Accessible & Secure NPLD Access Project

[anjackson]

This ticket summarises the overall status of this project, also known as the 'Ericom Replacement Project'. In short, we need to be able to access NPLD content from the UK LDL in a way that meets accessibility needs while also maintaining sufficient security. The current approach uses a remote desktop that is accessed via a HTML canvas, and as such this does not provide an route that meets accessibility legislation. The proposed solution makes the content more accessible, while carefully managing the security issues and NPLD contraints (e.g. the single-concurrent-use lock).

The solution works by extending our PyWB service to access PDFs and ePubs, and ensuring that the resulting web service is only access via authorised web browsers that prevent copies of items being taken away. For some reading rooms, this requires a dedicated NPLD Player.

There are two main work streams:

• UKWA Team helping App Support deploy the PyWB services and integrate them into LDL Reading Rooms.
  • Document how to deploy the PyWB-backed NPLD Access System #69
  • Write up use cases, for rrwb stack. #86
  • Supporting all expected URL forms, including IDs with no prefix, e.g. vdc_100031420983.0x000001 rather than ark:/81055/vdc_100031420983.0x000001, and including /welcome.html?ID....
• Webrecorder creating or extending the tools to make this possible:
  • 2022-Q2 Work Package: UKWA PyWB Support for Document Access  ukwa-pywb#74
  • 2022-Q1 Work Package: NPLD Player v1.0.0 npld-player#3

[anjackson]

We'd like to propose an additional work-package, extending the ePub support so:

• When text is selected in an ePub, show the chapter and paragraph numbers (e.g. a status panel or pop-up - see below for how the current version looks).
• It uses a multi-page view, as suggested here.
• Supports print-preview and ability to select pages for printing.