News Archive

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Ace App version 1.0.1 released

We are delighted to announce the first full release of the Ace by DAISY App. Many publishing professionals are already familiar with the Ace command line tool for accessibility checking within EPUB workflows and this new desktop version builds on test version released a couple of months ago to make testing EPUB files from a desktop an even easier process. Ace by DAISY helps to ensure EPUB content conforms with the EPUB Accessibility 1.0 specification, allowing all readers to access and enjoy your content irrespective of print disabilities or access requirements. The Ace App is designed to allow you to quickly test EPUB files through a familiar graphical user interface and highlight any issues which need to be addressed. Users will still need some understanding of the EPUB specification and accessibility requirements in order to resolve any problems found, but to make that process easier the Ace App is integrated with the DAISY Accessible Publishing Knowledge Base proving quick links to the relevant reference in this essential resource. The Ace App is not intended to replace the command line tool, which remains the ideal solution for those wishing to test multiple documents or to integrate the testing process directly into production workflows. Technically the testing process taking place behind the scenes is identical on both the Ace by DAISY command line tool and the Ace App, so this is simply an easier way for some users to access the same process. Get started by visiting the Ace App Github page for instructions on download and installation. Read More

Obi 4.5 Release Candidate

DAISY Consortium is pleased to announce the test release of Obi, the popular open source navigable audio book creation tool. Obi produces books conforming to the accessible EPUB 3, DAISY 3 and DAISY 2.02 specifications.

Version 4.5 RC is the release candidate inviting feedback from experienced users of Obi.

It presents new and enhanced audio processing functionality to increase/decrease the volume, fade in, fade out, or normalize audio, and also incorporates the old functionality in the new audio processing interface.

Other enhancements include capability of adding comment to a Todo phrase for providing hint to the editors, ability to mark Todo at the exact time point in a phrase, option to view peak meter inside the main Obi window, option to use single key shortcuts for recording in the TOC view along with other improvements and bug fixes.

New Obi also comes with updated French language pack. Many thanks to BrailleNet for updating the translations.

Please visit Obi Release Notes page to learn more about the release and to download the installers.

For feedback, comments and bug reports please contact us via email: obi.feedback@gmail.com

Digital Book World Awards 2019

The DAISY Consortium were delighted to be part of the Digital Book World 2019 Awards, with the DAISY Award for Accessibility in Publishing. It’s been great to see accessibility put under the spotlight at such a high-profile event, and our thanks to the Digital Book World team for their commitment to this important topic and making this award possible.

We have had some incredibly interesting discussions throughout this process, finding the decision making very difficult at every stage—deciding the finalists, and particularly in selecting a winner. All of the entrants have done wonderful work in progressing the accessibility of published materials for people with print disabilities and should be applauded. We would have loved to present awards to everyone! Our finalists were:

Hachette Livre, winner of the International Excellence Award for Accessibility at the London Book Fair 2018 and a passionate adopter of EPUB 3 and Ace by DAISY which is a standard part of their workflow. You can read more about their initiatives at our interview with Luc Audrain.
Kogan Page, producing born accessible EPUB 3 publications having reworked their schema and workflows to ensure full accessible content. You can read more about their extraordinary commitment to accessibility in their case study: https://inclusivepublishing.org/blog/accessibility-in-publishing-a-case-study-from-kogan–page/
Macmillan Learning are the first publisher to gain Benetech GCA accreditation with their born accessible publications. Read more about this at https://inclusivepublishing.org/blog/rachel-comerford-the-trailblazer-behind-macmillan-learning/
and for their ongoing commitment to accessibility, including innovative work on accessibility metadata, ensuring for the first time that essential information about the accessibility of titles is preserved and made available to consumers in their book selection process together with their commitment to the needs of students within their Bookshelf reading app, we are thrilled to announce that our winner is VitalSource. Read more about their work in the DAISY Planet article from of VitalSource.

The DAISY Consortium were also very excited to be awarded an Outstanding Achievement Award for their work on the Ace by DAISY EPUB accessibility checking tool. Ace is a free open source tool available as a command line tool and as a desktop application. It can be integrated at any point in the ebook production workflow and ensures that EPUB files conform with the EPUB Accessibility Specification. Our congratulations to the development team behind Ace for this achievement.

For the full list of all the winners at the DBW Awards Ceremony see the Digital Book World press release.

DAISY Award for Accessibility in Publishing

In Partnership with Digital Book World the DAISY Consortium is celebrating the work of organizations in mainstream publishing who have made significant accessibility developments over the last year. After reviewing a truly impressive range of nominations, the difficult decision was made to shortlist the following finalists for the award:

Hachette Livre
Kogan Page
Macmillan
VitalSource

The winner will be announced at the Digital Book World Conference on September 10th.

New Ace by DAISY App Launched

Following feedback from our users who found the Ace by DAISY command line tool useful but in some instances challenging to use, we are delighted to bring you the new Ace by DAISY App.

The Ace by DAISY App is a desktop application available for Windows, MacOS and Linux, allowing EPUB accessibility testing directly from your desktop, helping to ensure your EPUB content conforms with the EPUB Accessibility 1.0 specification, and allowing all readers to access and enjoy your content.

Note this is a release candidate and you may encounter minor bugs which we will work to address in the coming months. For more information on this release visit the Ace by DAISY App page on Inclusive Publishing.

Avneesh Singh Elected to W3C Advisory Board

Many congratulations to Avneesh Singh, Chief Operating Officer at the DAISY Consortium, who has been elected to the W3C Advisory Board alongside other esteemed candidates as reported in the W3C’s announcement.

The W3C Advisory Board “provides ongoing guidance on issues of strategy, management, legal matters, process, and conflict resolution” within the W3C. DAISY is delighted that the board now have the benefit of Avneesh’s experience and expertise.

Obi 4.5 alpha (first test version)

Obi 4.5 alpha (test release) presents the first set of features planned for Obi 4.5.

It makes Obi more user friendly and brings usability improvements like, enhancing Todo functionality by adding the ability to provide Todo comments for providing a hint to the editors and marking Todo at exact time position in a phrase for facilitating editing of longer phrases, option to view peak meter inside main Obi window to facilitate working with the full view of the content view, option to use single key shortcuts in TOC view for recording, along with other improvements.

To know about the complete list of new features and bug fixes, please visit Obi pages.

We will like to thank all the contributors & supporters for their valuable feedback and support. We are looking forward to your feedback and bug reports.

Google Assistant Accessibility

For Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Google have launched a new video series to demonstrate how the Google Assistant can benefit users with disabilities. Read the blog post, or view the YouTube playlist.

New Benetech International Partnerships

Benetech has been working internationally for many years to make accessible publications available through partner organizations. In a new announcement to coincide with Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Benetech have released details of further international and national partnerships, working under the Marrakesh Treaty.

As a Member of the DAISY Consortium, Benetech make the most of DAISY tools in the creation and conversion of titles in accessible formats, as well as working with publishers to assess EPUB accessibility.

Read the full Benetech press release.

CSUN 2019 Files

The DAISY Consortium is delighted to once again support the CSUN Assistive Technology Conference by creating accessible digital versions of the conference materials, and offering them for download in HTML, DAISY 2.02 and EPUB formats. Thanks to the CSUN Conference Team for making the information available in advance to facilitate conversion.

This page contains a complete lists of downloadable files, which are shown with their approximate size. Downloads start immediately after a link is selected.