Thread by @IvaCheung

Today (and the next two Thursdays), I’m at the Accessible Publishing Summit. I’ll be using the hashtag #APSchool, so feel free to mute or follow along as desired!

What are print disabilities? A subset of a disabilities that prevent people from reading print. Can include visual, mobility, or comprehension disabilities. (Defined by the Copyright Act)

These can be permanent or temporary/situational disabilities. #APSchool

For example, someone trying to read in poor lighting experiences a temporary impairment. #APSchool

About 3 million Canadians have a print disability.

In the world, people over 65 will triple by 2050, and age is associated with print disabilities. Over 21% of the population in 64 countries will have reading impariments. #APSchool

Less than 10% of all materials published worldwide are accessible to readers with a print disability, leading to a global “book famine” (Global Book Union) #APSchool

Assistive technologies are hardware devices or software developed with features that are specifically helpful for people with disabilities. Includes
•screen reader
•screen magnification software
•refreshable Braille display
•eye-tracking technology
#APSchool

Accessible formats:
•EPUB is the most broadly available format that can be made accessible if done properly. EPUB 2 is an older format that doesn’t allow for all kinds of things available in EPUB 3.
#APSchool

•EPUB3 based on HTML 5, which allows semantic richness to be added to content
•DAISY: Digital Accessible Information System—both text and audio. Older format; NNELS now recommends using EPUB.
#APSchool

Enhanced EPUB: EPUBs with media overlays. Common use: to incorporate recorded audio into an ebook, either sound effects or a recording of the narration. #APSchool

Braille:
•Print Braille
•Electronic Braille
•Contracted & uncontracted Braille #APSchool

Best electronic Braille files are best when they are created/transcribed by a human in contracted Braille. #APSchool

Avoid using PDFs for ebooks. They’ll never be as accessible as an EPUB, and while it’s possible to add accessibility features to a PDF, it takes a lot more work. #APSchool

Accessibility by design
•design is a key aspect of accessibility
•terms “accessible” and “inclusive” are sometimes used interchangeably, but they are different. #APSchool

Accessibility refers to qualities that allows them to be used by all. Flexibility is key.

Inclusive design refers to design methodology used to create something with no barriers in the first place.

#APSchool

Accessible design is inclusive of people with disabilities.

Accessibility is essential, not an add-on.

#APSchool

Will be switching to lowercase “braille” now—sorry!

Lowercase refers to the code, uppercase to Louis Braille the person. #APSchool

Ideally, all books will be “born accessible.” Everyone is responsible: authors, publishers, editors, proofreaders, designers, typesetters, indexers.

Working toward born accessibility may mean working toward a digital-first workflow. #APSchool

@NNELSca surveyed people with print disabilities asking “How do you read?”
•only 10% of survey responsibilities found it “very easy” to find accessible books
•People with learning disabilities make up a greater proportion of folks with print disabilities than thought. #APSchool

Recommendations from the study:
For publishers:
•make organizational commitment to accessibility
•produce every book in accessible format, before or at the same time as print version
•learn about accessibility needs & buying power of people with print disabilities #APSchool

•Consult with and hire people with print disabilities to ensure their expertise is fully used. #APSchool

@NNELSca has experts who can help you evaluate the accessibility of your EPUB. #APSchool

Business case: The more accessible your books are, the more readers your book will have. #APSchool

Canada Book Fund is still offering “Support for Organizations” on Accessible Digital Books projects as part of its $22.8M commitment to accessibility. #APSchool

Legislation:
•European Accessibility Act—products & services in EU market must comply with accessibility requirements
•In Canada, the Accessible Canada Act and some provincial mandates will require accessibility in services #APSchool

How to check accessibility?

Hire people with print disabilities to review your books

Use the text-to-speech reader in Thorium: edrlab.org/software/thori…

#APSchool

Find a link to the @NNELSca “How do you read?” study here: nnels.ca/HDYR-KeyFindin… #APSchool

Next session is on writing image descriptions. #APSchool

Image description isn’t just for images in books. It helps with search engine optimization on the web and is useful when images don’t load. #APSchool

On social media, it’s easier than ever to add alt-text to images on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram #APSchool

Image description is a blanket term for different styles and technical approaches to describing images. Can be alt-text, long descriptions, tabular data, or even data sonification. #APSchool

Alt-text should be concise, but there are no true restrictions on length. May depend on your platform or device. #APSchool

Automatically generated alt-text is bad and you should fix it. #APSchool

A complex image is any image that contains complex information or data. Common examples are maps, graphs, and charts. Nearly all require long descriptions, also called extended descriptions. #APSchool

Decorative images are graphics that enhance visual appearance and don’t convey meaningful information. They do not need to be described.

