Touch CSS pseudo-elements in an EPUB: Supported?

I am putting together an ebook with the Sigil software (which I can really recommend).

I created "initial caps" (not drop caps) by using the :first-letter pseudo-element (see usage at the W3C). The initial caps are displayed nicely inside Sigil itself and also by the Firefox EPUBReader add-on.

However, Adobe Digital Editions ignores it. Please have a look at the screenshots for clarification; Sigil is on the left, ADE on the right. I also included my CSS stylesheet.

On the internet there seems to be some discussion whether this should be supported by ADE or not (minimum ereader CSS standards etc. etc.), but it isn't. What I want to say is that others have noticed the same phenomenon, so this should not be related to a specific issue with my setup.

I have not received my Kobo Touch yet, so I can not verify this myself.
So my question is: Do Kobo ereaders support CSS pseudo-elements or not?

I attached a very small ebook for testing purposes so maybe someone could try this out for me.

On a sidenote, I am just "converting" an ebook I recently bought to EPUB, as the publisher offers PDFs only, which, in my opinion, sucks

I tried your sample book on the Kobo Touch, Sony Reader PRS-350, the Sony Reader app for the PC, and Adobe Digital Editions for PC. None of these readers or apps displayed the dropcaps.

Originally Posted by jswinden

I tried your sample book on the Kobo Touch, Sony Reader PRS-350, the Sony Reader app for the PC, and Adobe Digital Editions for PC. None of these readers or apps displayed the dropcaps.

That was fast! Thank you!

Oh well, this would have been such a neat way to do this.

Thanks again!

P.S.: And your test shows that this is ultimately the fault of ADE, which is the foundation for every ereader rendering engine, as far as I understand it at this point.

Originally Posted by Benjamin Buford

P.S.: And your test shows that this is ultimately the fault of ADE, which is the foundation for every ereader rendering engine, as far as I understand it at this point.

You might be correct on that, but I'm not sure. I do think that there are probably various versions of the ADE rendering engine on which eReaders are based, so some might be more up to date than others. For example, I've noticed that the Kobo Touch renders ePubs with that annoying tiny page number in the right margin, as did the first series of Sony touchscreen readers (300, 600, and 900) and various other manufacturers' readers. However the latest series of Sony touchscreen readers (350, 650, and 950) fixed this annoyance presumably due to consumer complaints. I'm not sure, but perhaps Sony did not fix this but perhaps Adobe did in their ADE engine which could mean that the latest Sonys use a more recent version of ADE, but again I'm just speculating here.

[Kolenka]

Originally Posted by jswinden

You might be correct on that, but I'm not sure. I do think that there are probably various versions of the ADE rendering engine on which eReaders are based, so some might be more up to date than others. For example, I've noticed that the Kobo Touch renders ePubs with that annoying tiny page number in the right margin, as did the first series of Sony touchscreen readers (300, 600, and 900) and various other manufacturers' readers. However the latest series of Sony touchscreen readers (350, 650, and 950) fixed this annoyance presumably due to consumer complaints. I'm not sure, but perhaps Sony did not fix this but perhaps Adobe did in their ADE engine which could mean that the latest Sonys use a more recent version of ADE, but again I'm just speculating here.

Keep in mind that Kobo content doesn't display those numbers, only the side-loaded content does. So it may be configurable at this point and everyone turns it off.

Originally Posted by Kolenka

Keep in mind that Kobo content doesn't display those numbers, only the side-loaded content does. So it may be configurable at this point and everyone turns it off.

That's interesting. I've only read much in sideloaded books on the KT so I hadn't noticed it wasn't displayed in Kobo ePubs. I guess they call them kePubs around here. The Sony 300, 600, and 900 displayed the page numbers even in Sony Store ePubs. This calls for some research. However, I noticed that dictionary and highlighting are currently limited to only kePubs, so it might be a software setting that the Kobo firmware can turn on/off. It would be nice to be able to control this via CSS though.

[Joe563]

Originally Posted by jswinden

That's interesting. I've only read much in sideloaded books on the KT so I hadn't noticed it wasn't displayed in Kobo ePubs. I guess they call them kePubs around here. The Sony 300, 600, and 900 displayed the page numbers even in Sony Store ePubs. This calls for some research. However, I noticed that dictionary and highlighting are currently limited to only kePubs, so it might be a software setting that the Kobo firmware can turn on/off. It would be nice to be able to control this via CSS though.

It must be a software setting for the Kobo kePubs since if I load the Kobo ePubs into Adobe Digital Editions, page numbers are displayed in the right margin.

[Kolenka]

Originally Posted by Joe563

It must be a software setting for the Kobo kePubs since if I load the Kobo ePubs into Adobe Digital Editions, page numbers are displayed in the right margin.

It is. The OEM using the SDK has control over it.

The Sony x50 line (350,650,950) don't display the page numbers. But with the Sony, every ePub was treated EXACTLY the same way, so behavior was easy to work out.

Kobo has what looks like two entirely different engines bolted onto the ADE SDK depending on if it the the "kepub" or "epub" variety. A shame really.

Did it with <span> ... </span> now, I hope that initial caps now appear as intended. My own reader better arrives soon

In this post on the Sigil forum
italic and bold ok in sigil but not on Kobo reader
I see someone having problems with bold and italic text in sideloaded / ADE-rendered EPUBs on the KT (italic/bold text renders in ADE for PC, but not on the Kobo).

Can anyone confirm (or not) that error? My test EPUB contains both the updated initial caps and bold/italic text

[TedJ]

A known issue that's crept in with the custom fonts, introduced with the v1.9.5 firmware... the fix is already in for the 1.9.6 release.

Oh, good to know Thanks!