RE: Thoughts on rechartering and the future of publications on the web

> It is important to point out that the content and the Reading System must come together to provide this rich reading experience
>
Absolutely, George!   You cannot have one without the other…

I would also put a third leg on that stool – and that’s Assistive Technology – that also needs to work hand in hand with the RS (or the OS on which the RS is running).

Leonard

From: George Kerscher <kerscher@montana.com>
Sent: Thursday, November 8, 2018 11:36 AM
To: Leonard Rosenthol <lrosenth@adobe.com>; 'MURATA Makoto' <eb2m-mrt@asahi-net.or.jp>; bobbytung@w3.org
Cc: 'W3C Publishing Business Group' <public-publishingbg@w3.org>; 'Dave Cramer' <dauwhe@gmail.com>; yanni@dpublishing.org.tw
Subject: RE: Thoughts on rechartering and the future of publications on the web

Hello All,

At epubtest.org we are conducting extensive testing of Reading Systems with Assistive Technology. We report these findings, see [1]   We test with screen readers for persons who are blind,  we conduct visual adjustment tests like changing foreground and  background colors, and font size for low vision users, and with  read aloud and other learning features for persons with learning differences, e.g. dyslexic. We have been providing feedback to the developers of the reading system and we have had excellent cooperation from many of these developers in an attempt to improve the reading experience with eyes, ears, and fingers.

It is important to point out that the content and the Reading System must come together to provide this rich reading experience. HTML and EPUB 3 has been providing the best reading experience for persons with disabilities.

Best
George


[1] Accessibility testing results
http://epubtest.org/testsuite/accessibility/


From: Leonard Rosenthol <lrosenth@adobe.com<mailto:lrosenth@adobe.com>>
Sent: Thursday, November 8, 2018 8:43 AM
To: MURATA Makoto <eb2m-mrt@asahi-net.or.jp<mailto:eb2m-mrt@asahi-net.or.jp>>; bobbytung@w3.org<mailto:bobbytung@w3.org>
Cc: W3C Publishing Business Group <public-publishingbg@w3.org<mailto:public-publishingbg@w3.org>>; Dave Cramer <dauwhe@gmail.com<mailto:dauwhe@gmail.com>>; yanni@dpublishing.org.tw<mailto:yanni@dpublishing.org.tw>
Subject: RE: Thoughts on rechartering and the future of publications on the web

>In my understanding, they use images or PDF files.   For accessiblity reasons,  I am not happy.
>
PDF files can be made as accessible as an EPUB, though admittedly with some more work (depending on the authoring environment).   You will find that PDF/UA (the PDF Universal Accessibility standard) has been adopted as a national standard in numerous countries around the world as an accepted solution for accessible publications.

Leonard

From: MURATA Makoto <eb2m-mrt@asahi-net.or.jp<mailto:eb2m-mrt@asahi-net.or.jp>>
Sent: Thursday, November 8, 2018 8:48 AM
To: bobbytung@w3.org<mailto:bobbytung@w3.org>
Cc: W3C Publishing Business Group <public-publishingbg@w3.org<mailto:public-publishingbg@w3.org>>; Dave Cramer <dauwhe@gmail.com<mailto:dauwhe@gmail.com>>; yanni@dpublishing.org.tw<mailto:yanni@dpublishing.org.tw>
Subject: Re: Thoughts on rechartering and the future of publications on the web

Bobby,

It might be easy to test EPUB 3.2 standard on reading system developed by global vendor. But  it's not easy for local vendor those who developed their own reading system to support EPUB 3.2 without a reasonable road map. In Japan, EBPAJ's template and authoring guide do not cover "HTML based Fixed Layout" and media overlay function. In Taiwan, I'm working on a project followed EBPAJ's template to let publisher raise the bar of quality of digital publications.
I'll try to get publishers' feedback with TDPF in Taiwan on a conference next month.

It may not easy to get consensus within Japanese publishers and ebook vendors, I'd like to know Murata-san's comment on this.

It is true that the EBPAJ profile does not allow CSS-based
HTML fixed layout.  Interoperability of such CSS-based
HTML fixed layout is not at all great.  It is probably
worse than in North America or Europe, because
some EPUB RSs in Japan are not based on webkit
or other browser engines, and also because we
might have both vertical writing and horizontal writing
within a single book.

Then, what do publishers do when a book requires complicated
layout?  In my understanding, they use images or PDF files.
PDF files may be wrapped by EPUB.  For accessiblity reasons,
I am not happy.

Regards,
Makoto