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Media/publishing

British Vogue debuts first-ever braille edition

May 16, 2023

Published since 1916, the magazine is premiering inclusive versions of its diversity-driven May 2023 issue. Image credit: Edward Enninful Published since 1916, the magazine is premiering inclusive versions of its diversity-driven May 2023 issue. Image credit: Edward Enninful/Twitter

 

In a win for accessibility, British Vogue’s latest issue is available in braille.

The publication’s May 2023 issue spotlights 19 talented people with disabilities, covering their work and fashion’s strides toward inclusion under the direction of editor in chief, Edward Enninful. Following its April 25, 2023 publication, it was announced that for the first time, British Vogue would also be released in braille, continuing the diversity push.

One for all
The May issue was mindfully created, with the assistance of Sinéad Burke, CEO of Tilting the Lens, an accessibility consultancy.

With her guidance, British Vogue reflects on whether or not the fashion industry includes everyone that interacts with it. While many invite the sector to their table, how many are returned the favor?

In his editor’s letter preceding the May articles, Mr. Enninful reflects on this defining question of today.

“Ultimately, these covers and portfolio ask a question: we all engage with fashion, but does fashion engage with all of us?” he writes.

“‘Dynamic, daring and Disabled’ reads our cover,” he continues. “Dynamism of spirit, of talent, of imagination, is what the stars of this issue have in spades.

“It is this quality that the industry – and here I include Vogue – must also lean into if it is to better serve the Disabled community, alongside the Disabled community, with jobs, in the design of retail spaces, of photography studios, of digital interfaces, events, communications and, of course, clothes.”

The braille release is an extension of this ambition.

Now, readers can print a braille copy of the May 2023 issue at home, free of charge, by emailing accessiblevogue@condenast.co.uk for access. Those interested can also request a complimentary audio file or a physical edition written in braille at the same address.

Additionally, an audio version is available on British Vogue’s Soundcloud.

Mr. Enninful has been innovating since his 2017 appointment to the role (see story), releasing a limited-run hardcopy edition that December.

In 2020, he welcomed a contributing sustainability editor to British Vogue for the first time (see story), embracing the environmental wave that has been taking luxury fashion by storm (see story).