Presentation on the

EPUB 3 Implementation Project for

CONTEC Frankfurt 2013

Ed McCoyd

Association of American Publishers (AAP)

AAP Digital Issues Working Group

• Representatives from trade, educational, and professional and scholarly publishers.

• Companies of all sizes.

• Supportive of EPUB 3:

– Open standard to foster innovation, quality, and reliable experience for consumers.

– Supports accessibility for all users, including those with disabilities.

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EPUB

• HTML and CSS-based standard for production, delivery, conversion, and direct rendering of reflowable e-books.

• Version 2.0 widely deployed.

• Version 3.0 finalized in spring 2011:

– Focus on multimedia and interactive capabilities of tablets and other newer devices.

– Wide range of coding best practices for accessibility.

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EPUB 3 Implementation Project* Goals

• Accelerate adoption of EPUB 3 in the U.S. consumer and educational publishing markets.

• Identify core content features important to publishers and the accessibility community, and feasible for reading systems to implement in the near future.

• Develop/identify best practices for coding identified features.

*EPUB is a registered trademark of the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF).

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Project Participants

• Publishers

• Organizations serving individuals with disabilities

• Retailers/Reading Systems Providers/Device Makers

• Standards organizations

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Work Streams

• Accessibility*

• Features

• Metadata

• Case Studies

• September 10 Workshop Planning/Draft White Paper Development

* The Accessibility group was chaired by Julia Myers and colleagues at the American Printing

House for the Blind (APH).

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Current Status

• White paper, based on Sep. 10 workshop discussion and August work stream meetings, has been drafted by Project Leadership Group.

• Will be distributed publicly following a comment period for the Project participants.

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Features Poll (Anonymous)

• 36 features identified in the specification.

• Surveyed publishers and accessibility organizations regarding which features are CRUCIAL, IMPORTANT, or NICE TO HAVE.

• Surveyed reading systems as to whether features are EASY, MEDIUM, or HARD to implement.

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Who participated in this poll?

Reading Systems

• Apple

• Bluefire

• Courseload

• Google

• Gutenberg Technology

• Overdrive

• Sony

• VitalSource

Publishers/User Org.

• American Mathematical Society

• Apex CoVantage

• Aptara

• BISG

• DAISY

• Cengage

• Benetech

• Hachette

• HarperCollins

• National Federation of the Blind

• Pearson

• Penguin Random House

• Scholastic

• Wiley

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Top 10 Key Features Considerations

1) Navigation 2) Audio 3) SVG 4) Fonts 5) Media Overlays 6) Semantic Inflection 7) MathML 8) Video 9) Floats 10) Fixed Layout

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Accessibility Work Based On:

• Diagram Center “10 Tips for Creating Accessible EPUB 3 Files.”

• IDPF “EPUB 3 Accessibility Guidelines.”

• IDPF Guidelines are based on the free O’Reilly Media book ACCESSIBLE EPUB 3, written by Matt Garrish.

• Additional input from participants.

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Outcome: “Top 13 Tips for Accessible EPUB 3” For Publishers to Consider

1) Separate content and presentation. 2) Provide complete navigation. 3) Create meaningful structure. 4) Define the content of each tag. 5) Use images only for pictures, not for tables or text. 6) Use image descriptions and alt text. 7) Include page numbers. 8) Define the language(s). 9) Use Math ML. 10) Provide alternative access to media content. 11) Make interactive content accessible. 12) Provide accessibility metadata. 13) Make sure your processes support the above best practices.

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Tips 1-12: Additional Info.: • Paragraph explaining each tip

• Link to IDPF resources: – Lengthier explanation of the best practice – Coding examples – Sample publications – Links to relevant sections of:

• the EPUB 3 specification • WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) 2.0 • The HTML 5 specification • FAQs

• QA Checklist Generator (IDPF site): Check off features in your book, and given subset of accessibility best practices from the specification.

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#13: Process Best Practices • Initiate a sustained company-wide effort to make accessibility a core

value in the production and dissemination of content, including development of a company policy statement to express the accessibility commitment.

• Develop and implement accessibility guidelines and training for authors.

• Develop and implement accessibility guidelines and training for editorial and production staff.

• Discuss accessibility requirements and standards with vendors.

• Include an accessibility review in the quality-assurance process.

• Include accessibility information on your website and appropriate marketing materials.

• Add accessibility awareness training for customer service staff.

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Ongoing Projects Seeking Support/Participation

• IDPF EPUB 3 Samples Project.

• BISG, IDPF, and DAISY Consortium work on conformance testing software for reading systems, and “Pre-flight” tools for ensuring the accessibility of content.

• Willingness to continue Features and Accessibility work expressed by BISG, IDPF, Benetech, DAISY, and APH.

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Ed McCoyd, Esq. Executive Director for Digital,

Environmental & Accessibility Affairs Association of American Publishers

Emccoyd@publishers.org

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