Adobe Education Technologies

IU Digital Imprint

Using the Digital Publishing Suite, Indiana University has created an iPad app - IU Libris – with three publications available for download.
Take a look on iTunes

I love food.  I love Adobe technologies.

Martha Stewart’s “Everyday Food” , a cooking and lifestyle magazine, is now available on the iPad.  This highly interactive magazine was put together using Adobe Digital Publishing technologies.  Check it out!

View YouTube video

Also check out the Adobe Digital Publish blog.  http://blogs.adobe.com/digitalpublishing/

http://blogs.adobe.com/digitalpublishing/2011/02/android-honeycomb.html

In recent years, the Education community has focusing increasingly on making all web content accessible to individual individuals with disabilities. Adobe® is an industry leader in accessibility and supports the creation of outstanding web experiences by encouraging web developers to produce rich, engaging content that is accessible to all. Adobe has also been focusing on this important task by improving and facilitating accessible content creation and consumption with its powerful design applications and productivity tools.

The information below references resources on our website that can help educators and authors understand the need for creating accessible content for an increasing diversity of users and screens. Not only will content creators learn more about how to optimize their workflows and effectively design a document that not only looks good, but they can also improve the experience as all users on a variety of screens and devices.

What is Accessibility?

Accessibility involves two key issues: first, how users with disabilities access electronic information, and second, how web content designers and developers enable web pages to function with assistive devices used by individuals with disabilities.

For the user with a disability, the challenge is to identify tools that provide the most convenient access to web-based and other electronic information. For the web content designer/developer, the challenge is to remove the obstacles that prevent accessibility tools from functioning effectively. In many cases, these challenges are relatively simple to overcome, but sometimes the solutions require some additional thought and effort.

For more information on Accessibility visit: http://www.adobe.com/accessibility/gettingstarted/accessibility.html

I have heard of Section 508 and the 508 standards. What are they?

Accessibility policies vary from country to country, but most countries, including those in the European Union, have adopted standards based on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). In the United States, Section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act mandates that web content maintained by the federal government be made accessible to people with disabilities. This law is based on W3C Priority One checkpoints. Find more information at: http://www.adobe.com/accessibility/508standards.html

Where can I find the latest information about Adobe products and accessibility?

A great start to find out the latest information on Accessibility at Adobe is http://www.adobe.com/accessibility/. There you will find links and resources to examples compliance news, blogs, case studies, tips and tricks and more.

I have heard that Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader are very useful for working with and reading accessible content. Is that true?

Yes, unlike other PDF tools, Adobe® Acrobat® 9 and Reader® 9 software continue the tradition of providing strong accessibility support for Adobe PDF documents and forms. Acrobat 9 features a number of built-in accommodations for people with disabilities as well as support for users of assistive technologies.

Where can I find more detailed information about Adobe Acrobat and Reader’s roles in facilitating the creation and displaying of Accessible documents?

• The Adobe site for Acrobat and accessibility lists many examples, tutorials, guides, and resources at: http://www.adobe.com/accessibility/products/acrobat/
• The accessibility link on AcrobatUsers.com is a good resource in addition to all things Acrobat related. http://acrobatusers.com/topics/accessibility

Are there any Adobe blogs that focus on Accessibility news and events?

Yes, visit the Adobe accessibility blog and join the discussion at: http://blogs.adobe.com/accessibility/

Which Adobe products support and encourage authors and developers in the production of accessible content?

Adobe seeks to provide products that support and encourage authors and developers in the production of accessible content. The latest information on these products can be found by clicking on these links.

• Acrobat®
• Flash®
• Adobe Connect™
• Adobe Creative Suite®
• Adobe Flex®
• Adobe LiveCycle® ES

Where can I find information on other Adobe applications and accessibility?

For information on additional applications please visit the Adobe Accessibility website at: http://www.adobe.com/accessibility/

Use InDesign CS5 and Acrobat Professional to create accessible content for persons with disabilities such as blindness, low vision, or limited mobility.  Michael Murphy, Adobe Certified Expert, shows how InDesign can add structure, logical read order, and alternate text to graphics in documents that will be exported to PDF.  With some added touch up using Acrobat Professional, these documents can be read using assistive technology such as screen readers and screen magnifiers.

Approximately 38 minutes.

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/accessibility-adobe/preparing-indesign-files-for-accessibility/

InDesign CS5 supports multiple page sizes within a single document! This new option allows your students to create various projects within one InDesign document by simply using the new “Page Tool”.
I’ve spoken to a number of DTP teachers who have their students design a corporate identity package as part of their curriculum.
An example assignment would look something like this:

• design an envelope,
• design matching letterhead
• design matching business cards

Prior to InDesign CS5 the students would have had to create an InDesign document for each project. Students can now simply create a single InDesign CS5 document containing three (or more) different page sizes!

Following up on a great post by Brian Chau on epublishing from InDesign.
I’d like to direct you to Terry White’s Tech blog. His recent tutorial is a fantastic overview on using InDesign CS5 to publish books in the ePub format and distribute them to iPhones and iPads.
The ePub format is supported by a number of devices, including the Nook, Sony Reader, and iPad.
Adobe Digital Editions can be used to view ePubs on any computer and preview an eBook during the creation phase or for students to view an ePub library.
If the Kindle is your target device the ePub format can be converted. I’d suggest visiting Adobe’s Labs site to download an interesting technology call Workflow Lab. One of the workflows outlined is creating eBooks for the Kindle. A step by step guide for publishing from InDesign to the Kindle.
A great place to start building a unit on ePublishing.

There seems to be increasing interests in eBook in my conversation with teachers. I have recently started experimenting with publishing eBooks using InDesign. The process was easier than I thought. Yes, there are some guidelines to folllow, like how to layout images and text, how to create chapters and TOC, etc…The docs at: http://www.adobe.com/products/indesign/epub/howto/ are excellent reference materials.
I then tested and published a sample eBook in EPUB format. It displayed well in my laptop running Adobe Digital Editions. And when I connected my HTC Touch Pro 2 phone which runs Windows Mobile 6.5 to the laptop, the Digital Editions let me sync (copy) the eBook onto the phone. The phone comes with the HTC eReader which registered the eBook and displayed it perfectly! Wonderful.

Updated: I have been testing with the various settings in InDesign CS5 and found that you don’t have to create books to have chapters appear in new page. The TOC settings at the EPUB dialog let you specify each chapter to appear in a new page. So one InDesign CS5 doc will do.