EpubCheck Development RFP
This is another in our ongoing series of guest posts, this time from Rachel Comerford, co-chair of the EPUB 3 Community Group and a contributor to eprdctn. Her full bio is below.
What is EpubCheck?
The first question I ask anyone building an EPUB with or for me is this: Does it pass EpubCheck?
As a tool that validates EPUB files, EpubCheck has become the (loveable) bridge troll that determines if a publisher or author’s product is ready to be released for sale. It can detect many types of errors in EPUB: OCF container structure, OPF and OPS markup, and internal reference consistency are all checked. EpubCheck can be run as a standalone command-line tool or used as a Java library.
As the tool upon which the whole ebook industry relies to validate ebooks, epubtroll EpubCheck 4.0.2 is anxiously awaiting an upgrade.
What Can I Do?
You may have heard pleas for developer contributions to EpubCheck at conferences or in blog posts. All contributions so far have been made by volunteer developers. The repository needs bug fixes, tool refactoring, new features, and a version update to EPUB 3.2. The team that works on it needs a technical leader.
Are you that leader?
The Publishing Steering Committee of the W3C has put out a request for proposals at
Proposals will be accepted through 16 July 2018.
Want to support EpubCheck in other ways?
Stay tuned! We will keep you informed about how to donate funds to the cause!
Bio
As the Director of Content Standards at Macmillan Learning, RACHEL COMERFORD helps to implement and maintain industry and internal standards in content, platforms, and processes. As the co-chair of the w3c Publishing Community Group and participant in accessibility working groups at IMS Global, BISG, and AMAC she asks lots of annoying questions, silently judges Tinder profiles, and is always looking for a bigger boat.