Post
by » Fri Mar 30, 2018 7:50 pm
What operating system do you use?
I use Windows 10 with JAWS 18, and NVDA mostly as a backup. I also use Mac OS High Sierra with Voiceover. I use IOS 11 and Voiceover in my iPhone.
What software and programs did you use during your time working for NNELS?
For the book analysis of existing books in DAISY I used Read2Go and Voice Dreamer in the iPhone, as well as the Victor Reading Stream.
For the editing process I used MS Word 16 with JAWS 18.
I used Pandoc to convert epub files into Docx and HTML.
I used iBooks in IOS to read epubs, but I could not navigate to the headings. It would be interesting to also check if iBooks in OS can convey all the format information of the epub. Since I was editing in Windows, however, I did not try that.
In order to read EPUB files in Windows, particularly to see all the details of the format of the original book, I tried several things, and I found that all of them leave much to be desired in terms of conveying all the information that I would need to properly format the file independently:
With Adobe Digital editions, I could open the entire epub file and navigate to specific page numbers. Nevertheless, I cannot move by heading, and JAWS does not identify font types and styles. This was a bid disappointing because I had read online that Adobe Digital Editions is accessible for screen readers. I could read the content with JAWS, but not the format.
I changed the file extension from epub to .zip, and then open the zip file to see the different html files within the unzipped folders. I do not have the skills to understand the markup in the HTML; I would still like to learn how to do this). I checked the different HTML files in the unzipped folder; I found that the level of the headings was different from the headings in the .docx file; also, I could not find quotes in the HTML files within the unzipped epub.
Using Microsoft Edge, I opened the epub file. I could read the document, but could not find or move to headings or obtain other information about format.
I used iBooks in IOS to read epubs, but I could not navigate to the headings. It would be interesting to also check if Ibooks in OS can convey all the format information of the epub. Since I was editing in Windows, however, I did not try that.
Were any programs particularly useful? How were they helpful?
Pandoc was very useful to convert epubs. I wish I knew more about markup to understand how the format can be transferred properly using Pandoc, and to reduce the amount of work needed for editing.
I experimented a bit with Calibre in Mac (the ability to read magazines from all around the world sounds very interesting), but because I was working mostly in my Windows machine, I did not do much with it)
I used Dropbox to share files. I would also export DAISY files from Dropbox to Read2Go and Voice Dremer in my iPhone.Were any programs particularly problematic? What issues did they cause?
I tried to open the epub file with Sumatra PDF and with Azardi with no success. The file was open but I could not navigate or use any of the menus.
Early in the project I experimented with some tools to produce DAISY files: Obi, DAISY Pipeline2. I could not make them work and thought that it could be something related to my Java installation. I have an older computer in which I have MS Office 10 and tried to produce a DAISY file from it. It did not work; at the time I did not know about the need for specific DAISY styles for Word.
Did you have any compatibility issues between Word and any of the documents and/or software you were working with?
The large Word file crashed my Windows computer several times.
Navigating the ribbon in Word was frustrating at times. JAWS does not always read the shortcut. Going through all the pains takes time, and if I press the wrong key I have to start from the beginning. Also, in my experience there was a bit of a delay with JAWS to read the specific menu item the cursor was on some times. I found that at times it had read the previous button.
The first thing I did to work on my big Word file was to apply the macro I posted about early in the project to replace the styles for the NNELS ones and continued working on the file. But after I had cleared the format and started creating the headings in the different chapters, we realized that my file had additional styles and not only the NNELS ones. I wonder if this was a Word issue.
I could not open the big file containing the book I was editting in Word for Mac. Voiceover kept saying "busy"., the menu did not work; the only way to close Word was forcing it to quit (with Option-Command-Escape).`