Explanation

A textual access mode indicates that a publication contains information encoded as text character data. It is expressed in metadata using the tactile value.

The value only applies to digital publications (e.g., even though a print book has text content it is considered to have a visual access mode because you must be able to see the ink on the page).

Text character data can be rendered and manipulated in a variety of ways to accommodate different user needs — visually for sighted readers and readers with low vision, as synthetic speech for readers who are blind, etc. This characteristic makes it the most flexible mode of access.

If a publication also contains images of text (i.e., where the text is part of the image data), set the textOnVisual and visual access mode values. If a publication only consists of images of text (e.g., comics and manga), do not set a textual access mode value.

If an image format allows the text content to be retained in text form (e.g., SVG), set a textual value in addition to visual (assuming there is more to the image to understand it than just the text). Do not set the textOnVisual value because it is possible for reading systems and assistive technologies to access and read aloud the text content for users.

The textual value is also sometimes paired with colorDependent if color perception is the only way to differentiate information (e.g., colored text to differentiate different learning levels or related topics).

A textual access mode is common in publications produced using the EPUB format but is less common for audiobooks. It is only potentially relevant when an audiobook also contains supplementary material beyond the audio.

Examples

Example 1 — EPUB 3
<meta property="schema:accessMode">textual</meta>
Example 2 — EPUB 2
<meta name="schema:accessMode" content="textual"/>
Example 3 — Audiobooks
"accessMode": ["auditory", "textual"]

ONIX Mapping

The textual value most commonly maps to list 81 code 10. It can map to other values such as code 16 for text that is not part of the main content

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