Day/Time: Wednesday, May 12, 4:00 PM to 5 PM
Choosing Formats for Accessible E-books and E-journals: An EPUB3/HTML5 Case Study
Presenter:
- Race MoChridhe, Atla
Description:
While PDF remains the industry standard for preparing print outputs, changes in publishing technology and in legal frameworks have increased the demand for other formats. Despite widespread acknowledgement of the accessibility and mobile device compatibility advantages of XML- and HTML-based file types over PDF, however, there is little guidance available for library publishers for selecting among these alternatives. Based on Atla Open Press’s recent accessibility self-audit, this session will present key factors to consider in choosing a digital-first publication format—including accessibility compliance, device compatibility, portability, and differing reading cultures across books and journals among the academic disciplines—and share reasoning and results from Atla Open Press’s deployment of EPUB3 and direct HTML5.
Open Access(ibility): Collaborating with Editors to Ensure Accessible Content
Presenter:
- Josh Cromwell, University of Southern Mississippi
Description:
Many library publishing programs rightly laud the value of Open Access in their endeavors, but this largely focuses on paywalls, and paywalls are not the only barrier to access. For example, users with visual impairments may need to rely on screen readers or other tools to utilize a publication, and if the document has not been optimized for these technologies, such readers may still be left out. It is essential that library publishing programs take these users into account when developing their workflows.
In late 2020, our library-led publishing program began the process of reviewing the journals published through our repository to see if all of the publications met accessibility standards. After identifying any needed changes, we began collaborating with editors to identify necessary workflow changes and provide training sessions tailored to each journal depending on its needs. This presentation will highlight the steps we took to identify needed changes, the process for training and remediation thus far, and a discussion of next steps.