Quote:
Originally Posted by Quoth
And really it's not that critical to have every <em>. Much italic or bolds on print is a distraction (sometimes absolutely needed for textbooks and other non-fiction)· Excessive use of <em> is tiring to listen too and negates the impact, so if in doubt use normal or if copying an old paper edition, a minimal version (replace drop caps, small caps and maybe excessive italics added by publisher).
The most important thing is text for all images. Next most is how numbers and such are written as well as the layout of tables. Also for partially sighted and people with difficulty reading don't do egotistical drop caps, illuminated caps, small caps, coloured or grey text (loads of stupid websites out there). Make sure text readable with fall back fonts. Margins, line spacing (height) and font size user changes should work.
Using <em> or <strong> is appropriate in small doses if the author wants it.
Most so-called semantics are about people on the HTML standards exercising power, not about real accessibility. They've done stupid stuff in the past. Also not everything in epub3 or HTML is appropriate for ebook versions of printed books.
Test on small and large screens on eink and phone and tablet. Test without publisher fonts. Test at larger size for partially sighted. Test with basic and decent TTS systems. Test in regular and so-called darkmode.
Communicate with the author and don't guess at intentions of dead people.
Don't use new features because you can. Keep it simple if it's the ebook equivalent of paper. Consider an App if it's not an ebook equivalent of paper print.
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Many good points here, but I’d caution against simplifying
too much in the name of accessibility. Using good semantic markup should not interfere with how the book looks. You can have a fully accessible book that doesn’t change the visual look at all. It’s just takes more work.
Remember, the majority of people reading your book are actually
reading it. Part of their experience includes the visual presentation. *Make your book visually appealing* within the bounds of reason (and technology).
There is nothing wrong with small-caps, when done properly. Likewise, for drop-caps. There is nothing wrong with purely visual decorative images. I’d have to check the standards again, but I’m pretty sure you don’t need anything in the alt="" tag for a purely visual decorative image.
Learn how to use media queries! You
may will need to code things differently for different devices… especially for inadequate/older devices that don’t support the standards.