[Athen] comic book conversions?

[Debbie Krahmer]

I've been looking into possibly having some of my comics converted to text
by an individual who does them on commission. Auden Granger
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dzc-zGEpSdO4eP0VD2-7nd4nbFiI9J9iW-76MSqZ-Dk/edit?usp=sharing>
does transcriptions and image descriptions of comics, either in a page-by-page
format
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wDlVvJyqkr_IPm0C_SjtJytd1AauE5DKU-RnYoWaZmo/edit?usp=sharing>
or in a more narrative form
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ISTqjKZv5j4csIegU-HJX6_pCaI3eRxRTM8RjwMxW6Y/edit?usp=sharing>.
I don't know if she can do a turn-around time period necessary for a
course, but it wouldn't hurt to contact her, or ask the students if this
type of format would be more accessible for them than some of the other
options out there.

Thanks,
Debbie K.

______________
Debbie Krahmer
Preferred Pronouns: My name/no pronouns
Associate Professor in the Libraries
Digital Learning & Government Documents Librarian
304 Case-Geyer
Colgate University
315-228-6592
dkrahmer at colgate.edu

On Wed, Jan 24, 2018 at 3:56 PM, Heidi Scher <hascherdss at gmail.com> wrote:


> Thank you all for your great suggestions! I was hoping there would be a

> "simple" way to get these converted.  Unfortunately, the C-Pen has trouble

> recognizing some of the fonts. (insert frown emoji). And none of our

> conversion specialists are familiar with InDesign. Sigh.... Joseph, I

> totally agree with your rant and can echo it as well. Good luck convincing

> admin! Please keep us posted on how that conversation goes.

>

> Thank you again, one and all! I greatly appreciate your thoughts and

> feedback.

>

> KInd regards,

> Heidi

>

>

>

> +++++++++++++++

> Heidi Scher, M.S., CRC

> Associate Director

> Center for Educational Access

> University of Arkansas

> ARKU 209

> Fayetteville, AR 72701

> 479.575.3104 <(479)%20575-3104>

> 479.575.7445 <(479)%20575-7445> fax

> 479.575.3646 <(479)%20575-3646> tdd

> +++++++++++++++

>

> On Tue, Jan 23, 2018 at 5:56 PM, Gaeir Dietrich <gdietrich at htctu.net>

> wrote:

>

>> Don’t forget Learning Ally. They have Maus I and Maus II.

>>

>> www.learningally.org

>>

>> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

>>

>> Gaeir (rhymes with "fire") Dietrich

>> HTCTU Director

>> 408-996-6047 <(408)%20996-6047>

>>

>> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

>>

>>

>>

>> *From:* athen-list [mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu]

>> *On Behalf Of *Nast, Joseph

>> *Sent:* Tuesday, January 23, 2018 1:15 PM

>> *To:* Access Technology Higher Education Network

>> *Subject:* Re: [Athen] comic book conversions?

>>

>>

>>

>> Thanks Joseph for this thorough response!

>>

>>

>>

>> Heidi, I think there might be something in the water lol. For some

>> reason, our ENGL 1301 textbooks are mostly graphic novels this semester

>> too. MAUS I, MAUS  II, Ms. Marvel: No Normal, Understanding Comics. (?).

>> None of which are available through AccessText (sigh). I suppose we’re

>> fortunate so far… we only need to make these accessible to students with

>> print disabilities (audio) at the moment. I’d be sunk if we had a student

>> who was functionally blind. I’m dubious even raised tactiles would be

>> effective at making a graphic novel equally accessible in that

>> circumstance. (Well, not the tactiles I’d have to create in less than a

>> week anyway.)

>>

>>

>>

>> <rant on> Look, I get it – the department is trying to make the

>> instruction “edgy” or “relevant”. And I’m all for academic freedom. But as

>> far as I know, academic freedom does not override students’ rights to

>> equitable access. <rant off>

>>

>>

>>

>> Clearly, graphic novels are inherently inaccessible. Now I’m wondering

>> how I can gently but firmly drive that point home with administration.

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> *Joseph M. Nast, *ATAC

>>

>> Assistive Technology Specialist

>>

>> Lone Star College Cy Fair, Disability Services

>>

>> *Office Phone: *(281) 290-3207

>>

>> *Website URL:* http://www.lonestar.edu/19287.htm

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> *From:* athen-list [mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu

>> <athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu>] *On Behalf Of *Joseph

>> Polizzotto

>> *Sent:* Monday, January 22, 2018 8:24 PM

>> *To:* 'Access Technology Higher Education Network' <

>> athen-list at u.washington.edu>

>> *Subject:* Re: [Athen] comic book conversions?

