Board Election 2024

In 2024, three seats will be renewed, those currently occupied by Hadrien Gardeur (De Marque), Rémi Bauzac (Vivlio) and Marion Berthaut (Mobidys).

Self-nomination period: June 17th to September 15th, 2024.

Voting period: September 19th to September 29th, 2024 at midnight.

By our bylaws, any member in good standing can self-nominate a representative. Current or past members of the Board of Directors can reapply for a new two-year term.

Three members candidate for this election:

• Marion Berthaut (Mobidys)
• Basile Mignonneau (Association Valentin Haüy)
• Ted van der Togt (KB, National Library of the Netherlands)

Here are their candidate statements:

Marion Berthaut

Dear EDRLab members,

I would like to offer again my candidacy as a Readium Board of Directors member.

I created MOBiDYS with one purpose: to provide all children experiencing reading difficulties with accessible books.
To that end, we invented an enrichment of the Epub3 format called FROG, which is meant to enhance each book with a set of AI-based tools designed to ease children’s reading process such as audio synchronisation, implicit enhancement, display clearance, etc…

Over 700 books are now available in French, English, Italian, Spanish, even Inuktitut (inuit language of Canada)..
Thanks to this Frog technology, we are able to adapt any kind of book… And empower each one to read.

With this application, EDRLab will benefit from MOBiDYS’s expertise with cognitive accessibility to expand on 2025 accessibility.
I will be pleased to share my experience and help build an inclusive society.

Best regards,
Marion Berthaut

Basile Mignonneau

Dear EDRLab members,

I am writing to express my interest in joining the EDRLab Board of Directors.

With a decade of experience in digital publishing, initially on the publisher side (Réunion des musées nationaux, Hachette Livre), I have witnessed significant changes in the ebook market. Currently, I am focused on accessibility in my role as Head of Digital Production at Association Valentin Haüy, a position I have held for the past four years. We produce digital braille and Full DAISY books for our nearly 17,000 users and firmly believe that high-quality accessible EPUBs are crucial to overcoming the book famine that still affects people with disabilities today.

As the European Accessibility Act, which comes into effect on June 28th next year, approaches, many are intensifying their efforts in accessibility. Our association has been addressing disabilities that prevent reading for more than 130 years, working tirelessly to bring reading to our end-users. There are 10 million people in France with reading disabilities, and many more across Europe. This is a substantial number, and we must explore more ways to enhance accessibility to meet their needs.
We have collaborated with EDRLab for several years, sharing knowledge to develop projects that can significantly impact lives. One such project is “Read My Book,” which delivers DAISY books to Amazon Echo devices directly at home. Additionally, we work with publishers to help them understand the needs of people with disabilities, and they support us in this endeavor.

We are also part of the DAISY Consortium as a Board member through our DAISY France Group, which consists of six French associations related to visual impairments. I have represented this group for two years.
Facing upcoming challenges, it would be exciting to join EDRLab not only in a supportive role but also as a decisive member. I aim to collaborate closely with all EDRLab members and organizations across Europe and beyond, focusing on accessibility standards, files, metadata, and any projects that can help readers to read and learn.

Best regards,
Basile Mignonneau

Ted van der Togt

Dear EDRLab members,

I would like to offer my candidacy as a board member for the EDRLab.

Over the last 16 years, I have been involved in e-book lending services and research on accessibility of e-books.

With the European Accessibility Act coming into force in 2025, many parties in the digital publishing chain have challenges.

Only by working together, I expect that we can realise practical and efficient solutions.

In this conversation, libraries should contribute their part, taking care of reading solutions that are proven accessible.

One element I hope to bring in, is our collaborative research that we are doing with universities on the future of reading.

I consider it very valuable to invent the future of reading together.

Kind regards,
Ted van der Togt

KB, National Library of the Netherlands