Many of the benefits of eBooks are only possible if eBook reading systems can recognise and interpret the individual letters and words within the eBook. These include personalising font size, typeface, colour and contrast, having text reflow, and reading them using text to speech.
Avoid graphics
Preserve all content as text, not graphics
It is particularly important not to create fixed layout eBooks simply by inserting a scanned image of the original printed page. If you do, most basic eBook reader functions are prevented, including many which impact accessibility.
If text is image-based, eBooks do not offer the same level of functionality or customisation, as the reading system can only see a meaningless collection of pixels. The user is therefore unable to adjust the appearance of the eBook, read it using text-to-speech, or use the search or dictionary functionality.
You may already be creating text-based eBooks, but it is worth checking because this is key to being able to meet most of the other guidelines.
Dropped capitals at the start of new chapters
This even extends to dropped capitals at the start of chapters - ensure they are text based from a font rather than a graphic. If you use graphics a user relying on text-to-speech will lose the first letter of the word.
What if graphics are necessary?
If graphics are necessary, provide an alternative text description. It may not always be possible to use real text rather than an image.
For example this may be difficult with flowcharts and process diagrams which may get converted to images in the eBook conversion process. If this is the case, provide an alternative text description as well. Picture this talks more about alternative text descriptions.
Watch our video about avoiding graphics in eBooks
Customised text
Many reading systems allow users to modify the appearance of text in reflowable eBooks to make them easier to read. This can include font size, typeface, colour, spacing, text alignment and justification. For many people being able to customise the appearance of the text will make the difference between being able to read the eBook or not.
These features can make a great difference to many partially sighted people and those with other print disabilities such as dyslexia. They will also help people who are starting to find standard print too small as they get older.
As an example some users with dyslexia will benefit from adjusting both the foreground and background colours to reduce the contrast whilst some users with low vision may require reversed out text for best contrast (white text on a black background) with larger fonts.
Watch our video about customised text and eBooks
Customised layout
It is important to be aware of the constrictions placed on your eBook when a fixed layout is chosen over reflowable text. Fixed layout eBooks may even be unreadable by some people with certain types of print disabilities.
Fixed layout eBooks generally give purchasers little or no control over how pages are displayed on the reading system. Try to avoid locking the settings in reflowable eBooks in such a way that users cannot take advantage of the ability to customise the text appearance.
Avoid large sections of underlining, italics, bold and blocks of capitalised text. These tend to make it harder for people to read and understand your text. Distorting text from the expected letter shapes and losing the visual cues in lower case letters, including the ascenders and descenders, causes potential confusion between letters such as o and p, i and j.
Guidelines on good practice for clear text, including our See it Right guidelines, advocate restricting the use of italics, underlining and bold text as these tend to reduce readability for all users, and particularly for people with sight loss. However, bold can be effective when used sparingly for emphasis.
Our Clear Print guidelines recommend a minimum of 12 point text in a clear font such as Arial. Ensure a good colour contrast is maintained between the text and any background colours. Where possible you should also avoid laying text directly over images or photographs.
Watch our video about customised layouts and eBooks