How to add read aloud narration in epub3 developed for iBook

Question

I was searching any way to include audio with text highlighting in an ebook I developed for iBooks which is an epub3 .

I know I can do this but I am unable to find any example of how to implement this functionality in epub3 specifically for iBooks, I've searched alot but didnt find any solution yet.

I was successfull in developing a fixed-layout epub3 with the help of following link: http://authoradventures.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-to-create-fixed-layout-ibooks-part_24.html

Any link to start with or any example of how to add this audio and text syncing functionality would be great . Need experts opinion on it.

Thank you all for any help.

Answer 1

First of all, the whole process is described in the iBooks Asset Guide, section "Read Aloud Books".

Second, note that SMIL/Media Overlay is supported by iBooks ONLY for Fixed Layout ebooks. No official support for reflowable ebooks. (See also: https://github.com/pettarin/rb_smil_emulator )

Basically, you need to do the following:

1. Assign an id to each XHTML element (usually, a text fragment, either a <p> or a <span>)
2. Create the SMIL file, associating each id from step 1 with a time interval of the associated audio file, containing the narration of the corresponding text (this is the time-consuming part)
3. Embed the SMIL file into your EPUB3 container, and add it to the OPF manifest

The Media Overlay specification is at http://www.idpf.org/epub/30/spec/epub30-mediaoverlays.html

You might want to start by looking at some samples:

• FXL samples:
  • http://www.pubcoder.com/en/download/ (download sample EPUB, look for the page "Readaloud")
  • http://azardi.infogridpacific.com/resources.html (several FXL samples)
• Reflowable samples:
  • https://readbeyond.it/ebooks.html
  • http://azardi.infogridpacific.com/resources.html (look for "A Christmas Carol")

EDIT: full disclosure: I am the Head of R&D at ReadBeyond.