This presentation was provided by George Kershcer of The DAISY Consortium, Jon R. Gunderson of The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Alicia Wise of Elsevier, during the NISO Webinar "Unprecedented Access: Improving the User Experience for People with Print Disabilities" which was held on December 8, 2010.

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The State of Information
Resource Accessibility
Standards: DAISY and WCAG
George Kerscher, PhD
December 8, 2010
1: "In the Information Age, access
to information is a fundamental
Human Right."
George Kerscher:
• DAISY Consortium, Secretary General
• International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF),
President
• Web Accessibility Initiative, Chair Steering Council
2: Focus on What Students
Need and Want
• Equal access to digital books
• Ability to use the features and functions
everybody else uses
• Ideally, one reading system for their reading
needs (perhaps not possible for everyone)
• Fine grain control of the reading experience
3: Essential Standards
• XHTML and HTML 5
• DAISY, officially the ANSI/NISO
Z39.86-2005, Specifications for the Digital
Talking Book
• EPUB 2.0.1
• DAISY 4 in development
• Part A: Authoring and Interchange
• Part B: Distribution
• EPUB 3 in development
4: The Market for Digital Publishing
• 2010 projections have Digital eBooks capturing
10% of the US market
• 55% of the paperback market goes to digital
versions
• Growing at exponential rates
• If this rate holds, in 2013 we will reach the
point where digital eBook sales outstrip print
sales
• Slower uptake in Europe, but growing (about a
year behind)
• Korea, Japan, China, and Taiwan exploding in
growth and adoption

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5: EPUB 3 Under the Hood
• Open Packaging Format (OPF), identifies the files
used in the .epub file
• Open Publication Structure (OPS), contains the
marked-up content
• Open Container Format (OCF), collects all files as a
ZIP archive
OPS going to be called EPUB Content Documents
Quick demo of the file structure
6: Significance of Adopting HTML 5
• We will take most of the HTML 5 elements for text
• Canvas
• iframes
• JavaScript
• Video and Media (Which codec?)
7: Preserving Semantics in EPUB
Content Documents
• Publishing domains require semantics not
present in HTML 5
• Books, newspapers, journals have their own
specific semantics
• We can provide a semantic inflection to
HTML elements by using an attribute
• Example: footnotes and footnote references
• Semantic inflections through attributes
provide an extensible rich mechanism based
on RDF
8: Accessibility Threats
3 types of EPUB 3
• XHTML 5 Serialization with images
• JavaScript in iframes
• JavaScript throughout eBooks as Aps, (wild and woolly
EPUB)
Will iframes with JavaScript be accessible? (fallbacks)
Canvas + JavaScript = Animations
(where is the accessibility?)
SVG of formatted pages, will it be natively accessible or will
fallbacks be needed? Video and Media, captioning and audio
descriptions…
9: DAISY Endorsing Adopting EPUB 3
• Features from classic DAISY - DAISY Navigation (NCX) is a
MUST for both content and reading systems
• EPUB will support Audio and Text Synchronization using
simple SMIL
• Semantics from DAISY Authoring and Interchange
preserved
• DAISY organizations will create powerful, full-featured,
perfectly accessible DAISY / EPUB
• Unbelievable opportunity for all of mainstream digital
publishing to be accessible. We need: Guidelines and
Best Practices, Conformance Suites an army of
knowledgeable legal and technical advocates.
10: Legal Issues in the Digital
Publishing Space
I am not a lawyer and I am not providing legal advice.
Universities adopting digital books fall under different laws than
when they are using print books:
• section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (the
“Rehabilitation Act”)
• Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”).
ASU in Phoenix, Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland,
Pace University in New York City, Reed College in Portland, and
Princeton University in New Jersey have settled with DOJ.
• June 29, 2010 Joint DOJ DOE Dear Colleague Letter:
Electronic Book Readers http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/
list/ocr/letters/colleague-20100629.html

