Whether you are a developer, a publisher or a content creator, in the next summer months you will give yourself some well-earned rest. The vacations are a perfect moment to catch up on some tasks left behind in busier months.

We decided to collect some of the most important technical news of the last year for you. A booklet of suggested “readings” – on a hike or at the beach! – to stay updated with the next requirements for accessibility.

EPUB Accessibiltiy 1.1

(Working Draft 12 July 2021)

In February, The EPUB 3 Working Group, the working group of W3C managing the digital format EPUB, has published the first public working draft of the EPUB Accessibility 1.1.

It includes a series of important indications concerning the accessibility of EPUB publications. Here our article about it with more information:

W3C. A draft of EPUB Accessibiltiy 1.1 released

Why is it important?

This draft represents the first review of the document after the recent publication of the guidelines as ISO specifications, and the first version created by the W3C – the previous version of 2017 comes from the merger of the International Digital Publishing Forum inside the W3C.

It provides answers for two essential necessities of this format:

• recognition of single accessibility features of an EPUB through metadata.
• evaluation and certification of accessible EPUB publications.

Read now: https://www.w3.org/TR/epub-a11y-11/

WCAG 3.0

(Working Draft 08 June 2021)

In January, W3C released the first public working draft of a new specification concerning web content and web app accessibility: the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 3.0.

Updated and completed, WCAG 3.0 are able to satisfy the level of accessibility of content in a more complete and flexible way than the previous WCAG 2.2. We already talked about the major changes here:

WCAG 3.0. New guidelines for websites

Why is it important?

Compliance with the new guidelines will make web contents more accessible and usable in complete autonomy by all people with disabilities, including sensory (sight, hearing), physical, cognitive and learning impairments.

Read now: https://www.w3.org/TR/wcag-3.0/

EPUB 3.3

(Working Draft 12 July 2021)

EPUB 3 has been widely adopted as the format for e-books in publishing. In January, W3C announced the first public working draft of EPUB 3.3.

This revision continues to increase the format’s capabilities to better support a wider range of publication requirements, including complex layouts, rich media and interactivity, and global typography features. This specification defines the authoring requirements for EPUB Publications and represents the third major revision of the standard.

Read now: https://www.w3.org/TR/epub-33/