Accessible reading, an education ecosystem and human-voiced audiobook production
The winners of the Digital Publishing Award 2026
On Wednesday the winners of the Digital Publishing Award 2026 were announced at the Frankfurt Book Fair. From 42 submissions, the international jury selected four winners from Egypt, the USA, Germany and the global publishing industry. What they share is that they use technology to support people rather than replace them.
The winners in the four categories:
Digital Leader(ship): Avneesh Singh
Product/Business Model: Nahdet Misr Group (Egypt) with “From Publishing House to Education Ecosystem”
Process/Technology: Pozotron (USA) with “Pozotron Studio”
Start-up: ReadBee (Germany) with “ReadBee”
The award is sponsored by Bookwire and Rakuten Kobo and supported by the Frankfurt Book Fair, EDRLab and Publishers Without Borders. It is presented by DIGITAL PUBLISHING REPORT and Publishing Perspectives.
The winners
PRODUCT / BUSINESS MODEL
Nahdet Misr Group (Egypt): From publisher to education ecosystem Founded as a publishing house in 1938, Nahdet Misr has redesigned its business model instead of simply digitising its products. Publishing, digital learning, vocational training, school management and the EdTech investor EdVentures now reinforce each other. The jury was impressed by the partnerships the group has built, its constant stream of new products and its long-term commitment to transformation – a model for the role a publisher can play in the future of education.
PROCESS / TECHNOLOGY
Pozotron (USA): Pozotron Studio Pozotron Studio supports audiobook production from script preparation and pronunciation research to AI-assisted proofing and quality control. The jury described it as a mature, well-rounded and solid product. It uses AI to support narrators, proofreaders and producers rather than replace them – helping publishers keep a strong catalogue of human-narrated audiobooks.
STARTUP
ReadBee (Germany): ReadBee One in four children struggles with reading. With ReadBee, a child photographs any printed page, and the app rebuilds it as a dyslexia-friendly reading experience with colour-coded syllables, adjustable layout and a visual pacing guide. The jury appreciated that ReadBee keeps children reading real books instead of replacing reading with listening – and makes publishers' existing print backlist accessible to readers who were previously locked out.
DIGITAL LEADER(SHIP)
Avneesh Singh (LinkedIn)
Avneesh Singh, Chief Operating Officer of the DAISY Consortium, has helped shape the standards and practice of accessible publishing for about two decades. He combines technical expertise with strategic governance, including at the DAISY Consortium and the W3C, where he serves on the Advisory Board (nominated in 2023, re-elected in 2025). His work helps publishers meet the requirements of the European Accessibility Act and the US ADA Title II. As a blind person, he is also a role model for how a disability need not limit what a person can achieve.
Singh co-led the development of the EPUB Accessibility standard, version 1.0 at the IDPF and versions 1.1 and 1.2 at the W3C. The format is considered the most accessible of all publication formats and is used worldwide by publishers, educational institutions, libraries, distributors and reading system developers. He provided strategic direction and project management for the Accessibility Baseline Project (Google.org Impact Challenge). Its projects include ACE by DAISY, the most widely used open-source tool for checking EPUB accessibility, the SMART Accessibility QA Framework, EPUBTest.org, the DAISY Knowledge Base and InclusivePublishing.org. He also drove forward the eBraille Initiative, the modernization of the DAISY Pipeline and metadata initiatives such as the Accessibility Metadata Display Guide.
In India, he supported national accessibility standards work and received the NIVH Excellence Award from the Indian Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment. The DAISY Consortium received the Digital Book World Outstanding Achievement Award for ACE by DAISY, whose development Singh spearheaded.
Participating companies
The following companies participated in 2026, some with multiple submissions: Abjjad, Ailaysa Technologies, Alighieria Systems, Arabookverse, Bookit Digital Technologies (KITABOO), Clube de Autores, Editrix, Ernst Klett Sprachen, Fifreedomtoday, Flourworks (Stck), Fondo Oro Magazine, GiNi (ORG Times), Grain Valley Publishing Company, Grupo Fênix Educação, Immer Systems, Ink An Epic, MPS Limited, MY SMART BOOK, Nahdet Misr Group, NENNA AI, Pellerin Books, Pocket Entertainment (Pocket FM), Pozotron, ReadBee, Samawy, Storywise Technology Services, Supadu, Veristage, Written, ZULA Kids
The jury of 2026
The jury for the digital publishing award includes the following digital experts:
Virginie Clayssen (Digital Leader of the year 2025)
Jörg Engelstädter (Canon Europe, Future Book Forum)
Talita Facchini
Emma House (Publishers Without Borders)
Nathan Hull (Beat Technology)
Ailish Jung (Zebralution)
Christian Kohl (PLOS)
Marie-Laurence de Rocher (EDRLab)
Disclaimer: When evaluating individual submissions, jury members abstained if they were or are affiliated in any way with the submitting company.
The Digital Publishing Award honors outstanding projects through which publishers and media companies master digital transformation. It focuses on innovation in digital publishing: products, processes and business models from publishers and publishing-related players. The Digital Leader(ship) category recognizes individuals who have made a significant contribution to digital publishing.
Comments