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11: What Makes for an Accessible
Reading System
Every link in the chain must be accessible:
• The website for ordering and download
• The content from the publisher MUST conform
to guidelines and best practices
• The User Agent (software or hardware) used
to present the content MUST be accessible
• The handshake between the EPUB content
and the User Agent is essential. Both MUST
be accessible to have a solid reading
experience.
12: Upcoming Work in the DAISY Domain
The key to being successful is to integrate with the
mainstream. DAISY work must not sit outside and
advocate for guidelines and best practices - these
MUST be woven into the fabric of publishing.
Upcoming Work in the DAISY
Domain (continued)
• Validation tools that go beyond mere XML validation: EPUBcheck
• Conformance tests that User Agents can use to test their rendering
• Guidelines for publications (think of it as the Chicago Manual of Style)
• Best practices that incorporate all aspects of accessibility
• Techniques for achieving what publishers want, while still being accessible
• Certification of EPUB content User Agents, i.e. reading systems.
13: Mainstream EPUB Reading
Systems
• Digital Rights Management (DRM) is being
used not only to protect content, but to
enable companies to carve out their segment
of the business.
• Even if we had interoperable DRM, it is
unlikely that the big players would want to
change their business models.
• Each retail distributor needs to have an
accessibility strategy.
Mainstream EPUB Reading Systems
(continued)
• Big question: Must each reading system be
accessible, or is it sufficient for one product to
be accessible? If there are three restaurants
on a block, is it legal for any of them to
discriminate against any group of people?
• Dilemma: Will we get a fabulous reading
experience from mainstream reading
systems? Clearly, there will be different
levels of accessibility, but we are looking for
that rich reading experience; what does their
report card show?
14: Kindle by Amazon
• Kindle 3 now has accessible menus
• The accessibility report card is not terrific
• Terrible TTS output implementation
• Other Kindle software is not accessible
• Publishers want Amazon to support more
rich content; it cannot even display tables.

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15: Digital Editions from Adobe
• Adobe's Content Server 4.1 will be released in late Nov. 2010.
The setting to allow TTS will ship as the default setting.
Publishers must consciously change the default setting to
prevent reading systems from self-voicing the book
• Adobe is working with publishers and others to ensure that they
support both the publisher's rights and the needs of Assistive
Technology users, for all TTS setting configurations
• Regardless of the Allow TTS setting, screen readers and other
assistive technology will be able to access the content
• Adobe Digital Editions (the reader) version 2 will be accessible.
Due to be released in Spring 2011
• Other reading systems that use the Adobe Mobile SDK are
working on accessibility; no specific information yet.
16: iBooks from Apple
• iPad driving many planning decisions by publishers
• Provides a dynamic, powerful platform for
development
• iPhone loved by blind users
• VoiceOver provides the accessibility
• iBooks work on notebooks and desktops
17: Blio by K-NFB Reading
Technology
• Accessible version due out soon
• Will not turn off TTS to Assistive Technology
no matter what! The socially responsible
decision
• Exposes the text through UI Automation; AT
that supports UI Automation will work with
Blio
• Supports EPUB
• Wants publishers to produce version specific
for the Blio.
18: CourseSmart
• Based on widely available PDF from publishers.
• Presents JPG images of text on screen with extracted text with
X/Y coordinates in the background. Working on accessibility in
their range of products. Developing mechanisms for extracted
text from PDF to be stored with richer markup. Committed to
markup titles adopted by universities or needed by students
with disabilities.
• Beta of their online reader available in Dec. 2010. Students
with disabilities will need to contact tech support to turn on the
exposed text to screen readers and AT.
• Just announced a $1.1 million grant from DOE along with
Alternative Materials Access Center (AMAC) and AccessText
Network.
• Will be moving to EPUB 3 when layout becomes rich enough to
support textbooks.
19: DAISY Reading Systems that
Currently Support EPUB
• HumanWare Victor Reader Stream
• Dolphin EasyReader
• gh' s ReadHear PC and ReadHear for Mac
Note: RFBD is making ReadHear available for free
to their members. This will play RFBD content only.
However, the Pro version is available for a small fee
($50 approx.) and is the full featured version. This
includes support for MathML!
• Icon
• BraillePlus
• Emerson, an open source basic reader.
20: Miscellaneous
• Google Editions uses EPUB
• Not sure about their launch date or their final
approach
• Internet Archive supporting DAISY and EPUB;
automatic processes.

