Book Genesis Launches EPUB Preflight Service

DEKALB, Ill. - June 23, 2020 - PRLog -- Today Book Genesis is releasing the alpha version of EPUBpreflight.com, an online service that helps publishers validate that EPUB files are ready for distribution. Just as no publisher would go to press without preflighting their final interior and cover files, EPUBpreflight.com providers publishers with the security that their EPUBs are ready for the world.

Book Genesis first conceived the idea for EPUBpreflight.com when a long-term customer asked them to create a custom EPUB auditing process for their books. According to Book Genesis Founder Sean Harrison, "This customer wanted all their EPUBs not only to validate using existing industry-standard auditing tools like EPUBCheck and DAISY Ace, but to meet an even more rigorous standard of digital usability and accessibility. We designed and built a custom EPUB schema and auditing process for them and packaged it up as a web application that they use on every EPUB they create. As a result of our work together, this customer was recognized with the highest digital accessibility score at the 2019 CSUN Assistive Technologies conference, and is now completing the process of receiving the Globally Certified Accessible accreditation."

EPUBpreflight.com is still in an early stage — the current version is 0.5.0-alpha, which indicates that both the report interface and the substance of its audits are subject to change. But even at this early stage, it includes the following reports in every EPUBpreflight.com audit:

•      EPUBCheck 4.2.2 — validates an EPUB's conformance to the EPUB specification.
•      DAISY Ace 1.1.1 — verifies that an EPUB complies with digitally accessibility standards, including WCAG 2.0 levels A and AA, and EPUB Accessibility 1.0.
•      KindleGen 2.9 — generates a Kindle .mobi file from an EPUB, reports any errors or warnings, and indicates whether the EPUB is ready for distribution on the Kindle platform.
•      EPUBpreflight 0.5.0-alpha — audits an EPUB for a variety of best-practices issues that no other tool checks for.
•      ClamAV — scans the EPUB for viruses before proceeding with the other audits.

EPUBpreflight.com can be used today to create a detailed report on an EPUB's readiness for distribution.

During this alpha period, Book Genesis is offering 1 GB of preflight credit to everyone who signs up for EPUBpreflight.com. This is enough preflight credit to upload and receive preflight audits for 500 average-sized EPUBs at 2 MB each. "We want publishers to feel free trying EPUBpreflight.com," says Harrison, "and we are eager for whatever feedback they can give us to make it an even more useful service."

Book Genesis helps publishers to optimize their publishing workflows. Visit https://bookgenesis.com to learn more.