>>

>>

>>

>> I second the C-Pen Reader suggestion.

>>

>>

>>

>> In addition, I have one other  solution I have used and another

>> experimental workflow I would explore (only if you are familiar with

>> InDesign and Sigil).

>>

>>

>>

>> When working with a student with Dyslexia years ago, we created a DAISY

>> book using MS Word + the Save As DAISY plug-in

>> <http://www.daisy.org/project/save-as-daisy-ms-word-add-in>. The student

>> was happy with the result.

>>

>>

>>

>> Here was our workflow:

>>

>>

>>

>> 1.       Save each page as an image file.

>>

>> 2.       Insert each image file onto its own MS Word page

>>

>> 3.       Add the captions and narrative of each graphic novel page as

>> ALT TEXT for the image.

>>

>> 4.       Add periods and spaces in the Alt-Text box to try to adjust the

>> length of pauses in the generated MP3

>>

>> 5.       Use the Save As DAISY plug-in for MS Word to export to DAISY

>>

>> 6.       Use AMIS, Voice of DAISY (mobile) or your favorite DAISY player

>> for reading.

>>

>>

>>

>> Note: If possible, use a high quality TTS voice for the DAISY conversion.

>>

>>

>>

>> Finally, you might explore creating a fixed-layout (FXL) EPUB with media

>> overlays using Adobe InDesign, where a text layer (with all the captions

>> and narrative) exists as multiple <p> tags and is hidden behind a  image

>> layer (with a picture of each page from the graphic novel). You would then

>> create media overlays using a combination of Sigil +  a few plug-ins.

>>

>>

>>

>> Perhaps it’s a bit time-consuming and challenging, yet it **could** work

>> out pretty nicely. The student would see the picture and hear the text that

>> goes with it (as in the DAISY book)

>>

>>

>>

>> It’s also a free way of doing what Circular Flo

>> <https://www.circularflo.com/> seems to do with its Read-Aloud book

>> workflow in InDesign. J

>>

>>

>>

>> I offer this as an “experimental” workflow:

>>

>>

>>

>> 1.       Create separate DOCX files (e.g., p01.docx, p02.docx etc.) for

>> each page’s worth of captions/ narrative in the graphic novel. Utilize

>> paragraph returns and punctuation to separate caption content and enhance

>> mp3 production (e.g., pausing)

>>

>> 2.       Create MP3 files of each DOCX file (e.g., p01.mp3, p02.mp3

>> etc.).  I recommend using Balabolka for this bulk audio file conversion

>> process.

>>

>> 3.       Save each page as a separate image file (e.g., p01.jpg, p02.jpg

>> etc.)

>>

>> 4.       Next, place each DOCX (p01.docx) and image file (p01.jpg) into

>> separate InDesign Documents (p01.indd, p02.indd) and make sure you map your

>> InDesign paragraph style to an EPUB <p> in the Export Tagging panel of the

>> Style menu.

>>

>> 5.       Use the layers panel to hide the “text layer” behind the Image

>> layer of each InDesign document.

>>

>> 6.       Combine all the InDesign documents into an InDesign book file

>> (my_graphic_novel.indb) so that separate XHTML files will be created for

>> each page on export.

>>

>> 7.       Export as FXL EPUB.

>>

>> 8.       Import the FXL EPUB into Sigil <https://sigil-ebook.com/> and

>> use the Icarus Plug in <https://github.com/pettarin/icarus> to add <span

>> IDs> for each <p> tag and prepare for an Aeneas job (see Icarus tutorial

>> <https://github.com/pettarin/icarus/tree/master/tutorial> for more

>> information)

>>

>> 9.       Execute an Aeneas job (I recommend the Aeneas Web App

>> <https://aeneasweb.org/login>) to create the SMIL files for the content

>> of each XHTML file’s content (p01.smil, p02.smil etc.)

>>

>> 10.   Once the SMIL files have been created with Aeneas, you import the

>> SMIL files back into Sigil and then export to EPUB 3 using the EPUB3-itizer

>> plug-in. <https://github.com/kevinhendricks/ePub3-itizer> See

>> documentation.

>>

>> 11.   Open EPUB with iBooks or other reading system that supports FXL

>> EPUB with media overlays (MO).

