Making Ebooks Accessible: Challenges and Opportunities
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Making ebooks accessible presents challenges in content, metadata, and platforms. Content varies across publishers in terms of inclusion of semantic tags and alternative text. Platforms must retain publishers' accessibility features while meeting standards for skip navigation, testing with assistive technologies, and addressing legacy code issues. Metadata also has inconsistencies across standards for describing accessibility information. Opportunities exist to provide guidance to publishers, incentivize inclusive formats like EPUB, improve documentation for usability, and participate in certification programs.
Making Ebooks Accessible: Challenges and Opportunities
- 1. Making Ebooks Accessible: Challenges and Opportunities @karamargaret Kara Kroes Li Director, Product Management, eBooks EBSCO Information Services kkroes@ebsco.com
- 2. eCommerce GOBI profiles ~70,000 books per year for sale to academic libraries Research and Reading EBSCO eBooks offers 1.6M ebooks from 1,500 publishers via the EBSCOhost platform EBSCO Books and GOBI Library Solutions
- 3. Content Metadata Software / Platform Challenges and Opportunities
- 4. Feature EPUB PDF Integrates Web Standards – Dynamic Linking Y N Reflowable Text (Optimized Display) Y N Accessibility Standards Y Y* Searchable Images, Formulas, Tables Y N Support for Non-Roman Languages Y N Adjustable Font Size, Background Color Y N Audio, Video, Quizzes Y N CONTENT Content Challenges: EPUB vs PDF
- 5. Publishers creating EPUB 69% Delivery volume from EPUB-providing publishers 87% Publishers planning to meet WCAG 2.0 accessibility standards 49% Lack of expertise / time 45% Lack of knowledge 21% Technical / system limitations 20% Budget restrictions 18% 2018 Survey of Publisher Landscape CONTENT
- 6. CONTENT Content Challenges: Publisher Variation • Content creators need to include: • Semantic tags for document structure like <header> • Alternative text for images • Captions for figures • Semantic markup for tables like <figure> • Content variation across publishers is a major problem
- 7. • Provide guidance on best practices • Encourage WCAG Content Structure Guidelines • Recommend vendors or tools • Encourage EPUB • Evangelize What are we Doing? CONTENT
- 8. Visual Disability Takes Many Forms Hearing Motor Cognitive https://disabilitycompendium.org/sites/default/files/user-uploads/2016_AnnualReport.pdf Universal Design Principles: Designing products that are usable by all people, regardless of disability type or severity of impairment PLATFORM
- 9. • Websites or platforms need to: • Retain publisher's accessibility features • Include meaningful structure on webpages • Provide options to skip to the main content • Develop and test with various assistive technologies • Repeatedly test/audit against standards • Legacy code • Maintaining an accessibility mindset and expertise Platform Challenges PLATFORM
- 10. Writing Requirements • Each element of the user experience must be coded so that the user can fully interact with the page using either a screen reader or a keyboard • Color contrast must meet certain guidelines • Specific fonts must be avoided because they are especially difficult for people with dyslexia • Videos must contain captions PLATFORM
- 12. “Include in PDF grouping current page radio button not checked 1 of 3” role=“dialog” aria-labelledby=“modal-header page-limit-info” <label> <input type=“radio”> Current Page </label> <legend>Include in PDF</legend> Building Accessible Software PLATFORM
- 14. Accessibility Testing: Tools PLATFORM • Automated tests can reliably evaluate only 30% of accessibility issues • Manual testing is critical in designing a usable website -Hiram Kuykendall, MicroAssist
- 15. Browser • IOS desktop • IOS mobile • IOS tablet • Android mobile • Android tablet • Desktop • IE • Firefox • Chrome • Safari • Vision • Hearing • Mobility • Learning • Cognitive • JAWS • NVDA • VoiceOver • Narrator • ZoomText • WindowEyes • Magnifier • Claro • ReadSpeaker TTS • Read&Write • Kurzwell Assistive Technology OS/Device Disability Manual Testing: Factors to Consider PLATFORM
- 16. Source: https://webaim.org/projects/screenreadersurvey7/ Screen Reader / Browser Combinations PLATFORM
- 17. Training Developers and Product Managers PLATFORM
- 18. • VPATs important but unreadable • User-facing documentation meant to be read by students and disability services personnel • JISC ASPIRE project called attention to this and gives organization guidance on how to improve Importance of Documentation PLATFORM
- 20. • Multiple metadata standards • EPUB specification • ONIX contains multiple places for accessibility information • Publishers not leveraging metadata elements consistently • Opportunity for the market to incentivize progress Metadata Challenges METADATA
- 21. Metadata Opportunities - Vitalsource METADATA
- 22. Metadata Opportunities - Vitalsource METADATA
- 23. Opportunities: Benetech METADATA • GCA (Global Certified Accessible) gets to the core problem: production processes • Publisher participation so far: MacMillan, Simon & Schuster, Wiley, Guilford Press • Standards stringent by design