Articles archive
I had the great pleasure of knowing Garth Conboy for more than twenty years. We first met in 1999 when the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) organized meetings to work on a new digital publishing standard. We continued to work on these standards for the next 22 years together, until his passing on June 29, 2021. Garth was integral in every aspect of the Open Ebook Publication Structure (OEB) which evolved into today’s EPUB Standard. He co-chaired the development of almost all the specifications at the OEBF, the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF), and most recently the W3C, where he was a master at building consensus. I can recall him saying, “Cave early and often.”
On the organization side, Garth held a Board seat for many years. Most recently, he was nominated by the IDPF Board as Chairman where I, as President, relied on him enormously to lead the Board activities. He was a driving force, and I knew I could count on him in every aspect of organizational leadership. He never let any of us down.
On the accessibility front, Garth was always committed to ensuring persons with disabilities would be able to benefit from the standards we developed. At his behest, Google joined the DAISY Consortium as a Friend, and always found time for our many questions. Garth’s unwavering support for DAISY and our mission was immensely important and we received a Google Impact Challenge grant from the charitable arm of Google. In 2019, Garth organized for Google to host the DAISY Consortium’s Board meeting, and leaders in the libraries serving persons with disabilities from all over the world found him to be a gracious host.
Garth had a magical personality that manifested itself in standards working group sessions, in Board meetings, and over dinner with a good bottle of wine. This magical personality wove together friendliness, humor, and rock-solid strategic and technical thinking. This giant of a man will be sorely missed in the digital publishing arena, and in our personal lives. We do have our memories, and he will remain a giant of a friend in my memory forever.
Garth Conboy Obituary on Dignity Memorial Read More
Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2021 (#GAAD) took place on May 20 this year and received huge attention across industries and, we are thrilled to note, the publishing industry and affiliated organisations celebrated this event more than ever. We are still hearing about wonderful events that took place towards the end of May and we’ve highlighted a few of them in this report.
GAAD Awareness Building
- GAAD Co-Founders Discuss Hybrid Events and the GAAD Pledge – a celebratory event hosted by Abilitynet.
- In Italy the event Accessibility Days discussed many aspects of accessibility over the course of 3 days with DAISY partner, The LIA Foundation, taking an active role.
GAAD Articles & Events with an Education Focus
Many organizations took the opportunity to focus on elearning as part of their GAAD celebrations; something which has become increasingly important for many of us over the last year. Here are a few that we have selected:
- Learn from Disabled Students so Everyone Benefits from the Digital Revolution – On Global Accessibility Awareness Day, the Office for Students in the UK emphasised the importance of listening to disabled students at a critical juncture for digital learning and accessibility.
- Is Accessible Learning Better for Everyone? – Susi Miller for Training Industry
- Joining the Dots: Accessible Teaching and Learning – Alistair McNaught
GAAD Articles for Technical Audiences
- Digita11y Accessible hosted a GAAD event day which included presentations and session on some technical topics.
- The Microsoft Ability Summit was held a few days before GAAD and helped focus attention on the upcoming celebrations, the full recordings are available on the Microsoft Enable YouTube Channel.
Case Studies and Experience Posts
- Kogan-Page took the opportunity to post a case-study on the occasion of GAAD entitled, Accessible Learning: Why eLearning is Not Always Enough a first-hand learning experience from Esi Hardy, a disability inclusion expert.
- Technology for Good – podcast focusing on ICT accessibility, specifically for persons with disabilities. Featuring Dipendra Manocha from The DAISY Forum of India.
- Improving Online Storytelling For Blind and Low Vision Readers – Robin Spinks, RNIB
Inclusive Design Awareness
There were a number of events and articles aimed at increasing awareness about inclusive design and the impact that this can have on the reader:
- Designing for Cognitive Disabilities-Tolu Adegbite blog piece
- Accessibility is about than just Contrast – Nick Groeneveld for The Designer’s Toolbox
- Giving a Damn About Accessibility: A Candid and Practical Handbook for Designers – Fabricio Teixeira
These are just a few of the fantastic events that took place throughout the day and we hope to be able to build on our resources and advice for next year. There was a huge effort worldwide from many digital organizations and we’d welcome feedback on news and information from other sources that may be of interest to our readers.
