Producing accessible school ebooks with ePub 3.0 Gerald Schmidt Pearson UK

Producing accessible school ebookswith ePub 3.0

Gerald SchmidtPearson UK

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Working definition of ebooks for schools

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One publisher

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Four publishers

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The challenge

• For years, complex requirements have led publishers down the path of creating self-contained, proprietary ebook players

• With discipline, publishers achieve consistency in their own list of ebook products

• Compatibility with competing products is unheard of

• The absence of shared standards and tools drives up the cost of accessibility

• Awareness of WCAG 2.0 and allied guidelines is high, but too often not applicable

• ePub 3.0 offers a viable alternative based on open web technologies

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Benefits of using the ePub family of standards

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Accessibility strategies

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Reflowable workflow

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Fixed layout workflow

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Input

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Transformation

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Output

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Bookshelf

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Page view (ePub)

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Page view (Kindle Format 8)

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Page view (web, large screen)

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Page view (web, small screen)

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Accessible quizzes – printed page

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Accessible quizzes – structure

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Accessible quizzes – mark-up

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Accessible quizzes – digital version

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Accessible interactions – printed page

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Accessible interactions – structure

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Accessible interactions – mark-up

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Accessible interactions – digital version

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Outlook

• Educational publishers can either adopt ePub 3.0 as a container format or reinvent it at significant cost

• All eyes are on the Fixed-Layout Documents Working Group

• We are following the progress of the IDPF’s Readium project with great interest

• After years of frustratingly slow progress, accessibility is set to improve dramatically as ePub and open web technologies become the norm

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Contact

Dr Gerald Schmidt

E gerald.schmidt@pearson.com

T +44 20 7010 2935