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Thread: Preferences for epub reading applications/devices
Number of posts in this thread: 9 (In chronological order)
From: Jackson, Derek
Date: Mon, Dec 17 2018 11:08AM
Subject: Preferences for epub reading applications/devices
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Hello,
Does anyone have information on, or experience with screen reader, EPUB desktop applications that are more common or typical for users? We want to do some QA for EPUBs and could use some direction on what combinations to look at (e.g. Voice Over/iBooks, Readium/NVDA, ???). Is there a preference among users of AT that we want to be sure and check? I am thinking primarily about desktop EPUB reading applications but if that is a poor assumption what are the alternative platforms/devices?
Thank you!
Derek
Derek Jackson
Associate Director, Content Publishing
Harvard Business School Publishing
From: Jonathan Cohn
Date: Mon, Dec 17 2018 11:55AM
Subject: Re: Preferences for epub reading applications/devices
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Hello,
It seems the most preferred solution on the Apple platforms is a third party IOS app called "Voice Dream".
I have heard complaints on the MacVisionaries list about Books on the Macintosh platform. Apparently the read all does not consistently read through all material.
> On Dec 17, 2018, at 1:08 PM, Jackson, Derek < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
>
> Does anyone have information on, or experience with screen reader, EPUB desktop applications that are more common or typical for users? We want to do some QA for EPUBs and could use some direction on what combinations to look at (e.g. Voice Over/iBooks, Readium/NVDA, ???). Is there a preference among users of AT that we want to be sure and check? I am thinking primarily about desktop EPUB reading applications but if that is a poor assumption what are the alternative platforms/devices?
>
>
> Thank you!
>
> Derek
>
>
> Derek Jackson
>
> Associate Director, Content Publishing
>
> Harvard Business School Publishing
>
>
>
> > > >
From: L Snider
Date: Mon, Dec 17 2018 1:21PM
Subject: Re: Preferences for epub reading applications/devices
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I am working on an EPUB project right now, and I am seeing that Dolphin
Easy Reader is used by many on the Mac with voiceover...Also Adobe Digital
Editions, but that is problematic in places too...Voice Dream as well, as
already mentioned.
For Windows I have seen Vital Source Bookshelf mentioned a lot.
In my experience and research, do mobile and desktop, and braille devices
too, along with low vision and cognitive, as ebooks are used by many people
for many reasons.
EPUBs are complex, because the readers interaction with the screen readers
(I am also testing other AT but don't have that data yet) can be
problematic, and then there is the EPUB content...It is not for the faint
of heart (ha ha!).
Cheers
Lisa
On Mon, Dec 17, 2018 at 12:55 PM Jonathan Cohn < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> Hello,
>
> It seems the most preferred solution on the Apple platforms is a third
> party IOS app called "Voice Dream".
>
> I have heard complaints on the MacVisionaries list about Books on the
> Macintosh platform. Apparently the read all does not consistently read
> through all material.
> > On Dec 17, 2018, at 1:08 PM, Jackson, Derek <
> = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> >
> > Hello,
> >
> >
> > Does anyone have information on, or experience with screen reader, EPUB
> desktop applications that are more common or typical for users? We want to
> do some QA for EPUBs and could use some direction on what combinations to
> look at (e.g. Voice Over/iBooks, Readium/NVDA, ???). Is there a preference
> among users of AT that we want to be sure and check? I am thinking
> primarily about desktop EPUB reading applications but if that is a poor
> assumption what are the alternative platforms/devices?
> >
> >
> > Thank you!
> >
> > Derek
> >
> >
> > Derek Jackson
> >
> > Associate Director, Content Publishing
> >
> > Harvard Business School Publishing
> >
> >
> >
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > >
From: Noble,Stephen L.
Date: Mon, Dec 17 2018 1:22PM
Subject: Re: Preferences for epub reading applications/devices
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Actually, the DAISY Consortium have been spearheading a major EPUB reading systems testing initiative. There is a ton of information here: http://epubtest.org/testsuite/accessibility/
--Steve Noble
From: WebAIM-Forum < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > on behalf of Jackson, Derek < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
Sent: Monday, December 17, 2018 1:08 PM
To: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
Subject: [WebAIM] Preferences for epub reading applications/devices
Hello,
Does anyone have information on, or experience with screen reader, EPUB desktop applications that are more common or typical for users? We want to do some QA for EPUBs and could use some direction on what combinations to look at (e.g. Voice Over/iBooks, Readium/NVDA, ???). Is there a preference among users of AT that we want to be sure and check? I am thinking primarily about desktop EPUB reading applications but if that is a poor assumption what are the alternative platforms/devices?
Thank you!
Derek
Derek Jackson
Associate Director, Content Publishing
Harvard Business School Publishing
From: L Snider
Date: Mon, Dec 17 2018 1:26PM
Subject: Re: Preferences for epub reading applications/devices
← Previous message | Next message →
Oh and here is some info from the consortium that might help a bit, in
terms of what has been officially tested with combos:
epubtest.org/testsuite/accessibility/
On Mon, Dec 17, 2018 at 2:21 PM L Snider < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> I am working on an EPUB project right now, and I am seeing that Dolphin
> Easy Reader is used by many on the Mac with voiceover...Also Adobe Digital
> Editions, but that is problematic in places too...Voice Dream as well, as
> already mentioned.
>
> For Windows I have seen Vital Source Bookshelf mentioned a lot.
>
> In my experience and research, do mobile and desktop, and braille devices
> too, along with low vision and cognitive, as ebooks are used by many people
> for many reasons.