Resources, Event Planning and Awareness Building
GAAD takes place on May 20 this year and we’d like to encourage all our members to take part so that we can build awareness and play our part to increase the accessibility of digital content to people with print disabilities, particularly during this challenging time when many of us are working from home. If your organization has an accessibility advocate then this is their chance to build awareness and co-ordinate activities that your teams may be able to take part in whilst self-isolating.
How do you want to celebrate GAAD this year? We’ve put together a few ideas to get you started and we would love to hear from you about any activities or events that you are planning.
Awareness Building
You can easily do this from your home office so long as you and your team are online and communicating
- Put together a blog piece in advance of GAAD. This will help to raise awareness amongst your colleagues about what GAAD is all about. We have resources and tools that you can include in your post to spark interest and encourage questions! A good place to start is our Introduction to Inclusive Publishing.
- Alternatively, you are welcome to cross-post any of the interesting articles that we have published on Inclusive Publishing during the last year. Contact us if you need help finding the correct piece for your newsletter.
- Think about updating your accessibility statement in time for GAAD. Have a look at the work of ASPIRE which is all about increasing the effectiveness of your organizational accessibility statement
- Hold an online social event to promote your support of accessible publishing. Set up a “party” online to discuss awareness issues and next steps for your company when you return to the workplace. (Zoom offers the most accessible online conferencing experience we have found).
User Experience
GAAD is a great chance to find out for yourself what it’s like to be a print disabled reader. You can put together all manner of sessions to focus on this but here are a few ideas:
- Go mouseless for an hour—unplug your mouse and only use your keyboard (tab/shift tab, arrow keys, enter and spacebar) to navigate and interact with content.
- Experience reading using assistive technology – try 10 minutes with a screen reader for example
- You may wish to set up a UX session so that your colleagues can experience accessibility features such as Voice Over.
- Try your hand at writing image descriptions—collect a few images from the content that you publish together with some contextual information. See how your colleagues fare in writing alt text! This could be a fun challenge that would be easy or organise for those of you working from home.
Webinars
Encourage your colleagues to watch one of our free webinars available on the DAISY YouTube channel. We have many different sessions available already and lots more planned for the future so this would be a terrific time to ask your co-workers to choose something new and interesting. If you host a discussion following a webinar viewing you could initiate some interesting debate which we would love to hear about.
Other Events We’ve Heard About
There are some amazing events already being planned to celebrate GAAD 2021 and we encourage you to check out a few on our events pages as well as the full list on the GAAD listings.
You may also be interested in the publisher’s toolkit that we promote on inclusive publishing in celebration of GAAD. Feel free to send us your comments and additions to this publishing resource.
Read More
Our webinar on April 21, 2021, was focused on the accessibility of reading apps from a variety of different perspectives, with tips and demonstrations to show our audience the practicalities of various systems.
This page contains:
Full Video of the Webinar
Speakers
- Richard Orme, DAISY Consortium—host and chair
- Daniella Levy-Pinto, NNELS
- Robin Spinks, RNIB
- Melissa Castilloux, tester at NNELS
- George Kerscher, DAISY Consortium
Session Overview
George Kerscher gave us a brief resume of the session highlighting the need for apps to support access by eyes, ears and fingers depending on the perceptual requirements of readers and the type of reading they are engaged in (leisure, academic etc).
