Re: Best practice for mp3s in ePubs?

Hi Laura


Here is the spec https://www.w3.org/TR/epub-33/#sec-resource-locations



For naming of audio player to let voice control say "Play X" would 
require custom playback button with proper a11y label.


Hope it could help.


Cheers,

Jeff


On 2025-05-12 15:13, Ciporen, Laura wrote:
>
> Thank you so much for your reply, Jeff.
>
> Do you have a link to the specific spec that you are referring to?
>
> We aren’t running into problems with epubchecker, we are just not sure 
> whether the concerns over requiring internet access override the 
> concerns about file size or vice versa. Or, I suppose, if there is no 
> real best practice on this and it’s just up to the creators of ePubs 
> to decide for themselves which concern is most important. And we’re 
> also wondering if there are specs around naming instances of the audio 
> player.
>
> For example:
>
>   * You have 10 different vocabulary words on a page and each one has
>     an audio file where you can listen to how to pronounce the word.
>   * Someone using voice control should be able to say “Play X” to have
>     the correct audio play. But the play buttons aren’t going to
>     visibly say anything besides “play” so I’m looking for whether
>     there are best practices that would allow the voice control user
>     to easily know what to say to play a specific audio file.
>
> -Laura
>
> *McGraw-Hill logo.* <http://www.mheducation.com/>**
>
> *Laura Ciporen, CPACC*
>
> Digital Content Accessibility Manager
>
> McGraw-Hill | Higher Education
>
> 1325 Avenue of the Americas, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10019
>
> P: 646-766-2269
>
> laura.ciporen@mheducation.com <mailto:laura.ciporen@mheducation.com>__
>
> mheducation.com <http://mheducation.com/>
>
> JAWS Certified 2015 logo Freedom ScientificCertified Professional in 
> Accessibility Core Competencies from IAAP (CPACC) 
> <https://www.accessibilityassociation.org/cpacccertification>
>
> *From:*Wysebee Inc. <zxu@wysebee.com>
> *Sent:* Monday, May 12, 2025 2:04 PM
> *To:* Ciporen, Laura <laura.ciporen@mheducation.com>
> *Cc:* public-publishingcg@w3.org
> *Subject:* Re: Best practice for mp3s in ePubs?
>
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>
> Hi Laura
>
> 1. I believe based on current spec the mp3 files needed to be embedded 
> in epub file.
>
> 2. I have not found any existing standard code for a default player. A 
> very basic player should be the html mp3 player. I can help with 
> creating some example (please feel free to reach out if need any help 
> with creating example and testing)
>
> 3. I think basically need to pass epubcheck - the epub validation tool.
>
> 4. Might need a bit more details on the use case.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Jeff
>
> On 2025-05-12 13:23, Ciporen, Laura wrote:
>
>     Hello, all.
>
>     I am wondering if there is an accepted best practice for including
>     mp3s in ePubs?
>
>      1. Which is best?
>
>          1. Streaming (which requires users to be online)
>          2. Packaging the files with the ePub (which greatly increases
>             the file size)
>
>      2. Is there standard code for default players for mp3s in ePubs?
>
>          1. For a short player for tiny clips which would only have a
>             single play/pause button.
>          2. Different code for a more complex player for longer audio
>             which might also have ff, rewind, scrubbing, etc.
>
>      3. If not, are there particular controls that need to be included
>         or avoided?
>      4. Either way, if there are multiple audio files on the same page
>         (or in the ePub as a whole) is there a best practice for
>         identifying each distinctly (primarily to support voice
>         control users being able to easily indicate which audio they
>         want to play).
>      5. Are there any other best practice considerations about
>         including mp3s in ePubs?
>
>          1. (Besides the fact that there should be a text version of
>             the content unless the entire point of an audio is to test
>             someone’s ability to interpret the audio.)
>
>     Thank you ever so much!
>
>     -Laura
>
>     *McGraw-Hill logo.* <http://www.mheducation.com/>
>
>     *Laura Ciporen, CPACC*
>
>     Digital Content Accessibility Manager
>
>     McGraw-Hill | Higher Education
>
>     1325 Avenue of the Americas, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10019
>
>     P: 646-766-2269
>
>     laura.ciporen@mheducation.com <mailto:laura.ciporen@mheducation.com>
>
>     mheducation.com <http://mheducation.com/>
>
>     JAWS Certified 2015 logo Freedom ScientificCertified Professional
>     in Accessibility Core Competencies from IAAP (CPACC)
>     <https://www.accessibilityassociation.org/cpacccertification>
>
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> -- 
>
> Jeff Xu
>
> Chief Executive Officer
>
> Wysebee Inc.
>
> Logo of Wysebee
>
> The information contained in this message may be confidential and/or 
> constitute a privileged attorney-client document.  If the reader of 
> this message is not the intended recipient, or an employee or agent 
> responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you 
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Jeff Xu

Chief Executive Officer

Wysebee Inc.

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