Transcript Accessibility: Display & Voice Publishing: Starting With the Right Tool! Accessibility   Screen Readers: It’s all about the eReader!  Voice Over:  ePub,

Accessibility: Display & Voice
Publishing: Starting With the Right Tool!
Accessibility

 Screen Readers: It’s all about the eReader!
 Voice Over:
 ePub, (X)HTML, & PDF: No native support; They rely
on the program you’re using.
 Remember best practices by including Alt text in links
& images!
 iPad: Voice over is building into the device,
supporting all major formats (iBooks, Kindle, etc)
Accessibility
 Use high contrast; not high color!

 PDFs: Embed fonts or use common fonts
 Writing:
 Speaking of fonts, don’t use
 If you can’t read it squinting, it’s not accessible!
 Colors & Design:
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Don’t use patterned backgrounds!
Don’t use color for the sake of color (less is more)
Avoid using highlighter colors
Avoid similar colors in similar hues: Like this 
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When in doubt, simplicity is best!
Robert Sprague
Associate Professor of Legal Studies in Business
Department of Management & Marketing
Electronic Formats

Format
Advantages
Disadvantages
pdf
Easy conversion from
multiple apps
Static screen flow;
minimal features
epub
Good readability on multiple
iOSs; designed for dynamic
screen flow
Some conversion issues;
minimal features
mobi (Kindle)
Kindle reader available for
tablets & computers; some
features
Some conversion issues;
requires Kindle reader
and Amazon account
iBooks
Most feature rich
Readability limited to
iPad
Ignoring smart phones
What You’ll Need

 Authoring Platform
 Conversion Capabilities
 Reader
 Distribution Strategy
Authoring Platforms &
Conversion Formats
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Platform
Conversion Formats
Imports
Word
pdf
iWorks Pages
pdf; epub
Word
Sigil
epub
html
Scrivener
pdf; epub; mobi
Word as rtf
InDesign
pdf; epub; mobi
w/script download
Word
iBooks Author
iBooks; pdf
Word; Pages
Kindle Conversion Trick: Send blank e-mail to your @Kindle.com account
with pdf as attachment and subject line: convert
Readers

Reader
Format
Platform
Kindle
Mobi; pdf (after
conversion)
iPad; tablets; Windows;
Mac OS
iBooks
iBooks; epub; pdf
iPad
Adobe Acrobat
pdf
iPad; tablets; Windows;
Mac OS
Adobe Digital Editions
epub
Windows; Mac OS
Nook
epub; pdf
iPad; tablets; Windows;
Mac OS
eReader
epub
Windows; Mac OS;
smart phones
Accessing Files in Readers

Method
Format
Copy file into iTunes computer app and sync
with iPad
iBooks; epub; pdf
Email mobi files (or pdf with subject line:
convert) to Kindle.com account
mobi; pdf
Dropbox iPad app has option to send iBooks
and epub files to iBooks app; mobi files to
Kindle reader
iBooks; epub; mobi
Desktop readers sometimes allow adding files
directly with potential for syncing with tablet
reader
epub; mobi; pdf
My eTextbook Project

 Law for Entrepreneurs and Owners of Small
Businesses
 Undergraduate focus
 With Advanced topics
 30 chapters
 Very text based
Approach
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 iBooks Author
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For iPad-only iBooks version
Free, but available only in Mac OS
Imports Word documents very cleanly
Limited template options
Limited user support
 Too new to easily find answers for advanced issues
Approach
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 Using Adobe inDesign for epub & mobi versions,
and for pdf print-on-demand
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Professional desktop publishing software
Fairly clean conversion to epub, mobi, and pdf
Designed to handle multi-chapter books
Available through UW campus license
 Will cost your department $250 to $300
 IT offers training options
Approach

 InDesign and iBooks Author not good for heavy-duty
word processing
 But they import Word documents fairly cleanly, including
formatting
 However, Word is not an easy platform for working with
large documents
 Not the best platform for multi-chapter books
 No direct export to epub
 Scrivener is an excellent platform for large, text-based
documents
 But “troublesome” exporting to epub and mobi
Approach
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 Writing initial drafts in Scrivener
 Excellent organizational granularity
 Excellent exporting into Word documents
 Polish in Word
 Transfer Word documents into InDesign
 Export InDesign book to epub, mobi, and pdf
 Transfer Word documents into iBooks Author
 Publish in iBooks format
Distribution

 Before you start:
 Where do you want your book to go?
 What media will you want to use?
 Will your book be free?
 These considerations matter!
 If you choose incorrectly, you can always change
later, but it’s extra work 
Distribution

 Before you start:
 Where do you want your book to go?
 What media will you want to use?
 Will your book be free?
 These considerations matter!
 If you choose incorrectly, you can always change
later, but it’s extra work 
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Distribution Simplified!
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 Plain Text:
 The pinnacle of compatibility!
 Also the pinnacle of boring!
 PDF:
 The most compatible format that allows for rich text,
images, hyperlinks, and embedded info
 Not always the easiest to produce & somewhat
difficult to update
Distribution Simplified!
 ePub & (x)HTML:

 Most compatible eBook specific format
 Does Word Wrap, so be careful formatting
 Pretty simple updating
 iBooks:
 The most powerful for delivering rich media (including
video, motion graphics, and audio)
 Easily created, updated, and distributed via iTunes
 Can be used with iTunes U:
 Embedded quizzes, tests, or check-ins
 Allows team work & comments are sent to the teacher!
Distributing!
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 ePub, (x)HTML, & PDF:
 Can be put up on a website, LMS, or any host
 Dropbox.com > Public (free)
 iBooks Author Books (Requires a Mac)
 Can be distributed freely on any website / LMS
 Can be published to iTunes Bookstore:
 1. As free download in addition to web / LMS / etc
 2. As paid download – if paid, can’t be given away
elsewhere (Apple’s EULA), max price $14.99