Reading Requirements
For Everyone
Some features benefit all readers and these include:
- Remembering where you left off when the book is reopened
- A Navigable Table of Contents
- Access to the real full text (for text-to-speech, font customization and scaling) rather than it just being an image
- Go To Page feature
- Easy navigation throughout
For Readers who are Blind
Daniella Levy-Pinto which features are also important for readers who are blind who user use a variety of apps depending on the type of content they are accessing and in which format. A continuous reading experience is helpful when reading for pleasure but a more academic environment may require additional flexibility for moving around within the content. In particular, these features are a requirement for blind readers:
- Read Out Loud that includes a pause button to retain the current position
- Review Text – the app should work with screen readers that read out the text and other elements
- Heading Navigation – the app should list headings and allow them to be selected
- Read Image Descriptions should be read automatically
- Movement within Tables
- Navigation using links and page references
For Readers who have Low Vision
Robin Spinks highlighted important reading requirements for readers with low vision for whom there are many challenges such as being able to focus on the text, glare from text, visual fatigue and a sensitivity to movement. Readers with low vision may want:
- To be able to adjust the font size and weight
- Having a good choice of fonts
- Color and contrast modifications
- Line spacing adjustments
- Read aloud option
For Readers who have Dyslexia
Melissa Castilloux talked to us about the needs of dyslexic readers and explained that for these users, learning to automate reading is indeed a skill and the constant demand to de-code content results in reduced time actually interacting with the text as was intended. Features that are helpful in this situation include:
- Different levels of navigation
- All buttons and links should be correctly labelled
- Read aloud feature can ease the need to constantly de-code text
- Ability to change column widths and line spacing aids concentration
- Colour and contrast modification impact the reading experience for dyslexic readers
Melissa gave a brief demo of the Microsoft Word Immersive Reader function which offers an incredibly flexible reading experience.
George impressed upon us that there are many reading apps and that being able to tell readers about what features are available, is crucial. Testing of these apps is difficult when you consider the number of combinations of operating systems, reading apps, assistive technologies and formats but it is important that we impart this information to readers.
The User Experience
The Blind User Experience
Daniella explained that a good UX for blind readers is one where are the included features are accessible. Barriers to this include:
- Buttons and links which are not properly labelled result in difficulties performing basic functions with a screen reader
- Apps that are cluttered, with no headings to separate sections make it difficult for the reader to orient themselves within the app
- Apps that do not include useful keyboard controls or the ability to use a common swipe gesture hinder interaction
The Low Vision User Experience
Robin urged us to think about how a book might be able to be customized for the reader allowing:
- Bigger text together with reflow options
- Ability to switch color theme
- Ability to increase line spacing
- Ability to change the font
- Read Aloud
The User Experience for People with Learning Difficulties
Melissa explained that all features within a reading app should offer full flexibility to the reader in terms of accessibility. Her demo of the app “BookReader” showed a great example of flexibility although all reading apps do have some limitations and in this case it was the read aloud feature that could do with some improvement.
Testing Reading Apps
The formalised process of testing reading apps benefits many of us including developers, schools, libraries and anyone who enjoys the additional benefits of reading digital content. Both DAISY and NNELS offer testing and reporting via epubtest.org and accessiblepublishing.ca. Through a process of testing and feedback, the whole publishing and reading ecosystem benefits and steadily improves.
Related Resources
- PowerPoint slide deck 61 MB
- Full transcript Word document 35 KB
- Reading app testing at epubtest.org
- Reading System Round-Up Inclusive Publishing
- Reading App Reports NNELS
- Finding the Right Reading System NNELS
- NNELS video playlist of reading app tutorials
- DAISY Guidance for reading systems
Discover the other webinars we’re running!
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In our series of free weekly webinars April 7th saw our second session focused on Word document accessibility – part two to the previous webinar, Word Document Accessibility 101, delivered on March 10th.
This page contains:
Full Video of the Webinar
Speakers
- Erin Williams, Microsoft: host and chair
- Prashant Verma, The DAISY Consortium
- Richard Orme, The DAISY Consortium
Session Overview
Following on from the previous session on word document accessibility which looked at the fundamentals, Erin Williams introduced us to the webinar session and explained that by popular demand, this webinar is back to look at “Beyond the Basics of Word Document Accessibility”.
Richard Orme gave an overview of what can be expected from today’s webinar in this continued discussion. This was an extremely practical webinar, full of demos and practical examples so it is advised to review the recording for the full experience!
