the lia project - publishers'...

Digital Books for All: Challenges and Opportunities in Mainstream Accessibility

Cristina Mussinelli

The LIA Project

Publishers’ Forum, Berlin - 22 April 2013

2www.progettolia.it

• Shortlisted for the European Commission e-Inclusion Awards 2012;

• Selected as best practice by G3ict (Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs - UN);

• Invited in international seminars and conferencesas inspiring solution case.

Awards and Mentions

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« The LIA Project will allowvisually impaired to access first editions in real time and in an unprecedented amount »Tommaso Daniele, Chair UICI Unione Italiana Ciechi e Ipovedenti – Italian Union of the Blind and Visually Impaired

« Many thanks for helping us in raisingpublishers’ attention on the importance of accessibility»Johanna Kainulainen, CELIA Finland

« I welcome LIA. I want books now, I don’t want to scanthem any more. I hope LIA traces a new road: accessiblebooks in bookstores. This is realaccessibility »

Angelica, Italy in UICI online magazine

About LIA

4www.progettolia.it

The driving concept of LIA isits breakthrough approach to accessibility:

same books;

same channels;

same information

for an inclusive digital reading experience.

LIA: A Breakthrough Approach to Inclusion

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LIA Project Highlights

LIA is built on mainstream gear:

same production processes as traditional ebooks;

same metadata standards;

same distribution processes of products and information in the value chain;

same reading software and devices.

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LIA Project Highlights

Target: blind and visually impaired readers;

An initial selection of 3,000 fiction and non-fiction Italian ebooks (500 on demand) available online;

Use of standards for production (ePUB) and book data communication (ONIX for Books);

A production model that, at full capacity, allows publishers to produce accessible titles since their first edition;

A book data communication and distribution model able to integrate as much as possible in the traditional digital publishing value chain.

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LIA in the Value Chain of Digital Publishing

PRODUCTION

Accessibility of devices

and/or reading

software and applications

USE

• Evaluation of devices and reading software most suitable for VIPs;

• Compatibility tests;

• Training for VIPs.

Accessibility of ebook

• Guidelines for the production of accessible ebooks;

• Training for publishers;

• VCC service: Validation, Conversion, Certification;

• LIA label.

Integration in the catalogue of ebooks in trade

Integration in the catalogue of ebooks in trade

Distribution of accessibility metadata in

the value chain

CATALOGUING

Definition of accessibility

metadata

Based on standard

DISTRIBUTION

Accessibilityof

online stores

Creation of LIA shelf, accessible and integrated

with online stores

Accessibility of electronic payment systems

Collaboration with ABI – Italian Banks Association

Italian Publishers and International Partners

LIA collaborations

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Italian Publishing Groups and Brands

A large basis of participants, including all the largest and many of the small and

medium publishersin Italy:

Iperborea; Mondadori Group (Edizioni Mondadori, Einaudi, Sperling& Kupfer, Frassinelli, Piemme); Giunti Group

(Giunti, Giunti Editore, Giunti Junior, Demetra); Edizioni Sonda; RCS Group (Rizzoli, Bur, Bompiani, Marsilio,

Adelphi, Fabbri Editore); Minimum Fax; Il Mulino; Polillo; Gruppo editoriale Mauri Spagnol (Bollati Boringhieri, Casa

Editrice Nord, Chiarelettere, Corbaccio, Garzanti Libri, Guanda, Longanesi, Ponte alle Grazie, Salani, TEA, Tre60,

Vallardi, Nord Sud); Editori Laterza; Zanichelli Editore; Rubbettino; Edizioni e/o; Voland; Asino Edizioni; Il

Saggiatore; Hoepli; Feltrinelli; Atmosphere.

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Domestic and International Collaborations

The LIA Model and Infrastructure


The LIA Model and Infrastructure - Highlights

Back officeVCC service: verifies, converts and certifies provided by publishers;

LIA catalogue DB: stores complete bibliographic and accessibility information on LIA certified accessible ebooksand makes them available to other players in the supply chain.

Public interface

LIA shelf: where users can search, find and “shop”accessible ebooks.

