An Enriched ePub eBook for Screen Reader Users

Our study aims at obtaining ePub accessibility for all, including screen reader users. Since an ePub document is made up of several (X)HTML files, we analysed and worked with those (X)HTML tags that affect the blind user’s experience in the reading. As a case study we developed an “enriched” ePub book which applies technical solutions (i.e. tags and attributes) with the purpose to overcome the accessibility and usability issues observed when interacting via screen reader. In this work we present the results collected through an online survey conducted with 25 users to evaluate the “enriched” ePub compared with the original PDF format in terms of accessibility and usability. Positive responses about the proposed solutions emerged from the survey: the easy access to the table of content, to the images, to the text and also the ease of navigation. In short, 88 % of the users preferred the ePub format instead of the PDF. This confirms that quite simple technical solutions can really improve the reading experience for not only visually impaired people. The results from the survey also showed accessibility issues and limitations of the screen readers and eBook reader software which still exist.

[1]  Constantine Stephanidis,et al.  Dual educational electronic textbooks: the starlight platform , 2007, Assets '07.

[2]  Ronald Baecker,et al.  An accessible, large-print, listening and talking e-book to support families reading together , 2013, MobileHCI '13.

[3]  Patricia Morreale,et al.  Education and learning: electronic books or traditional printed books? , 2014 .

[4]  Malek Adjouadi,et al.  Automated Book Reader for Persons with Blindness , 2006, ICCHP.

[5]  Tonya L. Smith-Jackson,et al.  Audible rendering of text documents controlled by multi-touch interaction , 2012, ICMI '12.

[6]  Helen Petrie,et al.  Universal Access to Multimedia Documents , 2009, The Universal Access Handbook.

[7]  Marco Padula,et al.  e-Document management in situated interactivity: the WIL approach , 2009, Universal Access in the Information Society.

[8]  Barbara Leporini,et al.  Investigating an Accessible and Usable ePub Book via VoiceOver: A Case Study , 2013, SouthCHI.

[9]  Shawn Lawton Henry,et al.  Developing Text Customisation Functionality Requirements of PDF Reader and Other User Agents , 2012, ICCHP.

[10]  Mohammed AbdelRazek,et al.  Adaptive eBook framework , 2012, 2012 12th International Conference on Hybrid Intelligent Systems (HIS).

[11]  Brendan Sinnamon,et al.  Ebook readers : separating the hype from the reality , 2011 .

[12]  Antonello Calabrò,et al.  Book4All: A Tool to Make an e-Book More Accessible to Students with Vision/Visual-Impairments , 2009, USAB.