The addition of extra metadata is recommended to help with discovery and accessibility. InDesign 2024.2 and later has a way to add the extra accessibility metadata (known as 'Schema.org' metadata) but CircularFLO users can more easily add and share metadata in their InDesign files by adding a CircularFLO Metadata Panel.
Fix this problem by adding a CircularFLO Metadata Panel by choosing GreenLight Tools menu > Accessibility tools panel > Add Circular Flo Metadata panel:
See Accessibility Metadata panel help for further information on the panel’s contents
DAISY article on Schema.org Accessibility Metadata.
In InDesign, export tags control how Paragraph Styles are mapped to the document tags used in EPUB and HTML and in PDFs. Using export tags clarifies the structure of a document for accessibility purposes but has no visible effect on the exported file.
To map Paragraph Styles to document tags choose Paragraph Styles panel menu > Edit All Export Tags... To the right of each Paragraph Style you can choose between [Automatic] or a specific Tag to map it to – e.g. ‘h2’.
By marking paragraphs with a suitable export tag we add extra semantic meaning to the text of our publications.
The sequence that headings follow is important for navigation. For example a screen reader user may choose to scan through a long section of text by only reading the headings and subheadings. Heading hierarchy is the term used to indicate that headings are applied in a predictable and logical way.
There are up to six levels of heading available in HTML and therefore in EPUB – from heading level 1 <h1> to heading level 6 <h6>
When ACE, by DAISY reports on well-made accessible documents it checks that heading hierarchy is applied in the correct sequence. For example a top level heading <h1> tag followed by paragraph <p> tags is to be expected, but a heading level 3 <h3> tag should not be used unless it has been preceded by an <h2> heading (which itself has been preceded by a heading level 1 <h1> tag)
This GreenLight checks and flags whether headings are applied in sequence.
If headings are not applied in sequence then the user is taken to their location on the InDesign page and the text is highlighted.
The recommended method to manage and apply headings is to use Paragraph Styles effectively.
More info on heading hierarchy from the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
You can add images to the reading order in the following ways:
• Marking them with the CircularFLO or GreenLight reading order tools
• Anchored them into the text flow as inline or custom anchored objects, or
• Adding the images to the InDesign articles panel.
Adding alt tags to images in InDesign provides a text description of the image for users who are visually impaired and are using screen readers. This allows the reader to understand the content of the image and the context in which it is being used in the document.
Alternatively, marking an image as decorative will signal to a screen reader to skip over the image, and take it out of the reading flow.
To add an alt tag to an image…
ARTICLE HERE
“An EPUB consists of multiple resources that can be completely navigated and consumed by a person or program in some specific order.”
From EPUB 3 Overview - 1.2.1 Reading Order
https://www.w3.org/publishing/epub/epub-overview.html#sec-nav-order
While many reflowable publications have an obvious reading order, or logical progression through their content, fixed-layout publications may be more complex in their design and layout and may consist of multiple readable objects on the same page.
The specific order that these objects are read in, and the order in which they will be read aloud by ebook readers and assistive technology, can be vital for the understanding of the publication.
Use the CircularFLO and GreenLight Reading Order tools to define and modify the reading order of InDesign objects.
This check will skip invisible objects (including object on a hidden layer), objects on a Parent Page and text frame that contain only a single number.
Converting the first row of a table to a header row makes the table more accessible for users who are visually impaired or who use screen readers to navigate content. Screen readers can identify the header row and read the column names out loud to the user.
Select the first row of the table with the Type Tool (Tip: move to the left of the row and click the right-pointing arrow as an alternative to dragging) and choose Table > Convert Rows > To Header:
Intended for use with print accessibility, this GreenLight check flags up any text in an InDesign document is below the minimum size of 14pt as recommended by the RNIB 'Top tips for creating accessible print documents'.
Fix small text by enlarging the text size. The use of Paragraph Styles is recommended.
This check flags when the Text contrast tool has not yet been run for the active InDesign document. Run the Text contrast tool from the GreenLight Accessibility Tools panel to pass this check.
Text threads in InDesign chain together multiple text frames so they can contain a long passage of text (InDesign calls these Stories). Text frames that have been 'threaded' can appear on the same page or span across multiple pages and spreads.
For long text led publications it is not unusual for the entire main text to be one long thread of text frames covering dozens or hundreds of pages.
For ebook accessibility text frames threaded together are expected to be in sequence. Unusual text threads that jump over pages or thread content backwards in page order have been found to affect the successful creation and the subsequent reading order of reflowable ebooks.
To see the flow of text threads shown in InDesign choose InDesign View menu > Extras > Show Text Threads (tip: make sure a text frame is selected with the Selection Tool to see its threads):
Fix this problem by either rethreading the text frames or dragging them into the correct sequence with InDesign’s Selection Tool.