Top Tips for Checking Alt Text
Prashant reminded us that in order for a document to be accessible it is crucial that alt text is provided for all the images within that word document. Checking that this in place can be a time-consuming process but we have discovered that you can do this via the search feature:
- Open search with Ctrl F
- enter the search term: ^g
- Cancel the dialogue box
- Use Ctrl PgUp and PgDn to navigate between images
Magically Apply Headings
If there is no heading structure in your document (which is fundamental to navigation and, therefore, accessibility) you can:
- Select one of your “pseudo headings”
- Select your Home tab and the editing area here
- Choose the Select button
- Choose Select All Text With Similar Formatting
- Apply the chosen heading style
You can change the look of the headings if you require but you will have applied a heading structure for each level of headings within the document. Design and structure are separate from each other and, again, this is fully demonstrated within the recording of the webinar presentation.
Use Power Search and Replace to Clean Up
Accessibility of your document can be greatly improved by clearing up the following using the search and replace feature:
- Remove empty headings and paragraphs and use paragraph and line spacing instead which is far more accessible
- Remove extra spaces
- Also, remove Tabs, manual line breaks etc. if you can
By cleaning up the document, using the find and replace tool, navigation and document structure are greatly improved. If more white space is required to make the document more visually appealing then it is suggested that you make use of the para and line spacing features that are provided by Word (rather than manually inserting them). This helps to create a document that is desirable for everyone.
Turning the Tables
Richard Orme looked at how to deal with multiple headings for rows and columns within a table which can often be very challenging in terms of accessibility. Many tables look perfectly fine but Prashant showed us how table features need to be attended to so that screen readers can access information. Many issues have easy fixes – eg. putting the heading of the table above / below / outside the table and not in a row within the table. This eases navigation of the rows and columns for screen readers. It’s so important to think about how a screen reader is going to convey tabular information to a user – simple and straightforward design is essential
Alt Text for tables should be handled specifically – right-click on your table to view table properties including alt text and a table description. As screen readers will read out the contents of your table, the alt text can be used as an option to provide additional useful information for the reader. Likewise, do not rely on the alt text to make an inaccessible table accessible.
Accessible Textboxes
Creating textboxes that work for everyone is vital. If text boxes are created using the regular word feature they are inserted as a floating shape which is inaccessible to assistive technology, making it impossible to determine where they appear in the reading order. There are alternative ways of doing this that do indeed work, by using the borders and shading tools as demonstrated by our presenters.
Charting the Way Forward
Charts present unique challenges to accessibility and it is advisable to consider alternative methods of presentation if at all possible. If a chart is the best way forward then we suggest:
- Convert charts to images so that you can insert alt text or longer descriptions that describe the image.
- Add alt text which is reliable (many screen readers don’t automatically announce alt text in charts so this causes an immediate problem). Very often charts require a much longer description so that numerical data etc. can be conveyed correctly (it may be useful to refer to our webinar on long descriptions and how to manage these).
A practical example using a chart created in MS Excel and then inserted into the word document was shown – a very visual representation of data.
Filenames and Templates
Both of our presenters asked the questions:
- Do Filenames matter? What do filenames have to do with accessibility – they aren’t even part of the document itself. The filename needs to be descriptive so that readers can understand what is inside the file. It is also best not to have any spaces in the filename so that the document can convert easily into other formats – an underline or dash is better here. The MS tool Power Toys has a renaming feature to make this easy for you.
- Are templates a good or bad thing? If templates are tested for a11y they are a good thing. You can make your own templates using the accessibility guides from the Microsoft Office Templates store or you can look for accessible templates: File > New and type “accessible templates” in the Search for online templates box
Related Resources
- PowerPoint slide deck
- Full transcript Word document
- Microsoft Office Templates
- Microsoft Accessibility Feedback Site
- Word Accessibility Guidance from Microsoft
Discover the other webinars we’re running!
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In our series of free weekly webinars March 24th, 2021, saw a session focused on accessible mobile content from a variety of different perspectives. The adoption of mobile reading practices have become increasingly important over the last year and accessibility of this type of content has never been more important.