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21: What You Must Do to Ensure an
Accessible Digital Publishing Future
You MUST be the loud voice on campus promoting fully
accessible digital publishing!
Administration MUST understand:
• adoption and use of digital publications (the content)
MUST be fully accessible
• reading systems used on campus MUST be accessible
• If the university chooses to ignore the law, they are
leaving themselves open to legal action.
What You Must Do to Ensure an
Accessible Digital
Publishing Future (continued)
• Get informed and stay up-to-date on digital
publishing with EPUB and DAISY
• Promote the use of publishers content that is fully
accessible
• Promote reading systems that meet the students'
needs and desires.
Thank you!
Jon Gunderson, Ph.D.
Coordinator of Assistive Communication and Information Technology
Accessibility University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
COLLABORATION WITH PUBLISHERS: THE
INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSE TO ACCESSIBILITY
RAISING ACCESSIBILITY AWARENESS
• Identify specific accessibility issues with user interfaces and documents
• Provide suggestions on improvements
• Work in cooperation with other institutions
DESIGNING FOR ACCESSIBILITY
• Accessible Repair vs. Accessible Design
• Design Standards
• Quality Assurance (QA)
• Evaluation Practices
• Usability Testing with Disabilities
ACCESSIBILITY ISSUES WITH BOLOGRAPHIC
DATABASES
• User interface for searching
• User interface for reviewing search results
• Summary information
• Full text document format
• Document Accessibility issues
• Headings and organization
• Text descriptions of images
• Accessible data tables

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BARRIERS TO ACCESSIBILITY
• Lack of accessibility of document found
• Inaccessible PDF
• Proprietary formats
• Plain text
• Publishers aggregating information from many sources
• Publishers understand the content is more important than the format
• Librarians are in between faculty and publishers
• Lack of accessible authoring standards and tools for creating accessible
WHAT YOU CAN DO
• Include accessibility requirements in RFPs and contracts
• Ask vendors to demonstrate accessibility features of their products and services
• Ask them to do demonstrate using only keyboard commands
• Ask vendors what design standards they use for accessibility
• Ask them how they verify the proper use of the accessibility design standards
• Ask them if they include people with disabilities in their usability studies
• Partner with other institutions to identify accessibility issues and solution strategies
MORE INFORMATION AND RESOURCES
Opportunities and Challenges in Serving
Customers with Print Disabilities: The
Publishers’ Response to Accessibility
Dr Alicia Wise, Director
December 2010
Why are publishers interested in accessibility?
• Corporate social responsibility
• E-opportunity
• Legal requirement
• Market gap: business opportunity
• Search engine optimization
• We want people to read
What are accessible publications?
1. Special formats include:
– Braille
– DAISY
– Large Print
2. Generic formats include:
– Audio Books
– ePub
– HTML
– PDF
3. Other issues
– Databases
– E-commerce systems

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Don’t forget the metadata!
• ONIX for Books can describe accessible
editions
– Variants of Braille (although currently limited
to English – UK and US – Braille)
– DAISY
– EDItEUR can (and will) expand the code
values as needed
• Discoverability remains a
problem until more publishers/
retailers IMPLEMENT!
Overview
• International Initiatives
• National Initiatives
• Publisher Initiatives
World Intellectual Property Organisation
• Stakeholders Platform – dialogue between accessibility
organisations and publishers
– Enabling Technologies Project – guidelines and tools for publishers
– TIGAR Project – a network of Trusted Intermediaries
European Union – Memorandum of Understanding
• Stakeholder
dialogue
• European network
of Trusted
Intermediaries
Overview
• International Initiatives
• National Initiatives
• Publisher Initiatives
Germany – national collaboration

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Scandinavian Countries – national provision UK - collaborate, collaborate, collaborate
• Government-convened
stakeholder group sets 3-year
joint strategy
• Accessibility Action Group
• Accessibility Newsletter
• Publisher Lookup – award +
online database
• Joint projects
– Feasibility Project
– Accessible School Textbooks
– FOCUS
• Text to Speech roundtable
US - regulation + market approach Overview
• International Initiatives
• National Initiatives
• Publisher Initiatives
Elsevier Accessibility Working Group
Accessibility
Working
Group
Educational
Webinars
Product Audits/
specs
Supply Sales
with
accessibility
information
AccessText.,
TIGAR, etc.
Supply E-files
for schools
and
universities
External
Collaborations
Corporate
Responsibility
Website
Pearson

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Sage Publications Not just for big publishers! Helpful guidelines available!
5 top tips to get you started (from STM Guidelines):
• Listen to your customers
• Understand and follow industry accepted accessibility
guidelines
• Assign staff to be accountable for supporting
accessibility
• Work in Partnership
• Tell Others
Conclusion
• Many sources of advice within the industry including
Accessibility Newsletter, EDItEUR, and publishing Trade
Associations
• Collaborate with local accessibility organisations and
specialist libraries
• a.wise@elsevier.com