book

EPUB 3 Best Practices

by Matt Garrish, Markus Gylling

January 2013

Intermediate to advanced

372 pages

9h 58m

English

O'Reilly Media, Inc.

Read now

Unlock full access

The FutureHow to Use This BookConventions Used in This BookUsing Code ExamplesCreditsAcknowledgmentsSafari® Books OnlineHow to Contact Us
VocabulariesThe Default VocabularyThe Reserved Vocabularies Using Other VocabulariesThe All-Powerful meta ElementPublication MetadataThe Package Document StructureThe metadata ElementIdentifiersTypes of TitlesThe Manifest and SpineThe manifest and FallbacksThe spineDocument MetadataLinks and BindingsMetadata for Fixed Layout PublicationsThe Container
The EPUB Navigation DocumentBuilding a Navigation DocumentRepeated PatternsNavigation LabelsTable of ContentsHiding ContentLandmarksPage ListExtensibilityAdding the Navigation DocumentEmbedding as ContentHiding ListsStyling ListsThe NCX
Terminology RefresherXHTMLNew in HTML5EPUB Support GotchasDTDs Are DeadLinking and ReferencingEPUB Canonical Fragment IdentifiersContent Chunkingepub:type and Structural SemanticsAdding SemanticsMultiple SemanticsMathMLSVGFixed LayoutsCoversStylingEPUB CSS ProfileCSS 2.1CSS3Media QueriesNamespacesFontsMulticolumn LayoutWriting Modes, Text, and SpeechAdditional SupportRubyHeaders and FootersAlt Style TagsCSS ResetsFallback ContentManifest FallbacksContent FallbacksThe epub:switch elementBindings
Why Embed Fonts?Maybe You Shouldn’tHistorically, reading system support for font embedding has been poor and inconsistentEmbedding adds complexityDevice makers have already done the work for youEmbedding inflates file sizeMaybe You ShouldEmbedding to be forward-thinkingEmbedding to create a consistent look and feel across “platforms”Embedding for improved glyph coverageEmbedding for specialized or technical reasonsFont Embedding in EPUB 3How to Embed FontsAdd the Font to Your EPUB PackageInclude the File in the EPUB ManifestReference the Font in the EPUB CSSObfuscating FontsSubsetting a FontLicensing Fonts for Embedding in EPUBUse an Open FontContact the Foundry Directly
The Codec IssueThe Media ElementsSourcesSize mattersOptimizing PlaybackPreloadingAnother OptionControlPostersDimensionsThe RestTimed TracksFallbacksAlternate ContentTriggers
The EPUB SpectrumOverlays in a NutshellSynchronization GranularityConstructing an OverlaySequencesParallel PlaybackAdding to the ContainerStyling the Active ElementStructural ConsiderationsAdvanced SynchronizationAudio Considerations
First Principles: Interaction Scope and DesignProgressive EnhancementProcedural Interaction: JavaScriptJavaScript in EPUB 2The EPUB 3 epubReadingSystem ObjectDetect featuresUse preventDefault to avoid reading system default behaviorAlways query epubReadingSystem!Inclusion ModelsContainer-constrained scriptsSpine-level scriptingEbook State and StorageIdentifying Scripted Content DocumentsCreating fallbacksAnimation and Graphics: CanvasBest Practices in Canvas UsageCanvas in a Nonscripted Reading SystemObjectOther Graphical Interaction ModelsAccessibility and Scripting Summary
Characters and EncodingsUnicodeDeclaring EncodingsPrivate CharactersNamesSpecifying the Natural LanguageVertical WritingWriting ModesPage Progression DirectionGlobal DirectionContent DirectionRuby and Emphasis DotsRubyEmphasis DotsLine Breaks, Word Breaks, and HyphenationItemized Lists

Accessibility and UsabilityFundamentals of AccessibilityStructure and SemanticsData IntegritySeparation of StyleSemantic InflectionLanguageLogical Reading OrderSections and HeadingsContext ChangesListsTablesFiguresImagesSVGMathMLFootnotesPage NumberingStylingAvoiding ConflictsColorDeficienciesContrastLuminosityHiding ContentEmphasisFixed LayoutsImage LayoutsMixed LayoutsText LayoutsInteractive LayoutsScripted InteractivityProgressive EnhancementWAI-ARIACustom controlsFormsLive regionsCanvasMetadata
PLS LexiconsSSMLCSS3 Speech
epubcheckInstallingRunningOptionsValidating EPUB archivesValidating unpacked EPUBsValidating EPUB component filesAssessment reportsHelpReading ErrorsBeyond the Command LineWeb ValidationGraphical InterfaceCommercial OptionsUnderstanding ErrorsCommon XML ErrorsDocument errorsElement errorsAttribute errorsCharacter encodingLinking errorsContainer ErrorsPackage ValidationContent ValidationEntity errorsStyleScriptingAccessibility

Content preview from EPUB 3 Best Practices

Chapter 8. Global Language Support

Murata Makoto

CTO, Japan Electronic Publishing Association

Although EPUB 2 was widely adopted in North America for ebook production, and to some extent in Europe, it has begun to gain traction worldwide only since the advancements made in EPUB 3 to support a more diverse range of languages, writing modes, and styles. The sudden growth in IDPF membership in new areas, most notably Asia, that has occurred both during and since the release of EPUB 3 reinforces that the format is now truly the global standard for ebooks.

Back when the EPUB 3 revision was first being chartered, the lack of global language support was recognized as one of the key deficiencies that needed to be addressed. It was difficult at that time to use EPUB for books in Arabic, Hebrew, Japanese, Chinese, and Taiwanese (among many others), because it lacked effective mechanisms to handle more than left-to-right, horizontal text flows. To overcome this problem, the IDPF created the Enhanced Global Language Support subgroup to carry out an examination of the issues needed to upgrade support during the EPUB 3 revision. I, Murata Makoto, was the lead of that group, and this chapter will review the mechanisms that we developed to address these issues.

The goal of this chapter is twofold. First, it gives a tutorial of those features of EPUB 3 for global language support. Second, it shows best practices for EPUB authors. Some of the practices outlined are prescriptive, while others are intended ...