IDPF Adoption Readiness Roadmap for Region-Based Navigation
Version 2015-07-08
3. Support in EPUB Conformance Test Suite (epubtest.org)
6. Primer/best practice documentation
7. Backwards compatibility assessment
8. Fallback feasibility assessment
9a. Polyfillability assessment
9b. Browser compatibility assessment
10. Accessibility implications assessment
Haruko example from epub FXL sample set is ready. Will be sent to Markus. It contains accurate regions (panels and bubbles) on 12 pages.
A support request for region-based navigation has been opened in the epubcheck issue tracker. It is expected that support will be implemented by the release of EpubCheck 4.0 (release during summer 2015).
The test suite currently does not contain tests for region-based navigation. After the specification becomes a recommendation we can look at testing the ability to navigate by region.
Aquafadas (http://www.aquafadas.com) is developing authoring tools for rich content including magazines and comics both as an extension to Adobe InDesign and as part of its cloud based solution : cloudauthoring.com. Aquafadas is strongly committed to add support for AHL ePub3.x export when authoring region-based navigation.
No separate primer/best practice documents are planned at this time.
A publication that conforms to the region-based navigation specification will be readable in an EPUB 2 reading system with the same limitations of any EPUB 3.0.1 publication. Region navigation will be unavailable.
A publication that conforms to the region-based renditions specification will be readable in exactly the same manner as any EPUB 3.0.1 publication. Region navigation simply will be unavailable.
No difference in rendering between EPUB 3.0 and EPUB 3.0.1 compliant reading systems is expected as region navigation is a new mechanism that won't be recognized.
A reading system that does not recognize the new data navigation document and region nav element will simply allow navigation by the spine, same as for any EPUB 3.0.1 publication.
Not applicable to region-based navigation as the functionality is not at the content level and is therefore outside the scope of what JavaScript could address.
No changes are required to the underlying browser cores as the functionality introduced is not at the content level. The navigation model being introduced occurs at a higher level in the reading system.
Although designed to improve reading on small-screen devices, the introduction of navigation by region has potentially positive impacts for any reader with difficulty navigating large image content on any screen size (e.g., low vision, manual dexterity issues, etc.).