THE LIA PROJECT (LIBRI ITALIANI ACCESSIBILI): TOWARDS MAINSTREAM DISTRIBUTION OF ACCESSIBLE EPUB EBOOKS IN ITALY

6th EUROPEAN EACCESSIBILITY FORUM PARIS, 26th MARCH 2012

Internationally the issues of accessibility and inclusion have gained momentum and there are several initiatives and projects going on at institutional level. Alliances are consolidating between groups representing those with print disabilities and those supporting the publishing industry: Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB), Publishers Licensing Society (PLS), JISC TechDis support work on large print sales models, accessible e-book platforms and guidance on obtaining textbooks in alternative formats to name just a few examples. At EC level, projects such as ETIN and eAccess+ are also focusing on accessibility of contents: the latter is a network driven by 25 core members from all over Europe. The role of AIE with the LIA Project will focus on document accessibility, a topic included in the upcoming wave of the network activity.

The LIA Project Libri Italiani Accessibili aims at providing a service able to increase the availability on the market of digital publications accessible for blind and visual impaired. The Project is coordinated by Associazione Italiana Editori, (Italian Publishers Association) and managed by its service company Ediser working in collaboration with the Italian Blind Union. It is funded by the Italian Ministry for Culture in compliance with the Fund in favour of publishing for blind and visual impaired. The Project aims at creating an online catalogue of 3,000 accessible titles including fiction and essays from Italian and foreign authors that will be then update in the following years. The funding idea is to include accessibility in mainstream production and distribution flows rather than to create a dedicated stream. Such outline will advantage blind and visual impaired as they will be able to purchase and/or lend ebooks at the same conditions than sighted readers (in terms of channels and time), with tangible benefits for their inclusion in wider socio-cultural terms.
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The Project, set off in 2011, is biennial and can be divided in two stages: a pilot stage and a working stage. During the first stage, ended by the end of 2011, preliminary studies necessary to define all the aspects of service have been carried out. In particular: Survey on reading habits and use of technologies by blind and visual impaired; Analysis of accessible production formats; Accessibility tests; Analysis of metadata; Design of production, cataloguing and distribution flows of accessible versions.

THE LIA PROJECT

THE SURVEY

THE SURVEY

The survey was carried out in 2011 in collaboration with Unione Italiana Ciechi (Italian Blind Union) and Conferenza Nazionale Universitaria dei Delegati per la Disabilit (National Conference of University Delegates for Disability). Scientific coordination was made by the Milan University Universit degli Studi Milano - Bicocca along with the main Italian survey company Doxa. The most significant result emerging from the survey, how much and how frequently blind and visual impaired read, highlights they are keen readers: in a sample totaling 1,505 persons, the average of books read yearly is nine per capita, three times more than the national average of sighted readers. Survey also examined: the relation between blind and visual impaired and reading; how much and how frequently blind and visual impaired read books; which is or would be their favourite literary genre; what reading instruments they use: formats, software and devices. availability and use by blind and visual impaired of reading digital devices such as tablets, ereaders etc.
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THE SURVEY

Average number of per capita books read by visual impaired in the last 12 months: 9.2 Sighted readers of at least one one bookthethe Sighted readers of of at least one book in the Sighted readers at least one book in the last Sighted readers of at least book in in last last months 46.8% last 12 months 46.8% 12 12 months 46.8% 12 months 46.8% (Source: Istat 2010) (Source: Istat 2010) (Source: Istat 2010) Average number of books read ininpreceding Average number of books read in preceding Average number of books read preceding three months 2.71 three months 2.71 three months 2.71 (Source Nielsen for Cebel 2010) (Source Nielsen for Cebel 2010) (Source Nielsen for Cebel 2010)

