Colored Text, EPUB, Android Dark Mode

[mingsphinx]

Originally Posted by Tex2002ans

Moon+ is a horrible reader, and if it overrides your book at every step + doesn't follow the EPUB standards, then that problem's on them. (Not to mention, it completely ignores/mangles SVG, ignores negative indents for poetry, etc.)

If you want an Android reader that follows the EPUB standards (plus free TTS), use PocketBook Reader or Gitden.

A lot of this was written about in last year's topic: "Epub-problems in tablets".



No. You can still design fantastic (and Accessible) ebooks that work across devices.

See this ebookcraft 2019 talk, "Building Ebooks that Last".

She worked as an editor at Houghton Mifflin for many years, and explains why it's best to use proper markup + follow the standards.

Around 19 minutes in, she even shows a recipe book split from its CSS, and shows the differences between a mess (using <p class="heading1">), and a properly marked HTML document (using <h1>).



Your job, as ebook-maker, is to follow the standards and do your best.

Yes, you may even need to code some fallbacks for common use-cases/edge-cases, for example:

• "Night Mode": Images-of-characters vs. Unicode Characters
• Musical Notes (via embedded font)

but you can only go so far.

If the ebook works properly on Kobo/B&N/Apple/Amazon (all the mainstream stores/readers), you'll be fine.

If the reader still insists on using a program that disregards/overrides everything (like Moon+)... then that's not on you.



Like I said, using the <a> in this way is a hack + completely non-standard (and would break Accessibility).

HTML tags ARE NOT meant "for looks", they're meant to mark PURPOSE (semantics):

• <h1> = a heading, not "bigger font + bold"
• <em> = emphasis, not "make this look italics"
• <a> = a link within/between documents, not "blue + underline"
• <blockquote> = a long quotation, not "let me get some margins on both sides".
• [...]

Most browsers display that way by default, but lots of non-visible information gets carried over as well. For example:

• <h1-6> Headings allow proper navigation.
  
  • A Screen Reader can jump to next chapter/section.
    
  • Don't hackishly do <p class="heading1">.
• <em> can be spoken differently via Text-to-Speech
  
  • Don't do <span class="italics">
• A Screen Reader can separately list all <a> in a document, then use that to more easily navigate.
  
  • Don't clog it with things that aren't links.

Proper <table> + <th> + <td> markup allows:

Name | Eggs | Bread
____________________
Joe  | 2    | 2
Smith| 1    | 0

to be read out loud by a Screen Reader as:

"Name: Joe, Eggs: 2, Bread: 2"
"Name: Smith, Eggs: 1, Bread: 0"

not:

"Name Eggs Bread. Joe, 2, 2. Smith, 1, 0."

Wrong/Poor markup has been written about many, many times over the years. Here's a few of the latest:

• 2018 "Skeleton CSS"
• 2018 "Accessibility question: TTS and ligatures"

And if you want to see what detrimental effects junk markup can do, see this talk given by a blind person: ebookcraft 2019, "The User's Perspective: Accessibility Features in Action".

Thank you, that was very helpful. Rightly or wrongly, justified or not, the end-user has a different opinion. And in the age of reviews, the customer is not king, the customer is god, especially the ones who tell other people what they think. Just a few of these people telling the world that a book is crap because they viewed it using an eReader that did not display it properly can kill any sales momentum.

I understand that it is kind of stupid to make the <a> tag do something it was never supposed to do, but it has been the only way I have come up with so far to consistently get colored text.

Thank you again and I will check out those links.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by mingsphinx

Just a few of these people telling the world that a book is crap because they viewed it using an eReader that did not display it properly can kill any sales momentum.

As can just a few people telling the world a book is crap because it would not respect their personal text color choice.

You're basically trading one problem for another. In my opinion, the problem begins and ends with trying to force particular text colors in an ebook at all. It's a print gimmick that doesn't translate well in the age of digital presentation choice. As you're finding out.

You mention that the user is god in once sentence, then presume to want to micromanage how those same gods should experience your book in the next.

The problem is not that you can't consistently guarantee the "correct" colors for every reader on every device under every circumstance. The problem is that you're resorting to trying to use colored text at all.

Just my opinion, of course.

[Tex2002ans]

Originally Posted by mingsphinx

Thank you, that was very helpful. [...]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

You mention that the user is god in once sentence, then presume to want to micromanage how those same gods should experience your book in the next.

And who are you going to please?

99% of your real, paying, customers? (Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Apple, [...])

Or those who sideload (rare), then override you at every turn (rarer), then go out of their way to complain/rate-horribly-because-they-broke-it (rarest)?

Focus your efforts on following the standards and making your book work in the mainstream stores. That's pleasing your "gods".