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The LIA Model and Infrastructure – Diagram


The VCC Service: Validation, Conversion, Certification

ValidationLIA checklist tool to assess accessibility features related to the internal structure of ePUB file:

• 38 accessibility parameters in the assessment that can assume 4 different values (not checked|not appliable|positive|negative); • ONIX 3.0 accessibility features values (list 196) algorithmically generated according to LIA business rules;• high level of granularity and configurability according to templates.

LIA Compatibility test tool to assess reading devices,software and apps where the given file, associated with thegiven DRM protection system will be accessible for blind andVI users:

• pre-defined compatibility test sets preloaded in the system;• high level of granularity and configurability according to templates.


Conversion

LIA conversion services connected to the infrastructure can be used by publishers to convert their ePUB files according to LIA assessment and recommendations.

Publishers who have inhouse expertise or an establishedbusiness relation with their own conversion service canconvert on their own their ePUB files according to LIAassessment and recommendations .

The VCC service: Validation, Conversion, Certification


Certification

Ebooks that pass LIA validation according to the parametersassessed through the LIA checklist are assigned anaccessibility certification (LIA label);

The VCC conveys the LIA label to the LIA catalogue along with the accessibility metadata of the certified files;

The label is a visual certificate that the title is LIA compliant;

• When the label is clicked, the user is re-directed to LIA controlled web page displaying accessibility information on the title, using ISBN-A technology.

The VCC service: Validation, Conversion, Certification


The LIA Label in Sales and Digital Lending Channels


The LIA Catalogue DB: Metadata Management

Metadata managementIn the LIA catalogue DB accessibility metadata in ONIX 3.0format from VCC are merged with title information from E-Kitab (the BIP of Italian ebooks):

LIA Catalogue conveys information on ebook accessibility all along the publishing chain, namely:

• to the shelf of Italian accessible books (www.libriitalianiaccessibili.it), where ebook becomes immediately available;• to E-Kitab (the BIP of Italian ebooks).

E-Kitab conveys LIA label to all Italian platforms and stores. LIA label is displayed by the stores participating in the project and in perspective also by all other stores.

The LIA Services for Publishers and Users


LIA Services for Publishers

• LIA offers instruments for training and support, ascollective classes or materials for personal update, and adedicated help desk for real time interventions on specificproblems in work flow;

• For the publishers participating in the project, in addition tothe more general guidelines of EDItEUR translated into Italian,LIA has drafted guidelines on tagging specifically for theproduction of accessible ebooks on the basis of the IDPFones;

• The VCC service - Validation, Conversion, Certificazion of the files provided by publishers joining the project.


LIA Services for Users

• In collaboration with the Institute for the Blind «F. Cavazza», LIA constantly carries out activities for the test, evaluation, selection of the reading software and devices most suitable for the reading of ebooks by blind and VIPs;

• In the website www.progettolia.it, in the section «Accessible Reading», blind and VI users can find information sheets on the reading software and devices available in the Italian market, useful to learn more about possible solutions and consider the most suitable ones;

• In early 2013, in cooperation with the Italian Union of the Blind and Visually Impaired (UICI), some training courses have taken place, addressed to operators working in the local institutes referring to UICI all over the Italian territory.

• Help desk to answer users’ question and support those less technological advanced

Is Fully Accessible Reading Experiencea Reality Yet?


YETto date an accessible ereading experience is not yet fullyachievable because reading software and/or devices are not

completely accessible, except for some.

The LIA Digital Reading Experience

A LIA ebook can be read using personal computers, smartphones, tablets and ereaders and in these differentways:

With Brailledisplay

With enlarged

characters

With TTS orvocal

synthesis

Availability of more fully accessibleereading devices and software

is a relevant step for mainstream accessibility


Apple is a largely accessible ecosystem but:• iBookstore does not offer metadata for

accessibility;• in iBooks some features are not fully implemented.

LIA action in a joint request with Daisy and Editeur.

Adobe ADE is partially accessible (better WIN version than MAC one);

LIA action in providing test results and improvement suggestions.

Readium Foundation Aims to develop an EPUB® 3 rendering engine optimized for native apps on tablets and other devices with a strong focus on accessibility.

LIA is one of the founders.

LIA and the Big Players

Ediser SrlCorso di Porta Romana 108, 20122 Milano (Italy)

Tel. (+39) 02 89280801mail: [email protected]

www.progettolia.it

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