Knowledge Base

The code exported in EPUBs made with Circular Software contains the modern ARIA roles that are missing from InDesign.

The World Wide Web Consortium’s “Web Content Accessibility Guidelines“, (the W3C’s WCAG) are developed for web content, but they are also applicable to other forms of digital content – like ebooks.

ARIA roles are auto added to ebook sections and page markers and for styles we are encouraged to indicate use the h1-h6 heading levels plus these more descriptive HTML tags where appropriate for Paragraph Styles:

Sections
Headings
Sidebars
Citations
Block Quotes

For Images:

Figures

And for Character Styles:

Bold and Italic
Emphasis and Strong

Lots more good info on ARIA on the AccessiblePublishing.ca site

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The addition of extra metadata is recommended to help with discovery and accessibility.

Accessibility Metadata

InDesign 2024.2 and later has a way to add the extra accessibility metadata (known as 'Schema.org' metadata) but CircularFLO users can more easily add and share metadata in their InDesign files by using adding a CircularFLO Metadata Panel.

To add a CircularFLO Metadata Panel go to the CircularFLO Accessibility Tools menu > Accessibility Tools > Add Metadata panel

The suggested default settings should be suitable for most uses. Pay attention to the darker shared rows to declare specifics for your publication:

The CircularFLO metadata panel showing ability to set all the following described attributes

Definition of Accessibility Features

Content features of the resource, such as accessible media, supported enhancements for accessibility and alternatives.

The alternativeText value is used to indicate that all images and other non-text content (e.g., audio and video) that is relevant to understanding a publication includes a text alternative.

The audioDescription value is used to indicate that description tracks are included for any video sources that require them.

The annotations value is used to indicate that a publication comes with explanatory annotations that improve the accessibility of the work.

The captions value is used to indicate that a publication includes captions for auditory content.

The ChemML value is used to indicate that a publication contains chemical information (e.g., molecules and reactions) encoded using the ChemML markup language.

The displayTransformability property is used to indicate that a publication does not restrict the ability of users to modify the display of textual content (e.g., to change the font family, font size, line height and word spacing).

The synchronizedAudioText value is used to indicate that synchronized playback of prerecorded audio with text highlighting is available.

The highContrastDisplay value is used to indicate that there is at least a 7:1 contrast ratio between the foreground text and the background, including for images of text.

The largePrint value is used to indicate that the text of a publication has been formatted to meet large print guidelines.

The latex value is used to indicate that a publication contains math equations formatted using the LaTeX typesetting system.

The longDescription value is used to indicate that all complex content (images, tables, charts, equations, etc.) include an extended description of their purpose.

The MathML value is used to indicate that the MathML markup language has been used to encode the mathematical equations.

The index value is used to indicate that a publication contains one or more indexes of the content (e.g. a topical index or index of names).

The readingOrder value is used to indicate that there is a logical reading order to the text of a publication.

The structuralNavigation value is used to indicate that all headings are properly marked up.

Both the pageNavigation and pageBreakMarkers values are used to indicate that static print page break locations are included in the ebook text.

The tableOfContents value is used to indicate that a publication includes a table of contents for navigating the major sections of the work.

The unlocked value is used to indicate that no digital rights management (DRM) or other content restriction protocols are applied to the content.

Definition of Access Modes

An access mode through which the intellectual content of a described resource or adaptation is communicated.

The auditory value is used to indicate that there is an auditory component to the content (e.g., audio tracks on their own or as part of a video, or an audiobook).

The textual value is used to indicate that a publication contains text content.

The visual value is used to indicate that a publication contains visual content such as images, grapics and video.

Definition of Access Mode Sufficient

A list of single or combined access modes that are sufficient to understand all the intellectual content of a resource.

The property takes one or more of the following values:

auditory
textual
visual

The meaning of these values is the same as their definitions for access modes, but sufficient access modes identify the different combinations of senses that can be used to sufficiently consume the content, not just the raw access modes of the content itself.

A publication with images and text, for example, will require both visual and textual modes to be consumed. If the images are also adequately described (alt text and extended descriptions, as appropriate) a single textual mode would also be sufficient, indicating someone who is blind can consume the content.

Definition of Accessibility Hazards

A characteristic of the described resource that is physiologically dangerous to some users.

The flashing values is used to indicate that there is content in the publication that flashes more than three times a second.

The motionSimulation value is used to indicate that there is content that simulates motion.

The sound value is used to indicate that a publication contains any auditory content.

The none value is used when the publisher is sure that the content presents no known hazards for users.

The unknown value is used to indicate that a publisher has not yet checked their publication for hazards or is unsure whether some content might present a hazard.

These descriptions have been generously supplied by DAISY. For Pro users a full description of all these accessibility categories can be found on the DAISY article on Schema.org Accessibility Metadata.

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Making changes to collections and sharing collections with others.

Current Collections

The current collections for all users are listed for internal users here bookshelf.bonnierbooks.co.uk/internal/collections

From this list of current collections, click the Go To Collection button to see and share the collection page.