Every day

Sometimes a week

Once a week

Sometimes a month

Sometimes a year
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THE SURVEY

15,0%

14,4% 14,0%

Digital formats 29.7%

Used Favourite

12,0%

10,4%
% of responses [Multiple response]
9,0%

10,2% 8,1% 8,8%

10,1% 9,3%

9,8% 9,7%

9,1%

8,4%

6,0%

5,9%

6,4%

3,0%

0,0%

Mp3 (in Book Publishers' Catalogs, i.e. audiobooks)

TXT Format

DOC Format

CD (in Book Publishers' Catalogs, i.e. audiobooks)

Braille (on paper)

PDF Format

Large print books (in Book Publishers' Catalogs)

THE LIA PROJECT

FORMAT ANALYSIS AND ACCESSIBILITY TESTS

FORMAT ANALYSIS AND ACCESSIBILITY TESTS

The operating structure of LIA, in tight cooperation with the major international projects active in the field of accessibility, like ETIN at EC level, TIGAR under the aegis of WIPO, and organizations such as IDPF, identified the EPUB format as the most suitable standard for the production and distribution of the 3,000 accessible titles foreseen as final objective of the project. This choice was made considering the following: EPUB is presently the standard most used internationally by publishers for producing ebooks; EPUB 3.0 is a highly accessible format, as its specifics include those of the DAISY format, one of the most used standards for producing accessible contents. Namely, the accessibility of an EPUB 3 file is granted by an improved navigation of contents, possible thanks to a complete and flexible representation of content and to the use of semantic tags.

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FORMAT ANALYSIS AND ACCESSIBILITY TESTS

The first phase of analysis took part in cooperation with national and international accessibility experts and emphasized that digital file accessibility originates from the composite interaction of the following elements: the the the the the file created by the publisher; reading software (assistive and/or mainstream); specific reading device; DRM type applied to the file; kind of disability of user.

Contemporarily, tests were made on some EPUB 2 sample files provided by publishers who agreed to join the pilot stage. The results allowed to define the characteristics an EPUB 2 or 3 must include to be fully accessible. Such features were organized in a specific chart, shared with accessibility experts.

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FILE ACCESSIBILITY FEATURES LIST

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METADATA FOR ACCESSIBILITY

The criteria an editorial product needs to have to be considered accessible must be codified in metadata, like for example the importance of navigation index, reading order, alternative text etc. Following the results of discussions within the Enabling Technology Framework, with the participation of LIAs partner mEDRA, EDItEUR issued a list of metadata to describe accessibility in ONIX (List ONIX 196 E-publication Accessibility detail), formally approved by the ONIX International Steering Committee in Frankfurt 2011. The list of metadata, included in the Issue 15 of ONIX Codelists, is integrated in the standard ONIX for Books (v.2.1. e v.3.0) and it will be possible to update it following the evolutions in the publishing sector. A specific element (Lia Compliant) was included to inform all operators in the mainstream distribution system (platforms, bookstores, libraries, ISBN catalogue) that the accessibility of a title has been certified by LIA.

METADATA CODELIST 196

Il prodotto stato testato ed conforme ai requisiti di accessibilit stabiliti da LIA (testo provvisorio) 196 Nessuna funzionalit legata alla accessibilit del sistema di lettura, del software di lettura o del device (quale la possibilit di modificare le dimensioni o lo stile dei caratteri, il colore del testo e del colore di background, di azionare il text to 196 L'indice o sommario consente l'accesso diretto (link ipertestuali) a tutti i livelli di organizzazione del testo al di sopra dei singoli paragrafi (es. link a tutte le sezioni e sottosezioni del testo) e a tutte le tabelle, figure, illustrazioni. I 196 L'indice analitico fornisce accesso diretto (link ipertestuali) ai termini 196 Tutti i contenuti (o sostanzialmente la maggioranza di essi) sono organizzati entro un unico ordine logico di lettura (inclusi i testi che non fanno parte del corpo del testo, come ad esempio i testi in box, in tabelle, nelle note a pi di pagina e alla f 196 Tutti i contenuti non testuali (o sostanzialmente la maggioranza di essi) hanno una breve descrizione alternativa, solitamente incorporata tramite l'attributo "alt". Questo vale sia per le immagini (foto, tavole, diagrammi) 196

