The current version of Pages (Pages ’09) does not allow for alternative text to be added to each image in an ePub document. Without alternative text, someone accessing the ePub document on an iPad with the iBooks app and the VoiceOver screen reader will hear the file name of each image, instead of a more useful description. This tutorial will demonstrate a workaround for providing alternative text for people who use VoiceOver to have ePub documents read aloud to them on the iPad.
- ePub Image Accessibility Video Tutorial
- Video Tutorial: Bigger Version (.mov, 5 MB)
- Directions (HTML)
- Print Directions (Tagged PDF)
To make an ePub document tha has been exported by Pages more accessible to people with visual disabilities, you will take advantage of the fact VoiceOver reads the file name when it comes across an image in an ePub document opened with iBooks. By changing the file name to the desired alternative text, you can provide a more useful description of the image for people who have visual disabilities. For this technique to work, you must change the file name of the image before you add it to the ePub document in Pages.
To change the file name of the image, select the file by clicking on it once, then wait a few seconds and click on it one more time to make the file name editable. You should then be able to replace the file name with the desired alternative text.When adding the alternative text, remember to focus on the content of the image rather than its appearance or presentation.