Logged in users can click on their name in the collections list to access just their own collections on their own user page. Users pages are currently supplied for:

Cecilia F - bookshelf.bonnierbooks.co.uk/users/cecilia
Dani C - bookshelf.bonnierbooks.co.uk/users/dani
Ella B - bookshelf.bonnierbooks.co.uk/users/ella
Holly P - bookshelf.bonnierbooks.co.uk/users/holly‍
Ilina Y - bookshelf.bonnierbooks.co.uk/users/ilina‍
Kirsty D - bookshelf.bonnierbooks.co.uk/users/kirsty‍
Phoebe G - bookshelf.bonnierbooks.co.uk/users/phoebe‍
Sharon M - bookshelf.bonnierbooks.co.uk/users/sharon‍
Stacey M - bookshelf.bonnierbooks.co.uk/users/stacey

Contact Kirsty or Kieran to add yourself as a user.

Amending collections

After their initial creation, collections can be amended by Bonnier Super Users by clicking on the Amend Collection button.

We are using Airtable to manage collections and after clicking the Amend Collection button you will be asked to log-in to Airtable.

To continue, log-in to Airtable using the following login and password.

Login: bonniersuperuser@circularsoftware.com
The password is supplied to Super Users by email. Ask us to resend it.

Once in Airtable, the collection is opened for amending.

Here, alterations can be made to all aspects of the collection.

Click on the name and description to edit them
The titles in the collection can be reordered and removed in the Bonnier Bookshelf Books field

New titles can be searched and added to the collection by clicking on Add new Record at the bottom of the title list.

Once done, click the Make changes to Collection button to update the collection.

You may now close the browser window or select another collection to amend.

Presenting Collections

After a few minutes the Collection PDF is modified, assembled and added to the Collection.

Downloading Collection PDFs

When a collection needs to be presented offline (or on unstable bookfair wifi!) then the PDF can be accessed and downloaded.

Any downloaded PDFs should be treated as temporary as they are no longer being updated with the latest information from Bookshelf for Bonnier.

Removing Collections

To remove a collection that is no longer needed from Bookshelf, please select the collection and click the Request to remove the Collection button.

Circular Software will then remove the collection and confirm back by email when this is done.

Coming soon - unwanted collections are to be automatically deleted from Bookshelf and a confirmation email sent.

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The Hyperlink Tools panel can be used to quickly add hyperlinks to any areas of the page.

The Hyperlink Tools panel (CircularFLO Window menu > Hyperlink Tools) can be used to quickly add hyperlinks.

Make FLO LINKS layer

Adds an InDesign layer named FLO_LINKS to move CircularFLO hyperlink frames onto manually.

Draw Hyperlink Regions

Quickly add hyperlink regions to your pages. With this tool active, drag to add hyperlink regions on top of any areas of the page. When prompted choose the type of URL you wish to add and enter the destination.

For eBook page cross references just enter the name of the InDesign you want to link to.
For URLs paste full path from a browser.
To add phone numbers enter the full phone number including area code.
For Email addresses just add the full email address.
For twitter messages enter the full tweet (a maximum of 140 characters are allowed) which can included hashtags, user names and web URLs.

Once one hyperlink has been added using the ‘Draw Hyperlink Regions’ tool simply draw another frame to repeat the process or switch tools to finish adding hyperlinks.

Auto add page links

Intended for fixed layout ebooks. Click to quickly add page reference hyperlinks to any selected text frames, either on live or embedded text layers.

This tool is looking for lines of text in selected text frames that end or start with a number. If a number is found at either end of a line then a hyperlink to a page of that number is added above the text. If a page range is found then the first number is used.

This makes it particularly useful for quickly adding page reference hyperlinks to large tables of content and simple indexes.

Auto add page links

Intended for fixed layout ebooks. Click to quickly add page reference hyperlinks to any numbers in selected text frames, either on live or embedded text layers.

This tool is looking for any numbers or range of numbers in the text in selected text frames. If a number or number range is found, the hyperlink region is added directly to the number. If a page range is found then the first number is used.

This makes it particularly useful for quickly adding page reference hyperlinks to more complex indexes that contain multiple page references.

Add Hyperlink to selected object

With a graphic object selected in InDesign, click the ‘Add Hyperlink to selected object’ button to add your hyperlink to an InDesign object. Hyperlinked objects can then be animated using the tools in the Animation Tools panel.

Add Hyperlinks to PDF pages

After PDF text has been added using the previous button then the PDF text can be used to help add hyperlinks quickly. Click the button to see a prompt with any URLs or email addresses found in the PDF text for the page you are on. After a confirmation you can then draw the area on the page which his to contain the link and then repeat

Convert hyperlinks to FLO_LINKS

Hyperlinks added to text and objects with InDesign's hyperlinks panel do not carry through to fixed layout files for Amazon or when moving to the FLO_BASE layer for EPUB. This tool fixes that problem by moving the InDesign hyperlinks to CircularFLO hyperlink regions on the FLO_LINKS layer.

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Many of the default settings for your ebooks can altered in this one important panel.

CircularFLO will run successfully without a Preferences panel added but, to be in control and alter many of the default settings for your ebooks it is recommended to add one.

