baseline for born accessible epub 3

Baseline for Born Accessible EPUB

Implementing the Legislative Strategy: Accessible Digital Publishing

within & beyond the legal threshold

George Kerscher9th European e-Accessibility Forum

June 8th 2015

Inclusive Publishing Industry• trade and educational publishers • journal and magazine publishers• comics and Manga industry • disability-focused organizations • educational institutions • governmental organizations • tech companies • standards organizations

Publishers ask: “What do I need to do to make my publications accessible to

persons with disabilities?”

Agreement needs to be reached on the baseline features.

•It is not easy•We must push the bar higher•We must be practical

• Publication must provide accessible content in EPUB 3 (or future version)

• Reading system used must support EPUB 3 content• Publication, in the context of the reading system,

must be useable with Assistive Technology (AT)Consensus: All 3 components must be working or it is

impractical to include a given feature as a requirement for accessibility in published documents.

EPUB 3 Designed for Everybody

Requirements

Today Publishers can deliver the text of their publication in a well-structured, logical reading order, even if images are used for title or headings as long as ALT text is there.•EPUB reading systems can present the full text of an EPUB 3 publication on every platform.•Assistive Technology (AT) can integrate with reading systems and speak the text using synthetic speech (TTS), as refreshable braille using a Bluetooth device, or enlarge the text on the screen. Consensus: Well-structured text in a logical reading order is a baseline requirement for a Born Accessible publication.

HTML 5 Content StructureTo benefit all readers, publishers must make use of the native semantics of HTML 5 – starting point of accessible content, foundation for digital publishing This will enable:•logical reading order•effective navigation•skipping and escaping contentConsensus: Native HTML 5 elements will be used to correctly identify content structure

Images, ALT text & Additional Enhancements•Images used for ornamental purposes•Images & graphics can be made accessible using ALT text•Images, charts, diagrams, maps, infographics…..convey information that may need to be customized for different types of learnersConsensus: Publishers will identify ornamental images. ALT text (W3C A & AA guidelines) / Accessible EPUB 3: Best Practices by Matt Garrish & DIAGRAM’s Image Guidelines for EPUB 3. Coming: BISG Quick Start Guide for Accessibility.

Metadata, Asserting Conformance

Metadata will be necessary for discovery, marketing, sales and inclusion in educational coursework.

Consensus: Metadata will identify the accessibility features of

publications that confirm to the baseline Born Accessible agreed-upon features, as defined in the

ONIX code (List 196) and Schema.org which includes a set of accessibility metadata

Enhancements to Born Accessible Publications

• Adding value by using Diagrammar: A Framework for Making Images and Graphics Accessible

• Republishing materials for persons who are not technologically capable – the safety net

• Future enhancements delivered separately as annotations • Reading system would integrate those annotations with

the commercially available Born Accessible version• DAISY Consortium members make terrific partners to

make information fully accessible

Educational Publications and the EDUPUB Profile of EPUB 3

• Modern educational publications in EPUB 3 format are anticipated to use the EDUPUB profile

• Videos need to be captioned• Support for MathML rapidly evolving• Scripted components, widgets, assessments, 3D

(WebGL) demonstrations, data visualizations, SVGConsensus: Educational materials will have additional

requirements in the baseline for Born Accessible EPUB 3 in the EDUPUB profile

Broadly Available EPUB 3 Authoring Tools

• Needed in education for course content development

• Needed in governmental organizations for publications

• Needed for everyday use by authors, students and professionals

Conformance and Certification• Epubcheck, use it now• Pre-flight needed to assist with checking

conformance• Self-certification linked to metadata• External certification of publisher contentConsensus: Tools for evaluation, certification

approaches, approved guidelines training and support will be topics for discussion

Reading System Testing

epubtest.org - IDPF, BISG, DAISY Collaboration

Fundamental accessibility tests available now.

Raising the Bar

Consensus: The practical baseline features for Born Accessible publications are expected to advance as technology and work processes improve

Call to Action• Everybody is invited to participate in the evolving Inclusive Publishing Ecosystem• Formal announcement will kick off the collaborative effort• We do not expect to meet in-person, all virtual• DAISY Consortium will help to drive• Key principles: Consensus and practicality• We need to raise the bar over timeContact George Kerscher directly: [email protected]