Accessible Audiobook Production: Files and Labeling
Files and labeling should be done in a systematic, logical way, with predictable filenames. This resource offers guidance on naming files in a way that is useful to both humans and machines!
This quick resource discusses the differences between some popular audiobook formats: MP3/WAV; DAISY; Enhanced EPUB; and .LPF.
Subject(s):
Audiobook Production
Resource Type(s):
Standards and Best Practices
Audience:
Technical
Before you read this, you might want to read:
Unlike ebooks, where EPUB is the standard format, audiobooks don’t have a single standard for production and distribution. Many audiobooks are a simple compilation of audio files, like MP3, MP4, WAV. Some are in DAISY format, or “Enhanced EPUB”, which is an EPUB with media overlays. That is about to change with the World Wide Web Consortium’s audiobook recommendation (see “Links to More Information, below), which will be the gold standard for quality, accessible audiobooks. In the meantime, here is a breakdown of the different formats currently in distribution and the way we recommend they are used.
Format | Pros | Cons | Recommendation |
---|---|---|---|
MP3 | • Playability across reading systems • Commercial ‘standard’ • Can include multiple tags in core metadata | • Linear system doesn’t allow for navigation to supplemental content e.g. footnotes. • No file naming or tagging standards Minimal navigability | Recommended for simple, straightforward texts like novels, memoirs, and other books that have little or no supplementary material. |
DAISY | • Navigable by sentence • Non-linear navigability for supplemental information • Affordable conversion through NNELS and other accessible service organizations | • Not commercially viable • Only usable in ‘Daisy supported devices/applications’ • Need specific software to create the files | Recommended for Academic texts, scholarly texts, and other books that contain supplementary material. |
Enhanced EPUB | • Advanced user customization Inclusive of images, read-along text, screen-reader options, and human narration, making it user friendly for people with cognitive disabilities • Playable across reading systems | Multi layered creation process can be labour intensive | Recommended for children’s picture books. |
Audiobook (.LPF) | • Streamlined Audiobook format • Some accessibility features including the ability to include non-audio content (e.g. html, .doc etc.) for supplementary information | Playability has not been instigated in most reading systems (yet) | Recommended for all types of books. |
This specification from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) offers a format to mark up audiobooks, which primarily involves marking up the heading structure but does also allow for including related text content. As of this writing in late 2021 it does not have a great deal of support yet by reading systems.
Content Source Acknowledgement
Accessible Publishing.ca: Audiobook Recommendations for Publishers