[Athen] Pearson

chagnon at pubcom.com chagnon at pubcom.com
Sat Jan 13 11:23:10 PST 2018


Quote / that makes ATHEN members still prefer PDF (and the hard work
entailed in converting it) to e-pub. / End Quote



Are you saying that you convert PDFs to EPUB? If so, that's the most
excruciatingly painful method of making an EPUB! Best to export it directly
from the source creation program (such as Word or Adobe InDesign). Or
extract the content from the PDF, pull it into Word, and make the EPUB from
there.



Quote / You say that PDF and e-pub have their strengths and weaknesses. In
practice, PDF still does have strengths over e-pub, but I see no advantage
in principle. / End Quote



Hmm. In principle. Interesting question.



Reason 1: The EPUB standard is very "young" and primitive at this time and
the revised standard is currently in development. Over time EPUB will have
more robust features - and better standards/guidelines - but that's still a
few years in the future.



Reason 2: EPUB still isn't consistent enough across all devices and software
that access EPUBs. Again, it's a relatively primitive standard that isn't
yet adequately and consistently supported by the user technologies. Consider
how tables, cross-references, hyperlinks, complex graphics (especially data
charts, hierarchy/organization charts, flowcharts, timelines, and info
graphics which rely heavily on their visual appearance to convey the
concepts), footnotes, indexes, pagination, and other complex parts of
documents are handled. That will improve over time, but this goal requires a
combination of better standards, better guidelines and techniques, better
EPUB production tools, and better implementation by the user agents (both
EPUB reading software and hardware).



Reason 3: EPUBs are butt-ugly.



As a professional writer, designer, and educator, my primary job is to
educate my audience and to do that, I must first engage them by enticing
them to read the book. It's tough to engage someone who is sighted (with or
without a disability) with the poor visual design of EPUBs. I feel like I've
gone back in time 40 years when all we had to work with was the 12 point
Courier Typewriter font, no color, no graphics, and no audio-video. When I
have complex visual concepts and graphics to portray, the EPUB format itself
can make it difficult to convey them.



EPUBs are visually boring.



They fail to visually engage sighted readers. Therefore, they can also fail
to sufficiently educate those readers, too.



However, EPUB does have its benefits, even in its current primitive state.
At this time, EPUB is best for:



* Text heavy documents with few graphics and simple layout designs.
Essentially, the emphasis in on the text, not the visual appearance.
* Documents for those who are blind or have low vision, when the
visual presentation doesn't have as much importance.



FYI, we're now getting credible science data that's questioning how
effective any digital format is for educating the majority of our students,
either PDF or EPUB or HTML. Yes, it might be very convenient to have 100
books on your iPad or laptop instead of hard copies in your backpack, but
theories are starting to form as to why the educational part isn't sticking
with many students.



Again, there's no one-size-fits-all solution.



We need to make different technologies available in order to accommodate all
of our students.



- - -

Bevi Chagnon, founder/CEO | <mailto:Bevi at PubCom.com> Bevi at PubCom.com

- - -

PubCom: Technologists for Accessible Design + Publishing

consulting . training . development . design . sec. 508 services

Upcoming classes at www.PubCom.com/classes

- - -





From: athen-list [mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu] On
Behalf Of John Gardner
Sent: Saturday, January 13, 2018 11:34 AM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: [Athen] Pearson



Hi, I have been profoundly disturbed by this thread, because I have been a
strong believer and promoter of accessible e-pub since that term was
invented. And I know that VitalSource has had a long commitment to
accessibility. So I was distressed to learn that students were having
trouble accessing vital information in VitalSource books. Why?



You say that PDF and e-pub have their strengths and weaknesses. In practice,
PDF still does have strengths over e-pub, but I see no advantage in
principle. So please help me understand whether I am wrong (I sure hope
not). And if I am not wrong, what is still missing from the picture today
that makes ATHEN members still prefer PDF (and the hard work entailed in
converting it) to e-pub.



Maybe everybody on this list other than I already understand this issue. If
so I apologize for wasting your time. But I will guess that I am not alone.


Thanks to everybody on this wonderfully informative list.