This page contains:
Full Video of the Webinar
Speakers
- Richard Orme, The DAISY Consortium—host and chair
- Erin Lucas, RedShelf
- Darrin Evans, Wake Tech
- Stacy Ray, VitalSource
- Robin Spinks, RNIB
Session Overview
This webinar presented us with 4 perspectives
The View From a College
Darrin Evans talked to us about mobile learning from the student’s perspective and showed us that learning via mobile content is fast becoming a staple method of content access for today’s students. A recent survey showed that 40% of students currently access educational materials via mobile (10% via desktop and 45% via laptop). Mobile is clearly of import in an educational environment and, at this point in the webinar, a poll was launched to get delegates’ views on whether “Learners need a laptop to be a serious student”.
Colleges need mobile responsive content that is accessible and usable – mobile responsive accessible textbooks and class materials.
Vital Source: Where Learning is Already Mobile
Stacy Ray told us that currently over 2 million students are already accessing VitalSource content via mobile apps for a number of reasons:
- Mobile offers portability and flexibility to study offline which is convenient
- This mobile-first generation is used to mobile learning
- Mobile usage has been affected by at-home learning
with some learners using mobile as their sole method of accessing content although not all experiences directly translate e.g. PDF doesn’t translate as well as EPUB.
Features that Make a Difference to Mobile Accessibility
- Table of Contents
- Highlight
- Search
- Read Aloud
- Display Controls (background color, fonts etc)
All of these features are in the top 5 features used in mobile applications (as is the case with desktop and laptop browser based learning also)
Building Accessible Apps
Building an accessible app at VitalSource is a shared responsibility company-wide beginning with good design, which doesn’t directly replicate the desktop experience. The app is specifically designed and tested for mobile whilst ensuring that consistency is up-held across the variety of experiences on offer. Testing is conducted with users who are primary mobile users, making sure that the experience is intuitive. The whole process is really no harder than building a web-based platform so long as you keep up to date with the latest tools and features that the OS releases.
RedShelf: Our Journey to Mobile Begins
Erin Lucas explained that RedShelf’s focus has been traditionally based around browser-based reading experiences and in late 2019 they turned their attention to mobile. This was before the onset of the 2020 pandemic when the need for mobile learning experiences became apparent quickly!
Mobile is Here to Stay
Learning everywhere quickly became the norm in 2020 with feedback from DSOs confirming that WIFI access is often an issue and that mobile is the way forward for many learners. Digital natives are resourceful and by the beginning of the Fall term the app had been installed 12k times and tripled in time for the Spring term, without any promotion or proper launch!
A11y Considerations for Mobile
A11y First is a huge part of everything that RedShelf does and they have learned that an accessible desktop experience doesn’t necessarily translate to the mobile experience. Hybrid apps can be more challenging than native apps for instance. Content needs to be accessible and responsive, reinforcing the advantages of the EPUB format.
Measuring Up
Robin Spinks discussed whether accessibility features on mobile are up to the mark, encouraging us all to check out our personal devices after the webinar to find out how to access specific features and become comfortable with enabling the built-in functionality:
Visual Adjustments
- Built-in magnifier
- Colour inversion
- EPUB apps can adjust: font, text size, colors and spacing
Read Aloud
- Speak selection / speak screen
- Select to speak
- EPUB reading apps may have read aloud features or can use the integrated features
Screen Reader
- VoiceOver
- TalkBack / Voice Assistant / Voice View
- Support for text, image descriptions, heading navigation, lists etc
- Support in tables is ok
- Support for math is limited
In Conclusion: Where is all this Going?
- Investment is heading to mobile
- Devices and services are getting smarter
- Voice control and intelligent assistants are playing a huge role
- Merging of desktop and mobile
Finally – the poll results – “Learners need a laptop to be a serious student”…
- Strongly Disagree: 8%
- Disagree: 33%
- Neither Agree or Disagree: 24%
- Agree: 31%
- Strongly Agree: 4%
Related Resources
Discover the other webinars we’re running!
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Continuing our series of free weekly webinars March 10th, 2021, saw a practical workshop-style session focused on the accessibility of word documents. In our webinar series we’ve looked closely at how to convert accessible word documents to the EPUB file format but not in-depth at the word documents themselves. This session does just this.
