A window of opportunity
21/04/23 Ebooks accessibility and copyright
The non-level playing field
Changes to disabled student allowances
DSA DSA
The e-book solution
Paper = problems
Digital = diversity• Anywhere• Instantly• Idiosyncratically• Creatively
4
Text reflow with magnificationNot this …… or this …… but this ……
5
Text to speechNot this …… but this ……
21/04/23 6
Colour / contrastNot this …… but this ……
7
NavigationNot this …… but this ……
8
Getting the digital book.
From an aggregator / online library service?
From a publisher?
From institution created scans?
Your own?
Another?
A central service like Load2Learn?
From learner created scans?
9
From an aggregator?
Dawson Era
EBL
MyiLibrary
Netlibrary
Palgrave
ProQuest Lit Online
Safari
Sage
Science Direct
Springer
10
Several universities actively explored the accessibility of different platforms.
Findings:6 of these 11 have good accessibility.
Which are they?
The results ... so far
11
High accessibility Some barriers Significant barriers
Dawson Era
EBL
MyiLibrary
Netlibrary
Palgrave
ProQuest Lit Online
Safari
Sage
Science Direct
Springer
Wiley
From a publisher?• Some excellent responsiveness (and speedy
service) among many UK based publishers..
• Check out www.publisherlookup.org.uk
BUT
1) May be reluctant to supply PDF if you are already subscribing to electronic collection (!)
2) May come with illegally restrictive licensing (probably due to inertia rather than malice)
21/04/23Title of presentation (Go to ‘View’ menu > ‘Header and Footer…’ to edit the footers on this slide) 12
Opportunities for aggravation.
21/04/23 13
Publisher says…You agree not to otherwise reproduce, use, sell, transmit, publish, broadcast, or otherwise disseminate or distribute the file (or any version modified for accessibility purposes) to anyone, including but not limited to other students with a print impairment at your or any other institution,
The law says ….. S31BA (2)(2) An authorised body which has made an intermediate copy of a work under this section may supply it to another authorised body which is entitled to make accessible copies of the work under section 31B for the purposes of enabling that other body to make accessible copies of the work.
From a scanned hardcopy
Institution
Cost ~ £600 / book
Kit – more efficient scanners = high costs
Competence – staff skills in OCR, proof reading, image description, symbols /maths.
14
Other
Communities of practice
Professional links
Transcription service
Load2Learn
21/04/23
Learner based DIY
1521/04/23
1) Mobile phone photo or screenshot.2) Add OneNote/ EverNote / GoogleDrive.3) Make text searchable.4) Get Alt Text.
Advice for suppliers
1) Make it easy for people to get legitimate access to text.
Technical Protection Measures can Trigger Prohibited Methods
2) Be honest and supportive. Tell people what you do well and save them time by signalling what you don’t do well.
3) Have an accessibility roadmap for your own products.
4) Liaise with other parts of the supply chain so they don’t undermine your good practice.
1621/04/23
Advice for institutions
Make accessibility a procurement criterion.
Check “product liabilities” before parting with money.
Ensure text to speech is installed across the network.
Ensure reading lists and ebooks work together
Ensure staff and learners know how to exploit the accessibility benefits of ebooks.
Title of presentation 00/00/2013 17
Through the Window of opportunity
Title of presentation 00/00/2013 18
PublisherIncreasing accessibility of raw files (EPUB, tagged PDFs)
AggregatorImproved interface and personalisation options. Intelligent DRM.
HEIsIntelligent procurement. Site wide text to speech.Disability aware reading lists.Load2Learn liaison.Learners
Awareness of accessibility options.Effective use of available tools.
Healthymarket
Find out more…
21/04/23Title of presentation (Go to ‘View’ menu > ‘Header and Footer…’ to edit the footers on this slide) 19
Alistair McNaughtSubject Specialist, Accessibility
[email protected] 984111
Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under CC-BY-NC-ND