dita, html5, and epub3 (content agility, june 2013)

DITA, HTML5, and EPUB3

Delivering DITA-based content to devices

Agenda

• Why do we care?• The state of the technology: EPUB, HTML5,

DITA• Adaptive presentation• Production options• Some demos

About the Author

• Founding member of the DITA TC• Founding member of the XML Working

Group• Creator and primary contributor to the

DITA for Publishers open-source project, which provides DITA-to-EPUB and DITA-to-HTML5 transforms

• Been doing SGML- and XML-stuff for a very long time

• For last 10 years have worked primarily with Publishers

• [email protected], http://contrext.com

mailto:[email protected]


SOME DEMOS

Contrext, LLC 4Content Agility, June 2013

WHY DO WE CARE?


Devices are the Future

• Everyone has a tablet or a smart phone

• Ebook sales have or soon will exceed paper book sales volume and revenue:“The Association of American Publishers reported that in the first quarter of 2012, adult eBook sales were up to $282.3 million while adult hardcover sales came to only $229.6 million. In last year's first quarter, hardcover sales accounted for $223 million in sales while eBooks logged $220.4 million.” —zdnet.com, 18 June 2012

• Interactivity and media can improve task support• All the cool kids are doing it


HTML5 Makes Things Easier

• Modern navigation and interaction features• Modern appearance• Improved typography• Adapts better to different browsers and

devices• Reduced reliance on proprietary plugins and

viewers• More manageable media delivery


EPUB3 Looks to the Future

• Intended to support HTML5 features in reading systems and devices

• Gives Publishers a fixed-layout option and embedded fonts

• Enables standards-based synchronization of text and speech

• Enables and encourages accessibility features


Digital is More than Just Web Sites

• For TechDoc, online delivery has always been a primary requirement and goal– Online help– HTML for manuals

• For Publishers, digital delivery usually an afterthought– Digital produced from print (PDF or InDesign)– Digital expensive and time-consuming to

produce– High chance of error


Publishers Need Digital First

• No longer viable to treat digital as an after-the-fact

• Digital production needs to be addressed early in editorial and production cycles

• Requires XML-as-early-as-possible workflows• Requires changes to editorial and production

practice and tools


TechDoc Needs Device Delivery

• Manuals readable on devices• Task support information optimized for device

delivery (HTML help, etc.)• Interactive training and assessment• Adaptive delivery for hearing and visually

impaired (ADA requirements in the U.S.)


Assumption: Automate Production

• Making a basic assumption…• …that production of digital deliverables should

be automated from the content source wherever possible

• Lights-out generation of EPUB, Web sites, embedded applications

• Implies use of XML as content source


EPUB, HTML5, AND DITA


EPUB


EPUB

• Current version is EPUB3 (approved Nov 2011)• Previous version was EPUB2• All readers support EPUB2 more or less

completely (Amazon Kindle via conversion)• EPUB3 support is spotty at best– iBooks– Readium– Google Play Books– AZARDI


EPUB3 Design Goals

• Reflect latest Web technologies– HTML5– CSS3– SVG–MathML

• Get HTML5 goodness for optimized presentation on devices

• Enable fixed-layout publications


EPUB3 Details

• Uses HTML5– HTML5-style navigation– <video> and <audio> for media– Reading systems may support JavaScript for

interaction– SMIL for media and text syncronization (overlays)

• CSS3 profile enables more sophisticated styling• Support for embedded fonts now required• SVG is now a core content type: can reference from the

spine (fixed-layout publications)


EPUB3 and EPUB2

• EPUB3 books may contain EPUB2-specific components– .ncx for navigation–<guide/>

• Allows EPUB3 to be read by EPUB2 readers• For example, all O’Reilly EPUBS are EPUB3

with EPUB2 fallbacks.


EPUB Practicalities

• May need to have different EPUBs for different channels

• Embedded fonts may require obfuscation• Embedded fonts benefit from subsetting• Many small bugs in different EPUB readers that

have to be understood and worked around• Need different video formats for iBooks,

Android-based readers


HTML5


HTML5 the Standard

• W3C recommendation-track activity• Design is settling down after some initial chaos• On target for recommendation in 2014• W3C pushing controversial parts out to

separate specifications to keep things moving


HTML5 Technology

• Markup vocabulary appears to be reasonably stable• Lots of available JavaScript libraries• Well supported in latest browsers– SVG support seems to be pretty good– MathML not 100% in any browser– MathJax JavaScript library can be used in any

JavaScriptable browser

• Not likely to have a single standard video format any time soon


What is HTML5?

• Vocabulary + Document Model + API + CSS + JavaScript• Vocabulary adds some key semantic structures to

HTML– <nav>– <section>– <article>– <figure>

• CSS and scripting provide layout and interaction• Document model and scripting API attempt to

standardize browser behavior


HTML5 Requires JavaScript

• Most of what we think of as “HTML5” is scripting applied to markup in the browser

• Can leverage existing libraries but not in all cases

• May require significant custom JavaScript development depending on requirements

• For multi-device, multi-browser delivery have to think carefully about fallback and graceful degredation


HTML Can Drive Apps

• HTML5 can be used as underpinning of standalone apps

• EPUB3 with scripting is effectively an app• HTML5 may not be suitable or practical for all

types of apps• But apps can be engineered to consume

HTML5 markup or something similar


DITA AND ADAPTIVE DELIVERY


DITA is All About Digital

• DITA was designed originally and optimized for digital delivery

• Well suited to HTML5 and EPUB delivery models• Has what’s needed for TechDoc content• Needed to have Publishing requirements added• DITA for Publishers project provides Publishing-specific

requirements• Also adding some Publishing-driven features in DITA 1.3:

– Inline SVG and MathML– Cross-deliverable linking– Small but important content model extensions


DITA-to-HTML5 and EPUB Options

• Several HTML5 generation options:– DITA for Publishers HTML5 transform– SuiteSolutions SuiteHelp– oXygenXML WebHelp transform– Other commercial solutions

• DITA for Publishers provides EPUB transform– Currently EPUB2– EPUB3 under development (builds on

HTML5 transform)


DITA to EPUB Fixed Layout

• Nothing out-of-the-box as of June 2013• Several possible options:– XSL-FO to XHTML+CSS with absolute

positioning– DITA to InDesign to fixed-layout EPUB– PDF-to-XHTML+CSS with absolute

positioning

• Implementation will be driven by client requirements


SOME DEMOS


EPUB3

• AZARDI samples– Emphasize layout and interaction

capabilities of AZARDI reader– will mostly work in any JavaScript-

capable reader (iBooks, Google Play, Readium)

• IDPF samples: http://code.google.com/p/epub-samples/– Test case and feature demonstrations


http://code.google.com/p/epub-samples/



HTML5

• DITA for Practitioners– D4P HTML5 transform– oXygenXML WebHelp transform


Questions?

• Resources– Me: [email protected], http://contrext.com– DITA

• DITA For Publishers: http://dita4publishers.sourceforge.net

• SuiteSolutions: http://suitesol.com• oXygenXML: http://oxygenxml.com

– EPUB: • http://idpf.org

– HTML5: • http://w3c.org/html5• HTML samples site



http://dita4publishers.sourceforge.net/

http://suitesol.com/

http://idpf.org/

http://w3c.org/html5