ebook Design is how it works
“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like, design is how it works.” — Steve Jobs
Disclaimer, I’ve seen that ebooks’ CSS has become a trendy topic again and I’m kinda pissed reading stuff like…
Ordinary people, who purchase my ebooks, will never ever look at the source code.
or
Reading Systems don’t even make an attempt to respect CSS. ebooks are going to collapse.
Spoiler alert, it’s not just about how it looks, it’s about how it works. And shitty CSS can break the reading experience big time.
Hard truth, we have to acknowledge that, in current ebooks’ form — paginated and settings and stuff — , ebooks’ CSS authoring can’t be like web’s CSS authoring.
Go ahead, try using your typical CSS in multi-columns, which are often used at the :root level to paginate, and see what happens. I did and it’s a miracle some basic stuff we’re used to actually works; images’ sizing is a complex problem in there, tables are a freaking catastrophe, floats are really tough, inline-block is a nightmare, and so on and so forth.
As a matter of fact, if some of your CSS works, there’s a good chance the Reading System’s developers are saving your arse. They are also the reason why your ebook doesn’t turn into a gigantic mess when the user customizes its reading experience — reading modes, typography, etc.
I know this may be an unpopular opinion but Reading Systems don’t override for the sake of it, overrides solve issues.
I’ve spent years R&Ding the Blitz framework. Here is the part I’m most proud of:
Blitz was designed to deal with the significant obstacles a newcomer or even an experienced producer might encounter. Its major goals are:
1. to be simple and robust enough;
2. to offer a sensible default;
3. to manage backwards compatibility (ePub 2.0.1 + mobi 7);
4. to provide useful tools (LESS);
5. to get around reading modes (night, sepia, etc.);
6. to not disable user settings.
I’ve even built web apps to help people deal with the painful stuff. It took weeks to write all those details.
Now if you take a look at the Design and Performance checklist, you’ll see that it’s all about the user and reader experience. It’s not about layout, it’s not about typography, it’s about building a minimum enjoyable experience.
If the reader wants to use Verdana with a pastel cyan background, let it be. Maybe this reader is dyslexic and feels comfortable using this combo, maybe it is a slow reader and serifs don’t help, etc.
In any case, it should not have to justify itself. If you’re not willing to give those settings to readers then just do a freaking PDF.
This whole stuff reminds me of the “Cascading HTML style sheets proposal” from 23 years ago, the concept of weighted influence in particular. If we had something like that available, it would probably be a lot easier.
But we don’t, and there is little communication between authors and RSs. It’s an issue everybody complains about but very few are actually willing to solve. Maybe instead of complaining, we should adopt the WASP mindset.