RECORD ONIX 3.0

LIA Compliance 01 Scheme Nessuna funzionalit legata alla accessibilit del sistema di lettura, del software di lettura o del device 10 disabilitata (eccetto)

Navigabilit di indici e 11 sommario Navigabilit 12 dell'indice analitico

13 Ordine di lettura

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Descrizione alternativa breve

ACCESSIBILITY TESTS

Six Italian publishers, representing different kind of trade publications, provided LIA with some EPUB files (fiction and non-fiction books) already available on the market. In collaboration with the Institute for Blind People F. Cavazza of Bologna and other accessibility experts LIA: - analyzed the structure of the files provided by the publishers following the File accessibility features list; - converted the files provided by the publishers in accessible EPUB files; - tested the accessibility of the EPUB files to check whether they were actually accessible with different devices, software and assistive technologies.

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ACCESSIBILITY TESTS

The end user (with the support of an accessibility expert if needed) was given three ebooks, converted in accessible version, to be tested with assistive technologies, mainstream devices and dedicated reading software.

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ACCESSIBILITY TESTS In particular, tests focused on:

Accessibility Test with blind people File EPUB File PC Device Device Reading Software Assistive Technologies

Accessibility Test with partially sighted people ADE 1.8 Reading Software iBooks JAWS/NVDA/VoiceOver Assistive Technologies Mac, EPUB iPad,iPhone

PC Mac, iPad,iPhone Mac, iPad,iPhone Pc, Mac, iPad, File iPhone Mac,Device iPad,iPhone iPad,iPhone Pc, Mac, iPad, iPad,iPhone iPhone iPad,iPhone Adobe iPad,iPhone
DRM Pc iPad,iPhone EPUB with

VoiceOver ADE 1.8 Magic/Zoom Accessibility and DRM Bluefire VoiceOver iBooks Zoom Assistive Technologies Assistive Technologies Ibis Reader Software JAWS/VoiceOver for partially sighted Reading for blind people Zoom Bluefire people OverDrive VoiceOver Magic/Zoom Blio Ibis Reader VoiceOver Ouiivo OverDrive ePub Reader Blio Ouiivo
ADE ePub 1.8 Reader Bluefire

VoiceOver Zoom JAWS/VoiceOver Zoom Zoom

JAWS/NVDA/VoiceOver VoiceOver

iPad,iPhone Pc
PC

Magic/Zoom

Magic/Zoom Zoom

Mac, iPad,iPhone

Pc, Mac, iPad, iPhone

Ibis Reader

JAWS/VoiceOver

Magic/Zoom

iPad,iPhone

OverDrive

VoiceOver

Zoom

ACCESSIBILITY OF MAINSTREAM EREADERS AND TABLETS

Another goal of the test phase was to analyse the usability of the most common mainstream ereaders and tablets. In particular, this second test was focused on the following mainstream ereaders: Leggo IBS (the Italian ereader); Sony PRS-650; Amazon Kindle; iPad.

ACCESSIBILITY OF MAINSTREAM DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS

The last part of the test phase regarded the accessibility of the final parts of the online distribution flow. In particular: the main bookstores online (included payment sections); payment sections outside the bookstores. In both cases accessibility is not fully in place yet and LIA is now contacting them to create awareness on the issue.

THE LIA PROJECT

PRODUCTION, CATALOGUING AND DISTRIBUTION: USING MAINSTREAM FLOWS

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WOULD-BE LIA ECOSYSTEM

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THE LIA CATALOGUE

By the end of the project, the idea would be to have some 3,000 titles as wide-ranging as possible, ideally including best-sellers, literary prizes, with a specific section for children and teens.

