Re: Objections to EPUB

Good morning George, 

Windows 10 has no default EPUB reader but last year Microsoft has put in place a discovery mechanism by which a user, when double-clicking on a .epub file (and if his PC is connected to the Internet), is sent to a page of the Windows Store where two accessible Windows reading applications are proposed for download: 
- Thorium Reader from EDRLab, based on the Readium toolkit (free)
- EasyReader from Dolphin (~ USD 50). 

I cannot check this is still in place, as I have no fresh Windows install on my desk, but I can say that the analytics for Thorium on Windows do not show an avalanche of downloads from the Window Store, meaning that whatever is in place does not convince people installing an EPUB reading app. I'll come back to the Microsoft team we were in touch with as soon as the new Thorium v1.4 is released, with support for EPUB Media Overlay and a good TTS experience.

Best regards, 

Laurent Le Meur
CTO EDRLab

> Le 26 juin 2020 à 03:44, <kerscher@montana.com> <kerscher@montana.com> a écrit :
> 
> Dear SC,
>  
> I am in process of developing a white paper and supporting webinars promoting EPUB.
>  
> The working title right now is, “Born Accessible EPUB as an alternative to Accessible PDF”.
>  
> The target audience is Governmental institutions, corporate publications and educational materials produced by professors.
>  
> Windows has no default EPUB reader. This creates issues, because people who click on an EPUB may get the “deer in the headlights” effect on how the heck to open an EPUB file.
>  
> This is really a big issue. We, DAISY, are being asked to provide solutions, but is really a problem bigger than DAISY and accessibility.
>  
> I would like to bring up this issue to the SC and perhaps we can provide guidance, and it is not to point to Digital Editions, sigh.
>  
> Corporations want a simple statement on what to do; they are looking for a simple boilerplate they can include on their sites that provides a link to get an App to open EPUB. There are defaults on Mac, iOS,  Android, and Chrome. 
>  
> Perhaps a simple link to download Thorium for Windows 10 from the Microsoft Store, and an additional link for more Apps on other systems, and with guidance for accessibility, of course.
>  
> Where can we help solve this business issue?
>  
> Talk to you tomorrow.
>  
> Best
> George
> and Android, and Chrome, but not on Windows.
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
> George Kerscher Ph.D.
> -In our Information Age, access to information is a fundamental human right.
> Chief Innovations Officer, DAISY Consortium
> http://www.daisy.org <http://www.daisy.org/>
> Senior Advisor, Global Literacy, Benetech
> http://www.benetech.org <http://www.benetech.org/>
> President, International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) 
> http://www.idpf.org <http://www.idpf.org/>
> Member of the National Museum and Library Services  Board (IMLS)
> http://www.imls.gov <http://www.imls.gov/>
> Chair Steering Council Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), at W3C
> http://www.w3.org/WAI <http://www.w3.org/WAI>
> Phone: +1 406/549-4687
> Cell:+1 406/544-2466 
> Email: kerscher@montana.com <mailto:kerscher@montana.com>