Date post: | 11-Apr-2017 |
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Technology |
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Bill KasdorfVP and Principal Consultant, Apex Content Solutions
Publishing Technology Today Coming to Consensus in a Context of Constant Change
The laptop wasn’t the ultimate tool.
But more journal articles are accessed on
laptops than any other way.
ADAPTABILITYdoesn’t mean changing from
“ That old thing” to “ This new thing.”It’s not linear anymore.
It’s cumulative.Now it means changing from
“ What I do today” to
“I need to do this new thing too. And what’s next?”
When the iPhone and then the iPad came out
everybody went nuts over apps.They could do cool stuff. When they made e-books,
they had to make them pretty basic because the cool stuff
didn’t work everywhere.
A story I’ve heard many times from clients:
“We spent $20,000 developing this app and we have to sell it for $1.99. We’ll never make a dime on it.”
“So why’d you do it?”“We figured we should.”
A few of the problems with this idea:They had to hire programmers
and do everything from scratch.It was just one book.
A few of the problems with this idea:They had to hire programmers
and do everything from scratch.It was just one book.
The app only works on one OS anyway.
A few of the problems with this idea:They had to hire programmers
and do everything from scratch.It was just one book.
The app only works on one OS anyway.And it’s already out of date.
A few of the problems with this idea:They had to hire programmers
and do everything from scratch.It was just one book.
The app only works on one OS anyway.And it’s already out of date.
Plus, the cool stuff now works lots of places with EPUB 3.
The New York Times has a great app.Apple iBooks is an app. So is Inkling. There are Nook, Kobo, Kindle apps.Trade publishers do really cool apps
for bestselling authors.The AMA has an app for all its journals. Elsevier has a cool app for oncologists.
CourseSmart and VitalSource have great textbook apps.
The key to a successful app:Genuine need for
specialized functionality.Lots of content or lots of customers.
Ideally both.
The basic options for delivering digital publications:
An App. Programmed for a specific OS.
The Browser. Standard online delivery.
E-Reader. Getting closer to
one-file-works-everywhere.
The basic options for delivering digital publications:
An App. Programmed for a specific OS.
The Browser. Standard online delivery.
E-Reader. Getting closer to
one-file-works-everywhere.
Behind almost all of these:
The Open Web Platform (OWP),
colloquially referred to as
HTML5.
The Open Web PlatformOver 100 W3C specs:
XML, HTML, CSS, SVG, MathML, many more.
HTML5 The structure.
CSS3 The styling.JavaScript
The functionality.
The Lingua Franca of the Webis HTML.
But it’s no longer just for the web.Consider UPFRONT XHTML
as the foundation for content management.
Why are people skeptical of Upfront XHTML?
The tangled, troubled history of XHTML.
The big sea change on presentation and semantics.
THE EVOLUTION OF HTML
HTML4: Don’t use presentational markup. Unless you want to. [It’s “deprecated.”]
THE HOLY TRINITY
DocBookNLMTEI
Originally created for specific communities.Extended to be “general purpose” [generic].
Almost always customized unless they’re a direct fit.(If they are a direct fit, use them!)
XHTML is HTML that follows XML rules.
XHTML IS XML.It can be simple or complex.
It can be rigorously structured.It can be richly semantic.
It can contain tons of metadata.It can be HTML5.
The basic options for delivering digital publications:
An App. Programmed for a specific OS.
The Browser. Standard online delivery.
E-Reader. Getting closer to
one-file-works-everywhere.
Behind almost all of these:
The Open Web Platform (OWP),
colloquially referred to as
HTML5.
The free, open, non-proprietary
standard for delivery of
publications based on the
OWP is EPUB 3.
The Mandate for EPUB 3
Based on open standards, royalty freeSupport all types of publications
Enable multimedia and interactivityGlobal language support
AccessibilitySophisticated design, layout, typographyBackwards compatible with EPUB 2.0.1
Extensible, modular architecture
The EPUB 3 WG was a broad, diverse group of publishers, retailers, &
technologists working for the common good.