User searches for title inside the accessible ebooks catalogue; User consults ebook metadata list including:
- bibliographic indications; - accessibility metadata; - info on which online store/library has the accessible ebook for sale/ lending. Every chosen title will enter in an accessible order, transferred to the selected online store/library. User will pay on the online store/library site. Should the LIA compliant certified file be different from the file for sighted readers, blind and visual impaired users could possibly be requested to produce a medical certificate in order to be authenticated as such.
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LIA SERVICES FOR PUBLISHERS AND USERS

LIA will offer publishers training activities such as: - guidelines for the production of accessible ebooks; - dedicated training lessons on content accessibility; - support for the creation of accessible ebooks. Conversion of EPUB 2 files into EPUB 3 accessible files (EPUB2 compliant); LIA compliant certification of file accessibility; Filling of accessibility metadata: code list 196 integrated in ONIX for Books v. 2.1 and 3.0 Users will find in a dedicated section of the site useful information on the use of technologies, tests on reading devices, updates on newest innovations.

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GUIDELINES ON PRODUCTION WORKFLOWS AND ACCESSIBILITY Best practice guidelines for publishers to follow in their production process and, where appropriate, to integrate existing standards (including ONIX, ePub and DAISY) into mainstream publishing are starting to circulate. LIA has provided the translation into Italian of the Accessible Publishing, Best Practice Guidelines for Publishers recently released by EDItEUR and produced its Tagging best practice guide for accessible ebooks in Italian, available on request at LIA office. For further reference: http://www.editeur.org/109/EnablingTechnologies-Framework/ http://search.oreilly.com/?q=accessible +epub+3

Ebook accessibili: best Ebook accessibili: best practice di taggatura practice di taggatura

REMARKS ON PRODUCTION WORKFLOWS AND ACCESSIBILITY

In order to be economically sustainable, accessibility has to be integrated in the digital content production chain.

General principle: if the contents are tagged semantically (i.e. using

html5 semantic tags and epub3:type semantic inflection) and the epub3 navigation document is used correctly, an epub file will be accessible (for both visually impaired and hardware/software);

Value proposition: semantic tagging adds value to publisher's main

assets, namely contents. A semantically tagged epub3 file is: Accessible for visually impaired readers; Future proof (i.e. transferable to new formats with reasonable costs); Easily manageable by Content Management Systems; More apt to indexing/chunking/reaggregation; A cost effective long term open and smart archival format.

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REMARKS ON PRODUCTION WORKFLOWS AND ACCESSIBILITY

The real question therefore is: what is the cost of semantic tagging?

In an XML first production workflow, this cost is negligible (all is needed is some straightforward modification to the XSL transformations); In an XML last production workflow (i.e. DTP for print first, then epub/ digital export): The way the content is typesetted needs to be optimized for a dual print/digital output (i.e. some DTP habits needs to be changed); This does have some cost overhead, but in the medium term results in some significant (about 20%??) savings in pre-press costs; The current generation of DTP programs (i.e. Adobe inDesign) does not export fully semantic epub (no support for HTML5/epub:type semantic inflection), but this is probably going to change soon; Digital friendly typesetting practices do not depend on the DTP tool used (i.e. start now and wait for better export features).

The cost of retrofitting semantic on existing non-semantically tagged files can be significant (depending on the complexity of the layout). Gross estimate: 10-40 eurocents/page
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ALL MUST BE INVOLVED NOT ONLY PUBLISHERS!

The accessibility along the whole value chain:

Online e-bookstore W3C guidelines Ereading devices: some are fully accessible already Ereading software: ereading system accessibility implementation guidelines and checklist - NOW CRITICAL Ecommerce purchasing processes probably easy to solve

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THE LIA STAFF

Project Manager Cristina Mussinelli cristina.mussinelli@progettolia.it

Project Assistants Rosa Mugavero rosa.mugavero@progettolia.it Alessandra Mutti alessandra.mutti@progettolia.it

Tel. +39.02 89280808 Fax +39.02 89280868

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