W3C

– DRAFT –
Publishing Steering Committee

14 May 2021

Attendees

Present
Avneesh Singh, Bill Kasdorf, Daihei Shiohama, Dave Cramer, Garth Conboy, George Kerscher, Ivan Herman, Liisa McCloy-Kelley, Mateus Teixeira, Ralph Swick, Tzviya Siegman, Wendy Reid
Regrets
Cristina Mussinelli
Chair
Tzviya
Scribe
Ralph, Tzviya

Meeting minutes

previous 9 April

Community Video Project

<tzviya> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Jx5VvkMTQ4EL0Xfb3pDMDUiccq79mmIPHetSRfbziFM/edit?usp=sharing

Tzviya: ^^ proposal sheet; the idea is to do short videos
… we opened that sheet to the public
… we only got one suggestion from the community, on encryption
… I'm not sure what that is intended to mean
… it was added anonymously
… if it's about DRM, it's probably out of scope for talking about what W3C is working on
… if it's about LCP, it's also probably out of scope for what we're working on

Dave: it's been a common request for years: people want a way to share EPUBs with some assurance that it will only be readable by the intended receiver
… e.g pre-publications
… there's no way to do it in EPUB itself; it has to be done at the RS level

Liisa: we're planning another BG conference day for June 22
… we've invited Laurent for EDRlab to give an update on LCP
… and the status of Thorium
… we want to socialize a bit the idea of referring to Thorium more in this conference day

Tzviya: we're thinking of ~5 minute videos

Ralph: All of those who attended the AC meetings have seen the videos.
… Videos are pre-recorded. I have recommendations. Speaker sends the video, and I can clean up a bit.
… I send them out to get captions, which are proofread
… I prefer that the speaker proofs in their own language
… We have a tool that converts that into Transcript.
… We publish that on the Website.
… We prefer slides in HTML, using one of a few tools.
… If a presenter can't do that, we can work with PDF.
… It is woth brainstorming about who gives great presentations that the Publishing Community might want to hear.

George: what is the tool for HTML slides?

Ralph: "shower" is what W3C currently uses

<ivan> Reveal slide tools

<Zakim> tzviya, you wanted to suggest AGWG

Tzviya: on who in the community might speak on topics of interest to the wider community, Jeanne Spellman comes to mind

<mateus> +1 to Jeanne

<wendyreid> +1 to Jeanne

Bill: are we thinking to publish these at the same time and announce them at once or roll them out over time?
… what are we thinking for the initial rollout?

Tzivya: I was thinking we'd announce a bunch at one time, a week or two before a virtual f2f
… I find it annoying to release things over time

Avneesh: some more topics:
… EU Accessibility

<ivan> Shower presentation slide tool

Avneesh: Accessibility Metadata
… Alignment of EPUB A11y with WCAG 2.2 and WCAG 3.0
… is it better than I provide a high-level overview of these topics and then Cristina give a detailed presentation on the EU A11y Act and someone else give a presentation on a11y metadata?

Tzviya: it might be better to combine into one slightly longer presentation

Avneesh: like a panel?

Liisa: a high-level overview with a business focus and 1 or 2 with more technical depth would be useful
… the high-level piece needs to get out there
… for senior management to be aware
… they don't care about metadata semantics or WCAG 2 vs 3, but they do need to know that this is a legal requirement that is coming

Avneesh: there's also a possible presentation on testing
… would a presentation on migration to HTML be of interest to see what public feedback we might get?

Dave: great idea
… I'm not sure who would want to watch a video on testing
… I think trying to deal with some of the big issues and expressing the fact that there are complicated tradeoffs and not an obvious path forward

<Zakim> Ralph, you wanted to comment on testing

Tzviya: please add your idea to the sheet

Ralph: a presentation on what the WG is doing to make the spec clear on conformance and to develop tests is valuable, doesn't need to be long or in-depth

<ivan> +1 to ralph

<liisamk__> +1 to ralph

<Bill_Kasdorf> +1 to Ralph

Ivan: and the work to reorganize the EPUB spec to be easier to use

<avneeshsingh> +1 Ivan

Ivan: even the editors' draft is much more readable now than the EPUB 3.1 or 3.2 specs

Dave: I'll think more about what would be a good things to try

Tzviya: what topics are important for the Japanese audience? what are we missing?

Daihei: thinking about it; at the last PBG Asia/Japan/NA meeting there were more than 10 attendees from Japan
… the Japanese interest has expanded into a11y, applied especially to digital video and digital library environments
… and applications of fixed layout to various situations
… and the ability to read other formats, including PDF and a series of JPEGs
… I'm thinking about various ideas and would like to come back next week in email on the topics that are typical of the Japanese market that we should talk about
… so people understand the Japanese digital video situation

Tzviya: should we have any of these recorded in Japanese?