This page contains:
Full Video of the Webinar
Speakers
- Richard Orme, The DAISY Consortium—host and chair
- Erin Williams, Microsoft
- Kirsi Ylanne, CELIA
- Prashant Verma, The DAISY Consortium
Session Overview
Why Accessibility?
Erin Williams, Program Manager at Microsoft, explained why it is so important for our “connected” society to be as inclusive as possible so that technology can ensure that everyone is able to connect. We must design for accessibility for everyone.
Once you start thinking inclusively, it becomes second nature
Microsoft Accessibility and Word
Microsoft’s mission is to “empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more”. This integrated approach is applied throughout the organization – the culture, the systems, products and plans for the future – as they seek how to better serve their customers, MS Word has built-in accessibility features to support and encourage accessibility. The techniques described in this webinar apply to Windows, MacOS and Online versions of Word.
Demo of Accessibility Barriers and Solutions
Kirsi Ylanne and Prashant Verma described 3 significant barriers to accessibility that are encountered and gave detailed examples of just how challenging these can be to document access:
- Text content as an Image: If text is displayed as an image it cannot be read aloud or via a braille display
- No Heading Structure: Without any built-in structure a document becomes un-navigable
- Missing Image Descriptions: Without alt text or image descriptions a screen reader cannot describe images, tables and other graphic content.
Word Document Structure
Kirsi talked us through 3 areas that are crucial for word document accessibility:
- Applying Heading Styles: via the navigation pane. Do not rely on the visual layout of your document to denote headings as a screen reader will be looking under the hood of the document in order to inform the reader.
- Lists: Make sure you use the proper bullet point or numbered list features
- Avoid using the textbox feature and place a border around a paragraph if you need to
Graphics, Tables and Content Considerations
Graphics
To further improve the accessibility of a word document Kirsi showed us how to:
- Make sure that images are placed inline so that screen readers can access the alt text
- Add alternative descriptions, thinking about the purpose of the image. Don’t repeat text, rather focus on the information that the image is conveying in a given context. Watch the demo here for how to insert your alt text within the word document.
- Decorative Images. You can mark an image as decorative if it doesn’t contain any relevant information.
Tables
Prashant showed us how to make sure tables are accessible, reminding us to:
- Keep tables as simple as possible so that screen readers can decipher them
- Use tables for tabular data, not lists
- Mark row headings correctly so that they can be identified by screen readers – Prashant shows us how to do this
Other Content Considerations
Prashant referred to the following issues also which must be considered in terms of document accessibility:
- Headers and footers. Assistive technology sometimes has difficulty detecting content here so it’s good practice not to include important information or make sure it is repeated in the main body of the content. This material can also be lost when the file is converted into another file type.
- The document language should be identified so that screen readers can voice words appropriately.
- Footnotes and endnotes should be included using the MSWord features provided. Manual insertion of these results in an inaccessible document.
- Display text for links should clearly state what it is that is being linked to so that assistive technology can read out a meaningful link to the reader, rather than a URL or a generic term that isn’t clearly describing the link.
Testing for Accessibility
Kirsi gave a demo of how to run the accessibility checker that is available within MSWord (under the Review tab). The results of the checker highlight errors and warnings that should be worked through. One very common error is missing alt text and by highlighting these errors the focus of the document will guide the user to its location.
Conclusions
- Making your document accessible also benefits other documents you generate from it
- Accessibility techniques help you to be more efficient
- Usability is better for all your readers (and is very often a legal requirement)
It is well worth spending the time watching the video recording of this webinar which includes practical how-to demos of everything mentioned here.
Related Resources
- PowerPoint slide deck
- Full transcript Word document
- Microsoft Accessibility Feedback Site
- Word Accessibility Guidance from Microsoft
Discover the other webinars we’re running!
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In our series of free weekly webinars February 24th saw a session focused on extended descriptions which followed on nicely from our series on The Art and Science of Image Description. Our speakers were able to give practical advice on what works for them and what is coming up – lots to think about and takeaway!
