Introduc)on to IDPF & EPUB Ebook Lab Italia 4 March 2011
Bill McCoy
What is IDPF?
• Not for profit Trade and Standards organiza)on with over 175 members from 25+ countries.
• All working together to advance Digital Publishing Ecosystem
• Responsible for EPUB Standard
What is EPUB?
• EPUB is the interchange & delivery format for digital publica)ons based on Web Standards
• EPUB enables structured, accessible content,
interoperable between devices & applica)ons, for downloaded and online consump)on
• Standard developed by IDPF since 1999
(OEBPS 1.x became EPUB 2.0 in 2007) • EPUB = XHTML content with naviga)onal structure &
metadata, in a ZIP-‐based package
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EPUB Emphasis: Dynamic Layout
Content paginated “on the fly” based on screen size, resolution, user font size preferences, …
EPUB Industry Adop)on Timeline
2007 -‐ EPUB standardized -‐ Adobe Digital Edi)ons -‐ Adobe InDesign -‐ Sony Reader
2008 -‐ AAP endorses -‐ UK PA endorses
2009 -‐ Google: 1M PD EPUBs -‐ Sony store to EPUB -‐ B&N Nook
2010 -‐ Apple iBooks -‐ 25+ eReaders -‐ 25+ smartphone apps -‐ Most Kindle sales from )tles ingested as EPUB
-‐ EPUB 3 WG chartered
EPUB 3 Working Group chartered May 2010 with ambi)ous goals
• Expand EPUB applicability for global content • Improvement for complex, interac)ve, media-‐rich )tles
– Textbooks, STM, magazines
• Increase Web Standards alignment (HTML5)
• Improve EPUB conformance & accessibility
IDPF WG has been global in scope: over 100 ac)ve par)cipants, F2F mee)ngs in NYC, SF, Taipei, Sapporo
IDPF on Feb. 14th published the first Public Drae of EPUB 3 for public review and trial use
EPUB 3 is on track to reach Proposed Drae in May 2011, with member approval vote to follow
EPUB 3: General Enhancements – Core content based on XHTML5
– Enhanced global language support (ver)cal wri)ng, wri)ng direc)ons)
– Styling & layout enhancements
– Improved metadata capabili)es
– MathML support
– Founda)on for cross-‐document links and annota)ons
EPUB 3: Rich Media Enhancements • Video & audio support
• Audio can be synchronized with text • Embedded font support a baseline requirement • Improved SVG support • JavaScript support
Beyond EPUB 3.0 • Modular development of new EPUB capabili)es
– Dynamic templates – Dic)onary schema – Annota)ons and advanced cross-‐document linking – Security / rights management capabili)es
• Increase focus on the “whole product” – Test suites, cer)fica)on – Valida)on programs – Open source implementa)ons – Educa)on & training
• Promo)ng global adop)on – ISO-‐level standardiza)on – Improve alignments with other digital publishing organiza)ons
Summary • EPUB 3 is taking the EPUB standard to a new level • EPUB 3 is an incremental step, not the des)na)on
– We don’t know what the “book/magazine of the future” will be so we can’t hard-‐wire for one par)cular embodiment of content & experience
– EPUB is an “innova)on plamorm” – enabling you to effec)vely distribute many kinds of content experiences, via a wide variety of channels
– IDPF is kicking off modular development of addi)onal EPUB capabili)es and you are invited to get involved!
