XML: Converting the publishers and their files

Moira Clunie

Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind

"[we should] … consciously disabuse ourselves of the historic notion that regards a printed publication as the true source document and all other media as variants. In truth, the true source already is, and must remain, an electronic file. Our task is to understand that it must be an accessible electronic file, and that all media representations of this file - whether hardbound standard print books, large print, braille, recorded audio, or synthesized audio - are all alternative media to a single electronic source;"

from Janina Sajka & George Kerscher, Surpassing Gutenberg--Access to Published Information for Blind Readers, JVIB

XML: Content and Structure

<structure>Content</structure>

<h1>This is a heading</h1>

<p>This is a paragraph, containing an <em>emphasised</em> word.</p>

Microsoft Word and XML

• “styles” and templates

• Export to (limited) XML

• Understands HTML input

• Large print, electronic text

• Export to braille, PDF, webpage, print software (InDesign), Open Office

InDesign and XML

• Templates and styles

• Input: XML, HTML, Word with styles

• Large print

• Export to XML

XHTML

• Type of XML

• Widely understood, well supported

• Convert to Microsoft Word (large print, electronic text), InDesign (large print), Duxbury (braille), DAISY, customised electronic text

• Convert to other XML vocabularies