Vital Source Technologies, Inc., an Ingram Content Group company, today announced that it has implemented support for the EPUB 3 standard in its flagship Bookshelf® platform, becoming the first e-textbook solution provider to deliver support for the latest version of the open industry standard.
The new EPUB 3 version, based on HTML5, supports rich media, interactivity, global languages, and enhanced accessibility features. As publishers develop e-books that include rich media and interactive applications for the education community, more are turning to Vital Source because of its comprehensive EPUB readiness to create, enhance, and distribute content to institutions, educators and students worldwide.
“Textbooks in higher-education are moving beyond the static dimension of the printed page and the book-under-glass e-books people are accustomed to,” said Kent Freeman, Chief Operating Officer, Vital Source Technologies, Inc. “As publishers create rich interactive learning experiences for institutions and students, they should be taking advantage of EPUB and the flexibility and benefits that the open industry standard affords. From our media services group working with publishers to create enhanced e-books, to our Bookshelf platform, Vital Source is EPUB ready, including support for the latest revision, EPUB 3.”
Vital Source can accept and deliver EPUB 2 and EPUB 3 content to institutional partners around the world through its Bookshelf platform. Fast becoming the de facto standard within the e-reading sector, the VitalSource platform supports EPUB across all six clients including browser, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android™ and Kindle Fire.
“EPUB 3, based on HTML5 and the latest Web Standards, marks a major leap forward in EPUB’s capabilities for delivering rich, interactive experiences that enable learning materials to engage learners and foster improved outcomes” said Bill McCoy, Executive Director, International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF). “Vital Source has been a major supporter of the IDPF, and I’m especially pleased to welcome Vital Source as one of the first implementers of EPUB 3”.
VitalSource, with more than 2.2 million users, is the most used e-textbook platform in education today. With a presence on 6,000 campuses in 180 countries, educators and students have access to tens of thousands of titles from the world’s leading textbook publishers.
