PePcon Speaker Dossier: Chad Chelius, the Walking Encyclopedia for EPUBs
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In the PePcon Speaker Dossier series we’ll get up close and personal with some of the coolest people on the planet: the print, PDF, and digital publishing gurus who’ll be the speakers at the conference! You’ve read their books, seen their videos, and liked their Facebook posts, now you can get to know them a little more personally, and have something to talk about when you meet them in person at PePcon.
“What’s a PePcon?” you ask. PePcon: The Print + ePublishing Conference is a massive 4-day multi-track extravaganza of all things print, PDF, and digital publishing. The seventh annual PePcon will be coming to San Diego, June 5–8.
The Chad Chelius Dossier
Geek Cred: Chad Chelius is the walking encyclopedia on EPUBs. If you have a question about ebooks, reflowable, fixed-layouts, or EPUBs, Chad’s the man to provide you with the best answer.
AKA: Chadwick, Chadster, Chadzilla.
You Can Call Him: Chad!
Hails From: Reading, Pennsylvania and to this day remains a Greater Philadelphia Native.
Hang outs: At industry conferences, relaxing while completely absorbed in a J. R. R. Tolkien novel, roaming the hills of Pennsylvania on his bike, hiking through the beautiful forest preserves with the kids and Captain (the family’s big black furry lab) or shopping at the local chainsaw store — yeah, you heard that right, Pennsylvania has stores dedicated solely to chain saws.
Short Bio: Adobe Certified Expert & Instructor, Husband, Proud Father of Two, Speaker, Lynda.com Author, Avid InDesign User, Consultant, Former Bike Racer and Crunchy Peanut Butter Fanatic.
First Job: Technically, the first job was the neighborhood paper boy. “Real job“ landed right out of college was as a pre-press specialist.
First computer: Apple Performa 6100
Lefty or righty: Righty.
Geeky or Nerd: Probably Geeky. Definitely Geeky!
Favorite subjects in school: Gym.
Elvis or the Beatles: Beatles.
Coffee is…amazing!
At 6:00 a.m. I am usually: making coffee!
Amazing talent: Can walk on his hands.
Current projects: Chad is in the midst of prepping for PePcon 2016 (his third time speaking!) and gearing up to record two Lynda.com courses this summer.
His PePcon 2016 Sessions: Chad will be leading a half-day pre-conference workshop on (what else?) EPUB Step-by-Step, perfect for anyone who’s trying to figure out how to make ebooks (and will set you up for understanding the EPUB-related sessions at the main conference). He’s also team-teaching a session on Custom Interactivity for Your Digital Publications with Justin Putney, developer of the amazing InDesign-to-HTML5 plugin, In5. Anybody who trying to take a fixed-layout epub to the next level should attend this awesome session.
An InDesign tip from Chad:
Creating Accessible PDF files from InDesign: Images and graphics by default have no value when read using screen reading software. Aside from the screen reader defining the graphic as an “image” there is no additional information to be read. Adding alternative text can provide a description to graphics and images that provide the reader with a context for the image. In addition this is a requirement of Section 508, PDF U/A, and WCAG.
Alternative text can be added to images and graphics in InDesign CS 5.5 and above by selecting the image or graphic and choosing Object > Object Export Options. In the Alt Text section of this dialog box, alternative text can be added manually or by extracting metadata from the placed image.
Additionally, if an image has no important value, you can apply the Artifact tag to exclude the image from being read by a screen reading device. This is also accomplished in the Object Export Options dialog box by clicking on the Tagged PDF button at the top of the dialog box.
What attendees have to say about Chad’s conference sessions:
“Chad is an excellent teacher. He was extremely patient and answered any and all questions and didn’t look down his nose at newbies. Following along with his instruction allowed me to type out a little code for the first time and create both the basic html and a style sheet. He also mentioned the importance of accessibility and brought up a lot of good topics that I want to bring back to my agency!” ~ PePcon 2015 attendee
“I’m a print designer and was so afraid that I would be lost in the HTML/CSS Bootcamp. Was pleasantly surprised that Chad started the presentation with <html> and moved forward from there. He’s an amazing instructor who is able to disseminate technical information like coding for HTML and CSS and make it understandable for novices like myself. Thank you so much for having him present this session! I’m totally ready to conquer web design now!” ~ PePcon 2015 attendee
Website: https://www.cheliusgraphicservices.com/
Social Profiles: Twitter @chadchelius Facebook: Chelius Graphic Services
Linkedin: Chad Chelius
Want more Chad? Register for PePcon: the Print + ePublishing Conference 2016 and join us San Diego. Not only is this the #1 conference for creatives within the publishing industry, it’s also the best place to mingle with the masters and build a community of colleagues from around the world.
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