Publishing Technology Today

Bill KasdorfVP and Principal Consultant, Apex Content Solutions

Publishing Technology Today Coming to Consensus in a Context of Constant Change

The laptop wasn’t the ultimate tool.

But more journal articles are accessed on

laptops than any other way.

Millions of books are still read on Kindles.

Tablets provide the format and functionality needed for layout- and

media-rich publications.

And people want to access everything on their phones.

Our world today:Multiple options. Multiple models. Multiple modes.

And it’s constantly changing.

It’s all about FLEXIBILITY.

No more one-size-fits-all.No more my-way-or-the-highway.

ADAPTABILITYdoesn’t mean changing from

“ That old thing” to “ This new thing.”It’s not linear anymore.

It’s cumulative.Now it means changing from

“ What I do today” to

“I need to do this new thing too. And what’s next?”

What’s a poor publisher

to do?

The key:Standards-based agility.

The key:Standards-based agility.

A case in point:The app-vs.-ebook debate.

When the iPhone and then the iPad came out

everybody went nuts over apps.They could do cool stuff. When they made e-books,

they had to make them pretty basic because the cool stuff

didn’t work everywhere.

A story I’ve heard many times from clients:

“We spent $20,000 developing this app and we have to sell it for $1.99. We’ll never make a dime on it.”

“So why’d you do it?”“We figured we should.”

A few of the problems with this idea:They had to hire programmers

and do everything from scratch.


and do everything from scratch.It was just one book.



The app only works on one OS anyway.



The app only works on one OS anyway.And it’s already out of date.



The app only works on one OS anyway.And it’s already out of date.

Plus, the cool stuff now works lots of places with EPUB 3.

Does this mean it’s stupid to do an app?Of course not.

There are lots of good, successful apps.

The New York Times has a great app.Apple iBooks is an app. So is Inkling. There are Nook, Kobo, Kindle apps.Trade publishers do really cool apps

for bestselling authors.The AMA has an app for all its journals. Elsevier has a cool app for oncologists.

CourseSmart and VitalSource have great textbook apps.

The key to a successful app:Genuine need for

specialized functionality.Lots of content or lots of customers.

Ideally both.

The basic options for delivering digital publications:

An App. Programmed for a specific OS.

The Browser. Standard online delivery.

E-Reader. Getting closer to

one-file-works-everywhere.






Behind almost all of these:

The Open Web Platform (OWP),

colloquially referred to as

HTML5.

The Open Web PlatformOver 100 W3C specs:

XML, HTML, CSS, SVG, MathML, many more.

HTML5 The structure.

CSS3 The styling.JavaScript

The functionality.

The Lingua Franca of the Webis HTML.

But it’s no longer just for the web.Consider UPFRONT XHTML

as the foundation for content management.

Why are people skeptical of Upfront XHTML?

The tangled, troubled history of XHTML.

The big sea change on presentation and semantics.

THE EVOLUTION OF HTML

HTML1: “Look, Ma,I made a web page!”


HTML2: “Somebody actually PAID me to make a web page!”


HTML3: Early signs of primitive tool use.


HTML4: Don’t use presentational markup. Unless you want to. [It’s “deprecated.”]


HTML5: No presentational markup. Use CSS. Period.

And it’s XML . . . except when it isn’t.

XHTML HTML

No biggie, man, I get what you mean.

XHTML HTML

We have rules for a reason . . .

THE HOLY TRINITY

DocBookNLMTEI

Originally created for specific communities.Extended to be “general purpose” [generic].

Almost always customized unless they’re a direct fit.(If they are a direct fit, use them!)

But you still always need HTML.

Always.


Always.Online? HTML.


Always.Online? HTML. EPUB? HTML.


Always.Online? HTML.EPUB? HTML.Apps? HTML.

XHTML IS XML.

XML.

Models Made with XML.

XHTML is a model made with XML.

XHTML is HTML that follows XML rules.

XHTML IS XML.It can be simple or complex.

It can be rigorously structured.It can be richly semantic.

It can contain tons of metadata.It can be HTML5.

And XHTML5 is fundamental to EPUB 3.






Behind almost all of these:

The Open Web Platform (OWP),

colloquially referred to as

HTML5.

The free, open, non-proprietary

standard for delivery of

publications based on the

OWP is EPUB 3.

EPUB 3 is a milestone in the evolution of digital publishing.

