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Re: Accessibility of EPUB vs PDF

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From: L Snider
Date: Jan 16, 2018 4:36PM

Hi Ajay,

All valid points, but large publishers have different budgets and resources
than the average Joe or Jane in business or an organization. In my
experience and view, if there is no easy to use and stable plug in for Word
that creates EPUB 3 and above with a 'save as', EPUB will never gain major
market traction. At least InDesign is now, in my view, able to produce
fairly good EPUBs (if the author produces an accessible InDesign doc), and
that is a good start...but it has a long way to go.

Cheers

Lisa

On Mon, Jan 15, 2018 at 9:13 AM, Ajay Sharma < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Due to the fixed layout nature of PDF, it is not a suitable format for
> many.
> Users cannot customize the display e.g. line spacing, word spacing,
> background and foreground colour, font etc. All this is very important for
> users with dyslexia and visual impairments.
> Further, PDF is not suitable for viewing on small screens.
> Since it isolates a large group of users, PDF should not be considered for
> electronic publishing. When documents are intended to be printed, then PDF
> should be used.
>
> EPUB fulfils all the requirements listed above.
> When we talk about accessible content, the main principle is that users
> with
> different disabilities have different needs and they may prefer different
> formats for a variety of reasons.
> Some may like DAISY just because they are used to it while others may like
> HTML pages because it does not require them to use specific apps and
> devices.
> EPUB is the most suitable master format. If needed other formats can be
> easily derived from it.
> EPUB is the format through which Inclusive Publishing can be promoted.
> EPUB version 3 and later has been created for the mainstream, it fulfils
> the
> market requirements and at the same time has accessibility bilt into it.
> Publishers can create EPUB to sell through online retailers like Amazon,
> Google etc. The same file be used by users with disabilities without any
> modification.
>
> You may find a few arguments here:
> https://www.kotobee.com/blog/epub-vs-pdf-battle-formats/
> and
> https://blog.reedsy.com/epub-vs-mobi-vs-pdf/
>
> Best Regards,
> Ajay
>
>
>
>