Accessibility and Usability
The other subject that needs treatment is what is meant by accessibility and usability in the context of this guide. These two terms are often used in overlapping fashion, and can mean different things to different people, but I’ll be using the following definitions:
Accessibility of content is the intrinsic capabilities of the EPUB 3 publication: the quality of the data and meaning that can be extracted from it; the built-in navigational capabilities; the additional functionality, like text and audio synchronization (media overlays) and improved synthetic speech. The publisher of an EPUB has control over the accessibility of their publication, whether directly through the tools they use to generate the source or in post-production workflows.
Usability is the ability of a reader to access the content on any given reading system. A publisher may make an EPUB 3 publication rich with accessibility features, but if a reader does not have the right device or software program to access those features it is not the publication itself that is to blame.
But even making these distinctions, there’s no simple answer to what a fully accessible EPUB is, or to what a completely usable reading system is. It means something different depending on your needs.
A person with a print disability, for example, “cannot effectively read print because of a visual, physical, perceptual, developmental, cognitive, or learning disability” (DAISY Glossary). The best method to address any ...
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