Accessible ePubs with StreetLib Write
All registered StreetLib users have access to a service for the production of eBooks and the layout of paper books, namely Streetlib Write.
By activating the Unlimited plan, the application allows you to create accessible eBooks from an editable text file (.doc, .docx, .odt, .rtf, etc.) that are already validated according to the specifications provided by the W3C. The import procedure and the process are already fully explained in this guide, which is why we can now focus on the exact functioning of the accessibility control editor.
Once you have finished importing and editing your text in Write, you will need to run the accessibility check by clicking on the "Accessibility" button:
At that point, Write will help you identify the nodes that present accessibility problems by highlighting them directly in the editor, using a different color depending on the severity level of the violation (yellow for minor level, orange for moderate, red for serious and finally magenta for critical).
Clicking on the highlighted item will display information about the violation and, where applicable, an auto-fix button.
WARNING. Write will generate an accessible ePub if and only if the errors highlighted during the analysis phase are resolved. If even a single error is not corrected, the downloaded ePub will not be valid according to the accessibility requirements, and therefore will not pass the ACE validation.
Accessibility check on a ready ePub file
As mentioned, in addition to creating your own accessible ePub file from scratch, you can also import already-made ePubs, so you can analyze them, obtain a validation report, and correct them directly using the editor available in the app.
To obtain the accessibility analysis, you will have to import your ePub into Write and perform the same operations described in the previous paragraph, starting from the execution of the Accessibility check, available by clicking in the top menu.
NOTE. When importing EPUBs, Write simply retrieves the text content, ignoring the style sheets and therefore the graphic choices present in the original EPUB. Specific choices relating to layout, fonts, text coloring and so on, will therefore be ignored during import. We remind you that Write offers a series of pre-set and standard-compatible graphic themes required by the international organization W3C.
The importance of the "alt" attribute and StreetLib developments in this regard
In a perspective of ever-increasing attention to the accessibility of digital content , the updated version of Write (for any type of plan subscribed) provides for the insertion of alt tags in images, or alternative text. The alt tag images is a set of words that is added to the HTML code to textually describe a graphic element (graph, image, photo, etc.). The alt tags will appear in cases where for any reason the images in the ePub cannot be displayed and therefore also in the case of reading devices for the visually impaired or blind. The alt tag is therefore a textual content that describes, in a synthetic way, the image and its purpose in that context. Furthermore, search engines also use alt tags to index images, therefore their use also acts in optimizing online positioning.
StreetLib is always oriented towards improvement and for this reason it has decided to exploit the potential of AI for the automatic generation of alt-texts for images.
To date, in Write, there is a button next to the text field through which the user can enter the description of the image for accessibility. This button allows you to obtain a text automatically generated by AI for the image in question.