>
> EPUBs are complex, because the readers interaction with the screen
> readers (I am also testing other AT but don't have that data yet) can be
> problematic, and then there is the EPUB content...It is not for the faint
> of heart (ha ha!).
>
> Cheers
>
> Lisa
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, Dec 17, 2018 at 12:55 PM Jonathan Cohn < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
> wrote:
>
>> Hello,
>>
>> It seems the most preferred solution on the Apple platforms is a third
>> party IOS app called "Voice Dream".
>>
>> I have heard complaints on the MacVisionaries list about Books on the
>> Macintosh platform. Apparently the read all does not consistently read
>> through all material.
>> > On Dec 17, 2018, at 1:08 PM, Jackson, Derek <
>> = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>> >
>> > Hello,
>> >
>> >
>> > Does anyone have information on, or experience with screen reader, EPUB
>> desktop applications that are more common or typical for users? We want to
>> do some QA for EPUBs and could use some direction on what combinations to
>> look at (e.g. Voice Over/iBooks, Readium/NVDA, ???). Is there a preference
>> among users of AT that we want to be sure and check? I am thinking
>> primarily about desktop EPUB reading applications but if that is a poor
>> assumption what are the alternative platforms/devices?
>> >
>> >
>> > Thank you!
>> >
>> > Derek
>> >
>> >
>> > Derek Jackson
>> >
>> > Associate Director, Content Publishing
>> >
>> > Harvard Business School Publishing
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > >> > >> > >> > >>
>> >> >> >> >>
>
From: Brandon Keith Biggs
Date: Mon, Dec 17 2018 2:08PM
Subject: Re: Preferences for epub reading applications/devices
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Hello,
There is no solid leader on PC for Epub at the moment. None of the Epub
readers have all features of Epub 3 and the most accessible readers don't
have any of the new Epub3 features.
Here are the PC readers:
1. QRead
2. Microsoft Edge
3. Cobo
4. Adobe Digital Editions
My money is on Microsoft Edge becoming the leader in the near future until
Chrome or Firefox get into the game.
For IOS:
Voice Dream Reader is the leader
I don't know if Read to Go has Epub support, but it would be number 2.
Then IBooks is number 3.
Android has lots of custom book readers on the Braille Note Touch and other
Braille note-takers that blind users use.
Thanks,
Brandon Keith Biggs <http://brandonkeithbiggs.com/>;
On Mon, Dec 17, 2018 at 10:09 AM Jackson, Derek <
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> Hello,
>
>
> Does anyone have information on, or experience with screen reader, EPUB
> desktop applications that are more common or typical for users? We want to
> do some QA for EPUBs and could use some direction on what combinations to
> look at (e.g. Voice Over/iBooks, Readium/NVDA, ???). Is there a preference
> among users of AT that we want to be sure and check? I am thinking
> primarily about desktop EPUB reading applications but if that is a poor
> assumption what are the alternative platforms/devices?
>
>
> Thank you!
>
> Derek
>
>
> Derek Jackson
>
> Associate Director, Content Publishing
>
> Harvard Business School Publishing
>
>
>
> > > > >
From: Andrews, David B (DEED)
Date: Mon, Dec 17 2018 2:51PM
Subject: Re: Preferences for epub reading applications/devices
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There is a lot of test data at:
www.epubtest.org
Dave
David Andrews | Chief Technology Officer
Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development
State Services for the Blind
2200 University Ave West, Suite 240, St. Paul MN 55114
Direct: 651-539-2294
Web | Twitter | Facebook
From: mhysnm1964
Date: Mon, Dec 17 2018 11:09PM
Subject: Re: Preferences for epub reading applications/devices
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Brandon
Does Voice-Dream maintain links, table structure, ETC?
Apple Book supports Epub as well.
QRead from my experience is it removes all the HTML Semantic information.
Personally, I do not like Voice-Dream as I find the interface to busy and
difficult to navigate when using text. Also the UI is somewhat clunky.
I haven't found something that has a nice clean simple interface to read
with EPub. I have not tried Kindle book reader as I not sure if it supports
EPub. Again, browsers should really rule the roost here.
Edge works well with Narrator. Jaws and NVDA has issues in finding the
content. Once found, it works okay. But Edge has a range of other issues.
Hopefully the change to the Crhome Engine, will help here.
Sean
From: Brandon Keith Biggs
Date: Tue, Dec 18 2018 8:00PM
Subject: Re: Preferences for epub reading applications/devices
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Hello,
I don't think Voice Dream keeps semantic content, but I use it because I
can lock my screen while I listen and that saves battery.
Thanks,
Brandon Keith Biggs <http://brandonkeithbiggs.com/>;
On Mon, Dec 17, 2018 at 10:10 PM < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> Brandon
>
> Does Voice-Dream maintain links, table structure, ETC?
> Apple Book supports Epub as well.
> QRead from my experience is it removes all the HTML Semantic information.
> Personally, I do not like Voice-Dream as I find the interface to busy and
> difficult to navigate when using text. Also the UI is somewhat clunky.
>
> I haven't found something that has a nice clean simple interface to read
> with EPub. I have not tried Kindle book reader as I not sure if it supports
> EPub. Again, browsers should really rule the roost here.
>
> Edge works well with Narrator. Jaws and NVDA has issues in finding the
> content. Once found, it works okay. But Edge has a range of other issues.
> Hopefully the change to the Crhome Engine, will help here.
>
> Sean
>
>
>
>
>