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> Best of luck,

>>

>>

>>

>> ---

>>

>> Joseph Polizzotto

>>

>> HTCTU Instructor

>>

>> 408-996-6044 <(408)%20996-6044>

>>

>> www.htctu.net

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> *From:* athen-list [mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu

>> <athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu>] *On Behalf Of *Jane Berk

>> *Sent:* Monday, January 22, 2018 3:29 PM

>> *To:* Access Technology Higher Education Network <

>> athen-list at u.washington.edu>

>> *Subject:* Re: [Athen] comic book conversions?

>>

>>

>>

>> Hi Heidi,

>>

>> I wish we had a better solution, too.  The ones we’ve done have had to

>> basically be written out with a description of the graphics and then the

>> text to accompany it.  Lots of work!  Hoping someone out there knows a

>> better way!

>>

>> Best,

>>

>>

>> *Jane Berk*AT Educational Assistant

>> Assistive Computer Technology Service

>> Services to Students with Disabilities

>> MacEwan University

>>

>> Room 7-198 D3 CCC

>>

>> 10700 - 104 Avenue

>> Edmonton, AB  T5J 4S2

>>

>> E:  berkj at macewan.ca

>>

>> T:  780-497-5826 <(780)%20497-5826>

>>

>> F:  780-497-4018 <(780)%20497-4018>

>>

>> MacEwan.ca

>>

>>

>>

>> [image: cid:KDLTDPQBKAAY.IMAGE_15.jpg]

>>

>>

>>

>> This communication is intended for the use of the recipient to whom it is

>> addressed and may contain confidential, personal, and/or privileged

>> information.  Please contact me immediately if you are not the intended

>> recipient of this communication, and do not copy, distribute, or take

>> action relying on it.  Any communication received in error, or subsequent

>> reply, should be deleted or destroyed.

>>

>>

>>

>> ᐊᒥᐢᑿᒌᐚᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ (Amiskwacîwâskahikan), Treaty 6 Territory

>>

>>

>>

>> *We acknowledge that the land on which we gather in Treaty Six Territory

>> is the traditional gathering place for many Indigenous people. We honour

>> and respect the history, languages, ceremonies and culture of the First

>> Nations, Métis and Inuit who call this territory home*.

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> *From:* athen-list [mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu

>> <athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu>] *On Behalf Of *Heidi

>> Scher

>> *Sent:* Monday, January 22, 2018 4:11 PM

>> *To:* Access Technology Higher Education Network <

>> athen-list at u.washington.edu>

>> *Subject:* [Athen] comic book conversions?

>>

>>

>>

>> Hello everyone!

>>

>>

>>

>> I hope your Monday has been more productive than our has been. Seems to

>> be the day for strange issues and computer gremlins!

>>

>>

>>

>> We have a student who has requested that the graphic novels (i.e. comic

>> books) be converted for her class. The course uses a textbook plus 5

>> graphic novels. The student uses text-to-speech software (i.e. is not blind

>> but does have a print-related disability).

>>

>>

>>

>> Has anyone else had the request for graphic novels to be converted? How

>> did you accomplish the task? These are obviously important course

>> materials, but just not sure how to accomplish the task. (Hard to believe

>> in 13+ years I've not dealt with this topic previously!)  OCR will be a

>> mess to attempt.

>>

>>

>>

>> Any suggestions would be appreciated!!

>>

>>

>>

>> Kind regards,

>>

>> Heidi

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> +++++++++++++++

>> Heidi Scher, M.S., CRC

>> Associate Director

>> Center for Educational Access

>> University of Arkansas

>> ARKU 209

>> Fayetteville, AR 72701

>> 479.575.3104 <(479)%20575-3104>

>> 479.575.7445 <(479)%20575-7445> fax

>> 479.575.3646 <(479)%20575-3646> tdd

>> +++++++++++++++

>>

>> _______________________________________________

>> athen-list mailing list

>> athen-list at mailman13.u.washington.edu

>> http://mailman13.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/athen-list

>>

>>

>

> _______________________________________________

> athen-list mailing list

> athen-list at mailman13.u.washington.edu

> http://mailman13.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/athen-list

>

>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman12.u.washington.edu/pipermail/athen-list/attachments/20180125/4b1d2c6f/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 2653 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman12.u.washington.edu/pipermail/athen-list/attachments/20180125/4b1d2c6f/attachment.jpg>