The First TetraLibro is Born^™

Summary: The First TetraLibro is Born

This posting is an English translation of an Italian press release first posted by International Webmasters Association Italia on November 30, 2004 entitled "Nasce il primo TetraLibro(tm): i testi accessibili diventano realtà."

The First TetraLibro^™ is born: accessible texts become reality

International Webmasters Association/HTML Writers Guild (IWA/HWG) creates the first accessible multi-format text also for customers with disabilities

Communication Number 73 - 30 November, 2004 produced by the Printing Office

Now available, the first TetraLibro^™ produced by IWA/HWG and dedicated to the accessibility of the Web: "Accessibility: from theory to reality" [Accessibilità: dalla teoria alla realtà] (ISBN: 88-7633-000-3), a work of 816 pages containing all the knowledge regarding "Web accessibility" in which the greatest experts on accessibility and usability of the World Wide Web have participated to communicate the purpose of Web accessibility.

The innovation of TetraLibro^™ offers a unique solution, four different forms of the same text: paper-based, accessible PDF, accessible XHTML 1.0 Strict, and Microsoft Reader (for mobile peripherals like PDA).

With this method of publication, readers will be able to make use of the classical paper-based form or use the digital format which ever they prefer, as a result the reading is available also for customers who - because of disability - cannot access the paper text. For example, a visually handicapped customer will be able to insert the CD-ROM into the CD or DVD drive and the text will be read by the screen reader normally used when working on the computer. The visually-impaired will be able to use 1.0 version of XHTML Strict and reorganizing the characters according to their own requirements likewise customers with motor disabilities will be able to easily navigate the same content as in the paper version.

"It is the first example in the world of an accessible text published in 4 formats", declares the president of IWA Italy, Roberto Scano, emphasizing that "alternative formats of the text are not just useful to subjects with disabilities but also to users of the paper text."

"We consider this innovation an example of historical change in publishing", continues Scano, "remembering that all texts before being printed on paper are originally digital documents: it is therefore professionalism of the publisher to supply the alternative form along with the classic paper text." "Finally", concludes Scano, "the choice to supply all the texts in a unique (or sole) solution does not create discriminations and costs relative to the different forms of distribution: a single text with an attached CD-ROM does not demand technological innovation by the distribution chains but it makes possible the access of texts from ‘some’ to ‘all’. The editors in any case should appreciate such possibilities for publication, and are now inclined to supply our contribution and experience in matters of accessibility of the content."

The book "Accessibility: from theory to reality" is the first of a series of texts the IWA Italy, the Italian section of IWA/HWG, will make available in the tetralibro format. The texts can be purchased from the distributor, Librando.it (http://www.librando.it). More information on the texts is available on the site, http://edizioni.iwa-italy.org.