In the code, leave alt field blank; tell computer its role is presentation.
alt =“”
role=“presentation” #APSchool

Writing alt-text: publishers will decide who’s best suited for the role—e.g., editors, copy editors, interns, production managers, outsourced workers, authors, subject specialists. Try to get authors involved (can be a challenge). #APSchool

Develop in-house description guidelines. Review existing guidelines and recommendations. #APSchool

Can easily add alt-text in Word and InDesign.
•Word: right-click on image, select “Edit Alt Text”—BUT this will not import to InDesign
•InDesign: select image, open “Object Export Options”; select “Custom” from Alt Text tab. Add alt text
#APSchool

Long descriptions will have to be placed elsewhere in the book—e.g., appendix called “Extended Descriptions” or near the image. If linked elsewhere, link back to return to reader to where they left off. #APSchool

General image description guidelines:
•Ask: Does the image have a meaningful purpose? Will the image come up in conversations? Is the image purely decorative or aesthetic. If it’s decorative, no description is needed. #APSchool

Do describe author photos. Try to get input from the author of how they’d like to be described. #APSchool

Structuring image descriptions: Work from general to specific, most important to least important. #APSchool

Always use context to help guide the image description.

#APSchool

The audience of a work will help determine the voice for image description. Matching the tone and voice of the work is ideal. #APSchool

Be concise to help keep the book flowing: Two- to three sentences (ish). #APSchool

Use present tense, active voice, action verbs. #APSchool

Symbols, math, music:
•use proper fonts and coding to display symbols, math and music: Unicode, XML markup for music, MathML. #APSchool

Being objective is key: assumptions can be wrong, and contribute to an incorrect understanding of a work.

Avoid subjective words like “ugly” or “pretty.” #APSchool

Facial expressions can be read in different ways. When in doubt, describe the features, not the perception of the expression. For example, “raised eyebrows and wide eyes” instead of “shocked” or “terrified.” #APSchool

Fully describing images is as important as being objective. All readers deserve the same experience. #APSchool

Cultural sensitivity
•use your best judgment
•if possible, work with authors to ensure correct pronouns, technical names, etc.
•ask others for input
•inclusivity in alt-text needs more research #APSchool

Skin tone: use emoji system, which is already known by many readers (light skin tone, medium-light skin tone, medium-dark skin tone, etc.) #APSchool

If there is text in an image, include it in the image description if it is brief. #APSchool

Use captions to your advantage. #APSchool

Remember, when writing alt-text you’re aiming to replace the image you’re describing. #APSchool

Types of images:
•logos: Can simply say “Logo: [organization]”
•cookbooks: When an image is paired with a recipe, the reader has the context, so the description can be brief.
•cover images: helps sell the book to readers, so you want your description to do so #APSchool

For medium-complexity images:
•Scan paragraphs before and after to see whether image is described. That will determine the complexity of your alt-text. If it is already described, you will still need alt text, but you won’t have to repeat the information. #APSchool

If the image is not described in the surrounding text, you’ll need to include more detail. #APSchool

For complex images (e.g., maps, graphs, and charts), you will generally want a long description. They need to be visible to all readers, near the image or elsewhere in the book.

Include basic alt-text for the image with a note that a longer description is elsewhere.
#APSchool

Maps:
•include name/title of the map and a description of the legend
•not necessary to describe lines/colour coding and images when this information can be described using the legend
•aim for clarity, even if detail is sacrificed. #APSchool

Graphs and charts:
•describe only visual features that convey meaning
•describe layout of the graph
•provide most relevant information first, like what is being measured
•for units, use full words (“seconds” instead of “s”) #APSchool

Giving access to long descriptions can help readers with learning disabilities. #APSchool

•images OF text: tables, surveys, forms, etc., need to be transcribed in order to be accessible. #APSchool

Having text rendered as images, like individual words and short phrases, is highly discouraged, because it creates many problems for different readers, including people accessing your title on small screen devices. #APSchool

Images WITH text:
•newspaper headlines, archival advertisements, etc. can be described as necessary in the alt text. #APSchool

Common issues for beginners:
•overdescribing or describing in illogical order
•not paying attention to context
•not using plain or direct language
•editorializing #APSchool

There are no hard-and-fast rules for how to write descriptions. It’s common for beginners to feel unsure. A bad image description is better than no description. #APSchool

For two-page spreads, you can describe the full image on one EPUB page and leave the second blank. No need to split your description into halves. #APSchool