Daihei: it depends on the speakers
… if captions in Japanese can be provided, that would be really helpful

Ivan: I would love to hear an overview of what you can do with FXL
… for many authors FXL is still magic and they don't know what it can do and how to do it
… a presentation on what can be done and how would be useful
… find someone who can do a really good video on that; that would attract people

Liisa: something on a11y for FXL would be helpful; that's come up as a concern in our meetings
… from what I hear the WG is getting there
… I can do something about FXL with pop-ups for kids, a11y, and when not to use FXL

<Ralph> Liisa++

Liisa: we've been working on a decision tree: start with reflow and only go to FXL if you have certain things

Tzviya: we put you in for a mixed reflow/FXL demo, but feel free to change it to your preference

Liisa: I do want to do a demo; I think that would help

Wendy: Ken is listed to do an FXL/A11Y update
… part of the work of the TF is to do some experimental content to show what you can do
… any demo should be absolute about "we're going to make this accessible"
… and Ken is the perfect person to do that

<Zakim> Ralph, you wanted to comment on language

Wendy: he makes really good FXL books

Ralph: we can certainly discuss translation of captions as appropriate
… even if a presenter prefers to present in other than English

Daihei: I'll include the Japanese FXL business, will think about whether one slot or multiple slots
… I will include this either way either by me or from someone else in Japan

Tzviya: there's been a change from Makoto on how CSS is represented
… should we have him or Fantasai present that?

<avneeshsingh> It is publishing CG task force

Dave: using the class attributes for the alternate stylesheets?

Tzviya: yes, though this may be too much detail for now

Dave: I don't think it needs involvement from other groups

Tzviya: let's pick dates for the Q&A and work backwards
… I'll create a Doodle poll

<liisamk__> Sept for Q&A

Tzviya: but are we thinking July or August or September?

<Ralph> Sep

Wendy: July, maybe August because for one of these; HTML serialization in EPUB, will help the WG; September will be too late for that
… if we have to do that presentation in a different context, we can find a way I'm sure

<ivan> either way :-)

Tzviya: lots of opinions

<avneeshsingh> August or september is better, looking at practical timelines.

<Daihei> +1 to Sep

Ralph: we don't know who will be using July and August for something approximating a vacation

<avneeshsingh> +1 to separate HTML presentation and do it early

Ivan: the HTML serialization is on the WG agenda in 2 weeks so we might not need it in July

Liisa: we might have dual events; some things to talk about in July and some for September

Tzviya: good idea; if we do that then maybe later than September
… so let's target July 15
… we need 1 month lead time for the captioning and translation
… if we reach out to the speakers now they'll have 6 weeks to prepare the content
… please add to the list by end of next week; 21 May

ISO JTC 1 SC 34 / JWG 7

Tzviya: just getting this on our radars
… several are unsure about the steps

George: my understanding is that this group is alive and looking for items that need to be standardized in their domain
… most of the work that was originally proposed is completed
… if they don't have further work the group might be closed and it would be challenging to regenerate later
… we'd only bring work to them once there are W3C Recommendations
… so we aren't revising in ISO

Avneesh: right; we could have a TF to brainstorm on how to move things forward
… the previous fast track process used for EPUB 3.0 and 3.1 was via Korea
… we have to consider the impact on those if we use W3C PAS
… I suggest a TF to consider it for some months and come back with a recommendation

Ivan: PAS puts us in a very different situation than the previous paths for EPUB
… PAS gives us the ability for the document to become an ISO standard as-is without additional editorial work
… I'm not sure there's even a need for a WG within ISO
… PAS is a process with JTC1; it's at the high level in the ISO hierarchy
… PAS comes into the picture when we have a W3C Recommendation
… it's way to early at this point, though I hear the ISO WG's interest in getting work
… the only thing is that we should have an agreement on is whether we have an agreement that once EPUB 3.3 is a W3C Recommendation it is our intention to put it through PAS?
… if anyone asks that question we should have a clear answer
… that question will come up
… I don't yet know the answer
… all the rest is at least a year away
… the W3C Recommendation is planned for February 2023

Tzviya: one of the things we have to take into consideration is, as Avneesh said, how EPUB 3.3 affects the earlier EPUB ISO standards

<avneeshsingh> +1 to having a early resolution

Ralph: W3M would very much want to hear a recommendation from the WG and BG on whether and when (i.e. how long after W3C Recommendation) W3C should take EPUB 3,3 through PAS

George: I'm not sure the ISO WG understands how PAS might work

<Zakim> Ralph, you wanted to comment on understanding the agreement

Ralph: refer them to JTC1 for the definition of PAS; the only additional detail is that W3C will only take Recommendations through that JTC1 process

Around the Table

Wendy: the FXL A11y TF is trying to gather samples from publishers of existing FXL content as best practices
… some publishers have offered material
… there have been questions on "fair use" language

Action: Ralph ask Wendy Seltzer for some fair use language

Liisa: in the BG conversation with Japan last Tuesday, Makoto expressed that he's skeptical that EPUB is a Web thing
… he's also skeptical that reflow and FXL can be combined

Daihei: when it comes to a11y for FXL, that's true
… the Japanese publishing industry is getting advice and my plan is to talk with various members and get some idea on how to deal with accessibility for FXL
… FXL is *the* format for manga
… this is very important for Japan
… and this is why Makoto is somewhat pessimistic
… I hope to come up with a united message expressing the Japanese concerns

Tzviya: I'm hearing a confusing message about what direction we need to head
… I look forward to hearing more

[adjourned]

Summary of action items

  1. Ralph ask Wendy Seltzer for some fair use language
Minutes manually created (not a transcript), formatted by scribe.perl version 131 (Sat Apr 24 15:23:43 2021 UTC).