This page contains:
Full Video of the Webinar
Speakers
- Richard Orme, The DAISY Consortium—host and chair
- George Kerscher, The DAISY Consortium
- Charles La Pierre, Benetech
- Evan Yamanishi, W.W. Norton and Co
Session Overview
When Alt Text is Not Enough
There are many occasions when the alt text option doesn’t provide enough scope and the addition of an extended description is a necessary inclusion in order to properly convey the meaning of an image or complex graphic. George Kerscher explained to us how extended descriptions can add value to this type of content and add clarity and meaning in a given context.
3 Techniques for Delivery
Comprehensive Description Following the Image
This type of delivery would appear immediately after the image, inline. As it cannot be skipped, these descriptions can interrupt the flow of the page for the reader.
Summary and Expandable Details
This type of description remains hidden until expanded by the reader, revealing the details. It is easy to move past without reading if not required. Unfortunately, some reading apps do not support the “details” element.
Linked Description
This type of description can be accessed by following a link to the end of the book where the image is reproduced and the full extended description can be accessed. Ideally the link will take you back to where you came from originally (a feature that has just been refined) although some assistive technology doesn’t quite get you to the right spot!
George shared with us his own personal preferences. Generally he likes the Summary and Details approach but the linked approach is growing on him! Traditionally his screen reader would take him back to the start rather than where the link was but these “deep linking” issues are improving and he is becoming a fan.
Demos in HTML and EPUB
Charles La Pierre gave a comprehensive demonstration of the various techniques for handling extended descriptions using the browser, Vital Source’s Bookshelf, Apple Books and Thorium. Quite a difference and well worth watching these in the attached video!
Publisher Perspective
Evan Yamanishi spoke to us about how to optimize the use of extended descriptions to enhance the reader’s experience through personalization and progressive enhancement. It is important to give the reader an option to choose how content is displayed to best suit them and the same technique could be used for extended descriptions. At W.W. Norton they prepare and ship content with standard mark up and javascript so that items may be enhanced if the reading system allows. This satisfies most systems but he did note that the underlying semantics of how the markup is prepared has to be standardized. This is vital.
Why Extended Descriptions are Required
George reminded us of conformance requirements in:
- WCAG
- EPUB Accessibility Specification 1.1 where it will be a requirement
- European Accessibility Act which comes into play in 2025
Publishers are indeed using extended descriptions as part of their econtent materials and it has been wonderful to see this happening.
Related Resources
- PowerPoint slide deck
- Full transcript Word document
- EPUBTest test books and see Reading App testing
- DIAGRAM best practices for authoring extended descriptions in EPUB
Discover the other webinars we’re running!
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In our series of free webinars February 10th saw the 3rd session focusing on image description: in the series entitled, The Art and Science of Describing Images. This webinar focused on 3 specific types of complex images with speakers Huw Alexander and Valerie Morrison showing us all how they approach these seemingly daunting areas.
This page contains:
Full Video of the Webinar
Speakers
- Richard Orme, The DAISY Consortium—host and chair
- Valerie Morrison—Center for Inclusive Design and Innovation at Georgia Institute of Technology
- Huw Alexander—textBOX Digital
Session Overview
Huw Alexander opened this session by giving us a brief resume of what the webinar will cover. Continuing on from Part Two of this series this session will focus on 3 specific types of complex image: Artwork, Anatomy and Assessment.
Artwork
As with all images, Valerie advocates beginning with an overview of the artwork piece, the title together with a brief resume of the main components. For a more complex description it is imperative to consider the context for which you need the description. This may include:
- The painting style
- The color and composition
- The style of the figures
- Allegorical messaging
- Influences
- Historical notes
To include all of these notes within your alt text image description would be far too much and if there is a need for lengthy content here then it is better to write an extended description.
Huw explained “Sector Description” – by breaking down a painting into sections you can take the reader on a journey. This can be done in a number of ways: linear, clock face style, compass etc. Using this approach helps to create an immersive experience for the reader.
Valerie and Huw used some excellent examples to demonstrate how effective these techniques can be when describing complex images.
