Producing accessible school ebookswith ePub 3.0

Gerald SchmidtPearson UK

Producing accessible school ebooks3

Working definition of ebooks for schools

Producing accessible school ebooks4

One publisher

Producing accessible school ebooks5

Four publishers

Producing accessible school ebooks6

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

Producing accessible school ebooks7

Benefits of using the ePub family of standards

Producing accessible school ebooks8

Accessibility strategies

Producing accessible school ebooks9

Reflowable workflow

Producing accessible school ebooks10

Fixed layout workflow

Producing accessible school ebooks11

Input

Producing accessible school ebooks12

Transformation

Producing accessible school ebooks13

Output

Producing accessible school ebooks14

Bookshelf

Producing accessible school ebooks15

Page view (ePub)

Producing accessible school ebooks16

Page view (Kindle Format 8)

Producing accessible school ebooks17

Page view (web, large screen)

Producing accessible school ebooks18

Page view (web, small screen)

Producing accessible school ebooks19

Accessible quizzes – printed page

Producing accessible school ebooks20

Accessible quizzes – structure

Producing accessible school ebooks21

Accessible quizzes – mark-up

Producing accessible school ebooks22

Accessible quizzes – digital version

Producing accessible school ebooks23

Accessible interactions – printed page

Producing accessible school ebooks24

Accessible interactions – structure

Producing accessible school ebooks25

Accessible interactions – mark-up

Producing accessible school ebooks26

Accessible interactions – digital version

Producing accessible school ebooks27

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

Producing accessible school ebooks28

Contact

Dr Gerald Schmidt

E gerald.schmidt@pearson.com

T +44 20 7010 2935