Based on the Open Web Platform
XHTML5—Including <video> and <audio>CSS3—A defined profile as EPUB style sheetsSVG—Can be content docs, not just images
MathML (the presentational aspects)JavaScript as used in HTML5
SMIL to synchronize text and audioDublin Core for metadata
OpenType and WOFF fonts
Key New Features of EPUB 3
Multicolumn layout, real typographyVideo, audio, animations, interactivity
Key New Features of EPUB 3
Multicolumn layout, real typographyVideo, audio, animations, interactivity
Multiple style sheets, responsive design
Key New Features of EPUB 3
Multicolumn layout, real typographyVideo, audio, animations, interactivity
Multiple style sheets, responsive designRight-to-left or vertical flow
Key New Features of EPUB 3
Multicolumn layout, real typographyVideo, audio, animations, interactivity
Multiple style sheets, responsive designRight-to-left or vertical flow
Rich metadata and structural semantics
Key New Features of EPUB 3
Multicolumn layout, real typographyVideo, audio, animations, interactivity
Multiple style sheets, responsive designRight-to-left or vertical flow
Rich metadata and structural semanticsPoint to locations without anchors (CFI)
Key New Features of EPUB 3
Multicolumn layout, real typographyVideo, audio, animations, interactivity
Multiple style sheets, responsive designRight-to-left or vertical flow
Rich metadata and structural semanticsPoint to locations without anchors (CFI)
Synch text to spoken audio (“Read Aloud”)
Key New Features of EPUB 3
Multicolumn layout, real typographyVideo, audio, animations, interactivity
Multiple style sheets, responsive designRight-to-left or vertical flow
Rich metadata and structural semanticsPoint to locations without anchors (CFI)
Synch text to spoken audio (“Read Aloud”)Sophisticated text-to-speech
Yes. (Are you surprised to know that?)
iBooks is EPUB 3-compliant.So is Kobo. So is Google Play.
And VitalSource and CourseSmart.Many others now support EPUB 3.
Best right now: READIUM.(Note the use of the word “best” . . .)
epubtest.org
Second generation of BISG EPUB 3 GridUses IDPF’s EPUB 3 Compliance Test Suite
A master set of authoritative files designed to test reading system compliance
to each specific EPUB 3 feature.View current results for a reading system,
or compare feature implementation of RSs.It’s the opposite of EPUBCheck,
which tests EPUB files.
Of course we’re not done! EPUB 3 was designed to be
modular and extensible.The key is that what is in EPUB 3.0
won’t change, it will just be augmented.Check out idpf.org/ongoing
for updates on ongoing initiatives.
Upcoming Improvements to EPUB 3
Minor revision, EPUB 3.0.1, in final stages of approval
Most changes are spec clarifications/correctionsMost important changes:
Integration of Fixed Layout specificationsAddition of "collection" attribute for content docsAdditions to Structural Semantics Vocabulary
and enabling changes without spec rev.
Upcoming Improvements to EPUB 3
New specification for Indexes in EPUBs in final stages of approval
Accommodates back-of-book or embedded indexes, link to page breaks or specific points
Draft specification released for Dictionaries and Glossaries in EPUBs
Will enable standalone dictionaries and glossary or dictionary content as
part of an EPUB publication
Upcoming Improvements to EPUB 3
Specification in development for Advanced Hybrid Layout
Enables combination of fixed layout and reflowable EPUBs
Multiple renditions in a single .epub container“Region of Interest” definition and navigationDesigned for manga, comics, graphic novels
Also includes Magazine Vocabulary
Upcoming Improvements to EPUB 3
Developing EDUPUB EPUB Profile for Educational ContentDone in collaboration with EDUPUB Alliance
Initiated by contribution from PearsonIncludes detailed “Structural Semantics
Vocabulary” for textbooks/educational contentDesigned as delivery format, including metadata, widgets, customizable CSS
THE EDUPUB ALLIANCE
Collaborative initiative between:IDPF
Developing EDUPUB EPUB Profile and Open Source Widget Library
IMS Global Key educational/pedagogical standards:
QTI (Quiz and Test Interoperability) LTI (Learning Technology Interoperability)
W3C Responsible for Open Web Platform
W3C Digital Publishing Interest Group
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) initiative to make Web standards
more useful to publishersDPIG
Developing use cases to inform the work of W3C Working Groups on CSS, HTML, etc.
May call for new WG on MetadataWorking on Open Annotations on the Web
to provide a standard way to annotate web content (a very complex task!)