Anatomy
Making sure that you convey the relevant and precise elements of an anatomical image is likely to be an exacting process. Valerie made the point that you have to think very carefully about what to include in your description, because simply labelling all the parts often isn’t good enough. It doesn’t take into consideration the context in which the image is being used and it is far more useful to consider the following:
- The name of the structure itself
- The shape
- The location
- Proximity
Huw’s sectoring approach works very well with anatomical images, deciding what needs to be retained and considering the visual impact of the image itself.
Assessment
Images that are used in assessments, quizzes and tests can be extremely hard to recreate in description form and Valerie suggested that assessors consider an egalitarian approach here. By thinking of alternative ways to test knowledge you may be far more successful in creating a useful testing scenario. The example used was a geography question on the silhouettes of countries and the following might work equally well:
- Questions about the size and shapes of countries
- An essay question
- Tactile graphics
All of these would test knowledge in various ways and offer an alternative to the silhouette question!
Related Resources
- PowerPoint slide deck
- Full transcript Word document
- MathSpeak Grammar Rules referenced in the presentation
- The Art and Science of Describing Images Part One
- The Art and Science of Describing Images Part Two
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In our series of free weekly webinars December 9th saw a session focused on WordToEPUB. Following on from earlier webinars, this event gave us a quick refresh, a summary of currently supported EPUB features and then delved into what is new and what we can expect in the future from this ground-breaking software.
This page contains:
Full Video of the Webinar
Speakers
- Kirsi Yianne, Celia, guest host
- Richard Orme, The DAISY Consortium
- Joseph Polizzotto, UC Berkeley
Session Overview
Richard Orme reminded us of the benefits of WordToEPUB with a quick refresh at the beginning of the webinar. WordToEPUB is free to download and use. If you can start with an accessible structured word document you will end up with a beautiful EPUB that can be used on any platform or reading app.
Supported EPUB Features
WordToEPUB currently supports many EPUB features and these include”
- Navigation
- Semantics
- Accessibility: images and alt text, navigating tables, inline language markup, MathML, low vision friendly fonts
What’s New in Version 1.05
Version 1.05 released this month includes the following new features:
New Default Style Sheets
Available out of the box for new installations of WordToEPUB, new default style sheets improve the visual presentation of the EPUB. Including features such as justification options, superscript reference numbers, improved paragraph spacing and better leading the new style sheet option needs to be manually selected for versions of WordToEPUB before 1.05
Faster More Reliable Language Detection
If the user makes sure that the correct languages have been selected within their Word document then WordToEPUB is able to use the improved algorithms to detect language changes, improving the reading experience for readers using Read Aloud or screen readers.
New Options for Page Numbers
Print page tags and custom indicators are now supported, enabling quick and easy navigation to specific locations within the document based on their print page equivalent.
Optional Metadata Summary Page
Ensuring accurate metadata is embedded within EPUB files is recommended good practice, and WordToEPUB now offers the ability to generate a metadata summary page at the end of the EPUB document to expose this useful information, including a summary of accessibility.
Edit with Sigil
WordToEPUB now offers the workflow option to automatically open the converted EPUB in the Sigil EPUB editor to make any adjustments to the document.
New Quality Assurance Wizard
Another workflow addition allows for the use of a QA wizard after conversion. This wizard is comprised of 4 steps:
- Validate the file with EPUBCheck
- Launch Ace by DAISY for automated accessibility testing
- Check the experience in a reading app – Thorium is a suggested option
- Manually check the file for anything further
New Option to Generate Clean HTML Version
This option has been added to the preferences dialog (“select other output formats”) and is often used when shorter articles or book segments need converting as they can be opened directly within a web browser. The underlying semantic level is excellent although it doesn’t have as many stylistic functions as an EPUB.
What’s Coming Soon
To finish the session Richard mentioned a few items which we can expect to appear in the not too distant future:
- Improved style sheets with embedded font options
- Expandable content in <details>
- Support for Math Type expressions
Related Resources
- PowerPoint slide deck (9.9 MB)
- Full transcript Word document (40 KB)
- WordToEPUB project area and Download
Discover the other webinars we’re running!
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