EPUB Help - Not quite ready for prime time?

"EPUB Help" is a term that refers to the use of an EPUB as online Help. At this time EPUB Help is more of a concept than something that you'd likely be able to create in any meaningful way. With the apparent demise of HTML Help, the techcomm community has been left without a clear Help development platform, so everyone is making up their own. Not that this will change things, but it could provide an interesting option for a single-file deliverable of locally installed Help.

The EPUB 3 specification allows in an EPUB, basically anything you might use on a website. This means that with a little JavaScript and CSS, you can change from the typical "paged" model you see in ebooks to a vertically scrolling format that's more suited for online Help. Most EPUB readers provide the navigation features like a TOC, search and bookmarks, as well as previous/next browsing. With the addition of the Indexes feature to EPUB 3.0.1, that navigation feature may soon be available as well.

Leximation has been experimenting with developing EPUB Help prototypes and testing reader support. More information will be available soon!

Related Information:

• EPUB Help -- Coming soon to a desktop near you? - TCWorld 2018, Germany
• Hands on with EPUB (and DITA) (workshop) - TCWorld 2018, Germany
• What's New in EPUB? - TCWorld 2017, Germany
• Reality of EPUB: Making it Work for Your Documentation - TCWorld 2016, Germany
• Responsive EPUB: Really? - STC East Bay chapter, 2016
• EPUB Help: A viable Help delivery option? - STC Summit 2014, Phoenix