To add a Preferences Panel, choose the Add Preferences Panel button in the CircularFLO Document Tools panel.

The CircularFLO Preferences panel is an InDesign table placed in the pasteboard to the right of the current spread. It can be moved to anywhere in the document, but we recommend placing on the first spread of the first document in your publication.

Sections and headings are shown on the left. Default values are shown in the right column and can be altered to suit your needs.

Lots of options make the panel quite large! It will split to multi columns if there is not enough space for in the document. Unneeded rows may be deleted and the default values will still apply.

The panel is laid out in the following sections.

Output options

Export Amazon ready file: CircularFLO can output ebooks to EPUB3 and Amazon ready files to upload to Amazon KDP. The default here is no, change to yes to include Amazon files in your output.

Export MasterPlan package: The default is no, change to yes to prepare EPUBs and associated files ready for uploading to MasterPlan from Circular Software, a sister product to securely search and share publications online.

Validate with EPUB-Checker: Passes the exported EPUB to Pagina EPUB-Checker for validation. The default is yes, change to no to not automatically check for EPUB validation.
Note: that Pagina EPUB-Checker needs an update for this feature to work on macOS Mojave and later.

Check accessibility with ACE: Passes the exported EPUB to ACE BY DAISY for accessibility checking. The default is no, change to yes to automatically check for EPUB Accessibility on export.

Cover image options

Use first page as cover: To indicate whether the first page should be also used to generate the cover image of the eBook. The default is no, changing to yes will mean the dialog to choose a cover is not shown when making your ebook.

JPEG export options

JPEG quality: The quality setting used for background images can be chosen here by entering either low, medium, high or maximum. Remove the words to leave the preferred value. The default setting is high quality and this is recommended unless your file sizes become too large.

Megapixels per page: The total number of megapixels per page background (1 megapixel = 1 million pixels). A higher number gives more potential quality for fine zoomed-in detail but also means larger file sizes. The default of 3.2 is recommended for books up to one hundred pages. Maximum value is 4.

Export RGB images: By default all background pages use RGB JPEG graphics. The default is yes, changing to no for mono books to reduce file sizes by using greyscale graphics. This setting does not affect the cover, only all inside pages.

Simulate overprinting: When working with existing print files or PDFs it may be necessary to simulate the overprint settings used in order to get the same visual effects in your eBook. Default is yes, Pro users may change this value to no if necessary.

Fixed Layout Reading options

Lock Orientation: By default the EPUB document can alter how it is displayed, in most Ebook readers, according to the device orientation (which way round the reader is holding a tablet or phone). The default is no, change to yes to force an ebook to be fixed in either portrait or landscape mode.

Add Region-Based Navigation: The default is no. Switch to yes to add an extra file into the valid fixed layout EPUB output that contains the positions and reading order for region-based navigation. This method require a modern EPUB reader that supports region-based navigation.

Left to right page progression: The standard setting for western books is to read from left to right. The default is yes, changing to no to present the pages to the reader in a right to left reading order. Suitable for Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Hebrew, Yiddish.

View double page spreads as double page spreads: Many illustrated books make use of being viewed as 'double page spreads', the left and right pages shown together, as part of their design. This can also be true for ebooks. The default is yes, change to no to split any facing pages in InDesign into single pages in the ebook.

Read Aloud options

Read aloud audio track to use for the document: If choosing to use a single audio track for the entire read aloud ebook then the path to the audio track is shown here. This value is not hand entered but instead is set when using the CircularFLO Read Aloud Tools.

Read aloud highlights added as background colour: When highlighting text or images along with an audio track, there is a choice whether to alter the colour of the text or image itself, or whether to add a background colour. The default is yes, changing to no means read aloud highlights are not applied as a background colour.

Read aloud highlight colours: The colours used for read aloud highlighting can be consistently applied or quickly altered across the whole document by amending these applied colours, using the InDesign swatches panel.

Text and font options

Main Language: The language used for the ebook is declared within the ebook itself. This language is detected from the InDesign file but can be altered here. A tool to only offer valid options is coming soon… but until then it is advised to pick a value from the official ISO Language list.

Prefer InDesign live text: Use InDesign's method of exporting text. This is recommended for accuracy and accessibility (once exported with CircularFLO!) The default is yes, change to no to embed any text which is not on the FLO_LIVE_TEXT layer.

Export InDesign CSS: The styling of live text used on the ebook page is written as CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) in the ebook's internal code. The default is yes, the option to change to no is included for experienced users who may find it useful to not included InDesign's own CSS when adding alternative CSS files.

Add external CSS: Experienced users may find it useful to add alternative CSS files instead of or in addition to the styles exported from InDesign. The paths to one or more CSS files to include in the ebook are added using the Add / Relink external CSS tools in the CircularFLO Document Tools panel.

Use Font Obfuscation on FLO_LIVE_TEXT layer: InDesign automatically applies 'font obfuscation' to ‘mangle’ the fonts in the ebook so they are no use outside the EPUB package. If using local fonts for text on the CircularFLO live text layer then the font obfuscation can be avoided. The default is no, change to yes to add the entire original font into the EPUB.

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