable access to the content by screen readers, etc. Note that provision of any significant part of the textual content as images (i.e. as pictures of text, rather than as text) inevitably prevents use of these accessibility options.

EPUBs submitted for distribution in NNELS should contain schema.org accessibility metadata, which indicates specific accessibility features, or lack thereof, in the file.

The inclusion of accessibility information in ONIX is highly recommended. ONIX Codelist 196 (e-publication accessibility details) allows publishers to identify those accessibility features that may be of importance to  readers with print disabilities.

NNELS will display your accessibility metadata to readers.

Questions

If you have questions about the above requirements, please contact support@nnels.ca with the Subject Line: Deliver files to NNELS.