John





From: athen-list [mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu] On
Behalf Of chagnon at pubcom.com <mailto:chagnon at pubcom.com>
Sent: Friday, January 12, 2018 11:17 PM
To: 'Access Technology Higher Education Network'
<athen-list at u.washington.edu <mailto:athen-list at u.washington.edu> >
Subject: Re: [Athen] Pearson



My 2 cents.



You are the customer so request what you need to accommodate your students.
Tails don't wag dogs.



If the publisher is creating an InDesign layout for a textbook that will go
to press, then it's minimal work to export that same layout to an accessible
PDF, in addition to the press-quality PDF. But those who use InDesign need
training in how to do this; not difficult, but not intuitive, either.



Publishers who are smart provide printed textbooks as well as matching
accessible PDFs and EPUB files to their customers.



I love PDF. I love EPUB. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. Colleges
and universities need both digital formats to accommodate their students.
Technology should not be a one-size-fits-all solution.



HTML and EPUB still cannot accommodate the visual richness of traditional
layout design and sometimes that richness is needed to communicate ideas to
those who are sighted. As a professional designer and accessibility
consultant, we can have rich design and full accessibility at the same time.



Shameless self-promotion: I have a 508 + InDesign + PDF class scheduled for
February and we have online seats available. Contact me off list for more
info and a discount code for higher ed.



- - -

Bevi Chagnon, founder | Bevi.Chagnon at PubCom.com
<mailto:Bevi.Chagnon at PubCom.com> |

- - -

PubCom: Technologists for Accessible Design + Publishing

print | digital | web | documents | pdfs | epubs

- - -





From: athen-list [mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu] On
Behalf Of Leyna Bencomo
Sent: Friday, January 12, 2018 3:49 PM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu
<mailto:athen-list at u.washington.edu> >
Subject: Re: [Athen] Pearson



Lol! I was also in that babbling presentation. :)



Leyna Bencomo

Assistive Technology Specialist

Office of Information Technology

University of Colorado Colorado Springs

1420 Austin Bluffs Parkway, EPC 215

Colorado Springs, CO 80918

(719) 255-4202 / <mailto:lbencomo at uccs.edu> lbencomo at uccs.edu

<http://www.uccs.edu/~it/> http://www.uccs.edu/~it/





From: athen-list [mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu] On
Behalf Of Susan Kelmer
Sent: Friday, January 12, 2018 10:55 AM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu
<mailto:athen-list at u.washington.edu> >
Subject: Re: [Athen] Pearson



I have gotten this with one book already this semester. At Accessing Higher
Ground this past fall, I attended a session put on by Pearson in which two
very young and ridiculously unprofessional presents babbled and bubbled on
and on about how Pearson was going to ePub and would no longer be providing
PDFs after a certain point.



Don't you just love it when a publisher decides what our students need and
want?



I am having big push-back from students about ePub. Their BIGGEST
frustration is a lack of page numbering or being able to go directly to page
___. Often they are in class, and all they have is this ePub they can
access, and they can't go to the page being discussed by everyone else in
the class.



You can still ask for the PDF, there should be a link in that email they
sent back. But at some point, it sounds like Pearson is going to stop
providing them, which is going to be a big problem for our campus.



Susan Kelmer

Alternate Format Production Program Manager

Disability Services

University of Colorado Boulder

303-735-4836







From: athen-list [mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu] On
Behalf Of Kluesner, Bryon
Sent: Friday, January 12, 2018 10:45 AM
To: athen-list at u.washington.edu <mailto:athen-list at u.washington.edu>
Subject: [Athen] Pearson



Athen friends



Interesting scenario with Pearson. They sent me an email stating a text I
requested was available as ePub through Vital Source. This has occurred at
least a half dozen times. I replied back with the following:

The students I work with use Kurzweil for their reading. While I appreciate
the fact that the ePub files are compliant and accessible, I do not think my
students would even want to learn another process to access their books
other than the PDF format I have been providing. This style of alternate
texts does not meet the need of my students. I would like to know if there
are PDF files available instead?

I am going to reply back to let them know we are a Kurzweil campus and
re-request the title in PDF format.

Has anyone else had an issue with this and push back from Pearson?

Thanks,

Bryon




Bryon Kluesner, RhD

Adaptive Technology Coordinator

Disability Resource Center

Adjunct Professor

College of Health, Education & Professional Studies





The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
108 University Center
615 McCallie Avenue, Dept. 2953

Chattanooga, TN 37403



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