A milestone marks a spot along the way.

A milestone marks a spot along the way. There’s a lot of road stretching behind it

and ahead of it.

EPUB 2.0.1 works for books

like this . . .

. . . but not for complex publications

like these

The Mandate for EPUB 3

Based on open standards, royalty freeSupport all types of publications

Enable multimedia and interactivityGlobal language support

AccessibilitySophisticated design, layout, typographyBackwards compatible with EPUB 2.0.1

Extensible, modular architecture

The EPUB 3 WG was a broad, diverse group of publishers, retailers, &

technologists working for the common good.

Based on the Open Web Platform

XHTML5—Including <video> and <audio>CSS3—A defined profile as EPUB style sheetsSVG—Can be content docs, not just images

MathML (the presentational aspects)JavaScript as used in HTML5

SMIL to synchronize text and audioDublin Core for metadata

OpenType and WOFF fonts

Key New Features of EPUB 3

Multicolumn layout, real typography


Multicolumn layout, real typographyVideo, audio, animations, interactivity



Multiple style sheets, responsive design



Multiple style sheets, responsive designRight-to-left or vertical flow




Rich metadata and structural semantics




Rich metadata and structural semanticsPoint to locations without anchors (CFI)





Synch text to spoken audio (“Read Aloud”)





Synch text to spoken audio (“Read Aloud”)Sophisticated text-to-speech

But wait . . . does this actually work

anywhere yet?

Yes. (Are you surprised to know that?)

iBooks is EPUB 3-compliant.So is Kobo. So is Google Play.

And VitalSource and CourseSmart.Many others now support EPUB 3.

Best right now: READIUM.(Note the use of the word “best” . . .)

The New BISG EPUB 3 Support Grid:(epubtest.org)

What features work on which systems.

epubtest.org

Second generation of BISG EPUB 3 GridUses IDPF’s EPUB 3 Compliance Test Suite

A master set of authoritative files designed to test reading system compliance

to each specific EPUB 3 feature.View current results for a reading system,

or compare feature implementation of RSs.It’s the opposite of EPUBCheck,

which tests EPUB files.

Okay, so we’re done, right?They aren’t going to be

making any changes, are they?

Of course we’re not done! EPUB 3 was designed to be

modular and extensible.The key is that what is in EPUB 3.0

won’t change, it will just be augmented.Check out idpf.org/ongoing

for updates on ongoing initiatives.

Upcoming Improvements to EPUB 3

Minor revision, EPUB 3.0.1, in final stages of approval

Most changes are spec clarifications/correctionsMost important changes:

Integration of Fixed Layout specificationsAddition of "collection" attribute for content docsAdditions to Structural Semantics Vocabulary

and enabling changes without spec rev.


New specification for Indexes in EPUBs in final stages of approval

Accommodates back-of-book or embedded indexes, link to page breaks or specific points

Draft specification released for Dictionaries and Glossaries in EPUBs

Will enable standalone dictionaries and glossary or dictionary content as

part of an EPUB publication


Specification in development for Advanced Hybrid Layout

Enables combination of fixed layout and reflowable EPUBs

Multiple renditions in a single .epub container“Region of Interest” definition and navigationDesigned for manga, comics, graphic novels

Also includes Magazine Vocabulary


Developing EDUPUB EPUB Profile for Educational ContentDone in collaboration with EDUPUB Alliance

Initiated by contribution from PearsonIncludes detailed “Structural Semantics

Vocabulary” for textbooks/educational contentDesigned as delivery format, including metadata, widgets, customizable CSS

THE EDUPUB ALLIANCE

Collaborative initiative between:IDPF

Developing EDUPUB EPUB Profile and Open Source Widget Library

IMS Global Key educational/pedagogical standards:

QTI (Quiz and Test Interoperability) LTI (Learning Technology Interoperability)

W3C Responsible for Open Web Platform

W3C Digital Publishing Interest Group

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) initiative to make Web standards

more useful to publishersDPIG

Developing use cases to inform the work of W3C Working Groups on CSS, HTML, etc.

May call for new WG on MetadataWorking on Open Annotations on the Web

to provide a standard way to annotate web content (a very complex task!)

In conclusion, three TLAs and one FLA:

XMLW3COWPEPUB

Watch this space!

Thanks!

Bill [email protected]

+1 734 904 6252@BillKasdorf