Thoughts about making the Big Bang more accessible Here's a short passage that spoke to me.
"In the past some fans have volunteered to create PDFs or ePubs but this is not sustainable and some are having to pull back because of time commitments (and also because the difficulty of converting multi-part files into a single ePub/PDF). My thinking is that perhaps the Big Bang maintainers could make an announcement listing the availability of resources that will improve accessibility for fans. Exc: "The A03 is a one stop solution for fans who want to make their fic more accessible in multiple formats with little extra effort. The A03 also allows fans to assign their fic with a Challenge tag for easy sorting/finding." The message could also include a request for volunteers to create PDFs/ePubs for those who are not putting their stories on AO3. And for those fans looking for an alternative archive the mods could point them to other archives. For the Supernatural Big Bang: Sam Dean Slash Archive, Sinful Desire (slash and J2), and Supernaturalville (gen). For the Starsky & Hutch Big Bang -- the Starsky & Hutch Archive.... and so on.....
By simply referencing available resources and not requiring their use as part of the Big Bang we keep it optional and user/volunteer driven. But more importantly by discussing these resources we will help raise awareness of the need for greater accessibility in fandom. I know that some Big Bang community maintainers feel that even mentioning that these resources are available is somehow dictating to authors how and where to offer their fan fiction but I disagree. Raising the issue of disability and accessibility is not inherently an offputting topic. Or rather, it should't be seen that way."I would love if the SPN community would raise some awareness of accessibility issues that Morgandawn brings up in her post. Since I started making ebooks I've met many fans who have shared similar stories of tendinitis, carpal tunnel, and other disabilities that prevent them from sitting at computers for any stretch of time to read long stories. The invention of e-ink screens was a lifesaver for me and for others who would still like to participate in fandom but are unable to sit at their computers to read any of the longer stories.
The A03 makes ebooks on the fly for readers who do have need of the feature and it would be great if more authors took advantage of what the A03 has to offer, or at least offered a single file version like HTML or RTF/Word.