EPUB 3.1 Now Proposed Specification

October 14, 2016

The IDPF Board recently approved working group recommendations to advance the specifications of EPUB 3.1 to Proposed Specification status. A final member and public review and comment period for these specifications will be open through 7 November, after which the final step according to IDPF policies is a member vote to approve as Recommended Specifications.

Work on EPUB 3.1 began in October of 2015, with a goal of simplifying the format and better aligning with the Open Web Platform. Three informal Editor's Drafts have been published in the last year, and a Public Draft was published in September.

The EPUB 3.1 revision also introduces a new accessibility specification and techniques document. Although developed as part of EPUB 3.1 and to provide guidance on making conforming EPUB publications accessible, these new documents are designed to be equally applicable to older versions of the specification.

IDPF members may submit comments on any of the specification via the EPUB Working Group mailing list. Members and non-members are also welcome to submit comments via the IDPF GitHub Issue List or via email to the EPUB working group co-chairs. The issue tracker is also a useful source of background information on the motivation for specific changes.

The proposed specifications are:

A list of changes made to these specifications during this revision is available in the EPUB 3.1 Changes from 3.0.1 document.

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