Information Object

Page Number

Definition

A number printed on a page of a document to uniquely identify it. Most contemporary books are paginated consecutively and pages are generally accounted for in the pagination sequence even if a number is not actually printed on the page.

Markup

The reason for using markup to indicate page numbers is to provide direct navigation to a page. It is strongly recommended that pages be individually and uniquely tagged in text books, and that, wherever possible, they be included in all DTBs. All page tags must have a unique id attribute.

Page numbers are marked with the <pagenum> tag. There are three types of page which are distinguished in the markup through use of the “page” attribute.

• page=”normal” is used to indicate that the content of the number is the standard arabic numeral used in the body and rear matter of most books.
• page=”front” is used to mark the page numbers used in the front matter of most books (most often roman numerals but sometimes arabic).
• page=”special” is used to indicate variant pagination schemes used in some books, for example hyphenated numbers often used in appendices (A-1, A-2, etc.).

The <pagenum> tag must be placed at the top of a page, regardless of where the page number itself is located on the print page, so that the user will be positioned at the beginning of the page when he or she navigates to it. To ensure accurate navigation, the markup at the beginning of a major structure (part, chapter, section, etc.) must follow a precise order. The order should always be: level1-6 tag, pagenum, heading. This will ensure that if users navigate to the beginning of the major structure (as marked by the level1-6 tag) and begin playback, they will hear both the page number and the heading of the major structure. If they navigate to the page number, they will still hear both page number and heading.

When pages are being included in a DTB, all pages, including blank ones, must be marked. In a DTD with audio, the end user should receive aural confirmation of the existence of blank pages, e.g. Page 43 — blank page. Pages that are part of the pagination sequence but have no page number printed on them should be tagged and the page number included. Unnumbered pages (those that are not included in the pagination sequence) should be tagged but no page number should be included within the tag, allowing navigation by “next” and “previous” page controls.

Syntax

• <pagenum page="normal" id="...">...</pagenum>
• <pagenum page="front" id="...">...</pagenum>
• <pagenum page="special" id="...">...</pagenum>

Example 1 page=”front” and page=”normal”

<frontmatter>

<level1 class="preface" id="pf">

<pagenum page="front" id="fm-3">iii</pagenum>

<h1 class="preface">Preface, Acknowledgments and a Note on Structure</h1>

<p>This is not a conventional cookbook. Though I should straightaway attach a disclaimer to my disclaimer and say that I have nothing but the highest regard for the traditional collection of recipes, arranged by ingredient under broad, usually geographical categories.</p>

</level1>

</frontmatter>

<bodymatter>

<level1 class="chapter">

<pagenum page="normal" id="ch3-43">43</pagenum>

<h1>A Winter Menu</h1>

<p>Winston Churchill was fond of saying that the Chinese ideogram for crisis is composed of the two characters which separately mean "danger" and "opportunity".</p>

</level1>

</bodymatter>

Example 2 page=”special”

<bodymatter>

<level1 class="chapter">

<pagenum id="pt3-ch4-app1-1" page="special">W-1</pagenum>

<h1>Welcome to ClarisImpact</h1>

<p>ClarisImpact is a smart, integrated business graphics program that allows you to create, edit, and communicate attractive, professional - looking business graphics quickly and easily.</p>

. . .

<level2 class="section">

<pagenum id="pt3-ch4-app1-2" page="special">W-2</pagenum>

<h2>Onscreen Help</h2>

<p>ClarisImpact Help provides onscreen, step-by-step instructions and reference information as you work in ClarisImpact. You can easily search for topics and move from one topic to another. </p>

. . .

</level2>

. . .

</level1>

</bodymatter>

Example 3 page=”normal” — blank page

<bodymatter>

<level1 class="chapter">

<pagenum id="pt3-ch5" page="normal">104</pagenum>

<prodnote render="optional">blank page</prodnote>

</level1>

</bodymatter>