named programs · 5 · from sources
What they call their work
Accessibility Initiative
Promotes accessible publishing through standards, best practices, and collaboration with organizations like Benetech and the DAISY Consortium.
DigiCon Conference
Annual conference convening publishers, technologists, and libraries to discuss digital publishing trends, technology, and innovation.
EPUB Standards Development
Develops and maintains the EPUB content publication standard to enable reflowable, interoperable digital books across reading systems and devices.
EPUB for Education
Advances the use of EPUB in educational contexts, supporting interactive content, analytics, and integration with learning platforms.
Global Copyright Advocacy
Monitors and responds to international copyright developments affecting digital publishing and content distribution.
activities · 2 groups
What they do
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Industry Standards Development and Management 4 activities
- Building open-source tools and community resources for EPUBLaunched the Readium Foundation to develop open-source software for EPUB, created the EPUB Reading System Test Suite, enhanced and promoted EPUBCheck validation tool, established EPUBZone as a community support hub, and collaborated in forming the European Digital Reading Lab to strengthen implementation and adoption of EPUB standards.
- Conducting research on eBook market data and standardsCollects and aggregates quarterly U.S. trade wholesale eBook sales data in collaboration with the Association of American Publishers and compiles global eBook sales statistics from external sources. Also developed foundational specifications including the Open eBook Publication Structure (OeBPS), submitted DRM rights expression language proposals, and advanced metadata standardization based on ONIX.
- Development and maintenance of the EPUB standardDevelops and maintains the EPUB content publication standard for reflowable digital books and other digital publications, ensuring interoperability across EPUB-compliant reading systems and devices. This includes releasing updated specifications such as EPUB 3, 3.0.1, and 3.1, and separating conformance requirements into standalone documents for clarity and accessibility.
- Facilitating the IDPF-W3C combinationApproved a formal plan to combine with the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), secured royalty-free authorizations from over 30 contributing organizations for submission of EPUB 3.1 to W3C, drafted initial charters for W3C publishing groups, and published opinion pieces advocating for the integration to advance the future of digital publishing.
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Website Accessibility Implementation 1 activity
- Advancing accessibility in digital publishingPublishes a dedicated accessibility specification and non-normative techniques document to guide the creation of accessible EPUB publications, enhancing support for users with disabilities through updated standards and best practices.
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financials · form 990 · fy2025
revenue
Total revenue$0
Contributions & grants$0—
Program service revenue$0—
Investment income$0—
Other revenue$0
expenses
Total expenses$12K
Program expenses—
Admin / overhead—
Fundraising—
Salaries & benefits$0
Grants paid out$6K
Largest expense lineProfessional Fees
balance sheet
Total assets$0
Cash$11K
Investments$0
Liabilities$0
Net assets$0
Liquid reserves11.7 mo
6 years on record · 2020–2025
leadership · form 990 part vii · fy2025
Who runs it
board members · 12
- BILL KASDORF — BOARD MEMBER
- CRISTINA MUSSINELLI — SECRETARY
- EOIN NOBLE — BOARD MEMBER
- GEORGE KERSCHER — PRESIDENT
- GRAHAM BELL — BOARD MEMBER
- JUNICHI YOSHII — BOARD MEMBER
- LESLIE HULSE — TREASURER
- LIISA MCCLOY-KELLEY — BOARD MEMBER
- LUC AUDRAIN — BOARD MEMBER
- MIKE BAKER — BOARD MEMBER
- RICK JOHNSON — CHAIRPERSON
- TZVIYA SIEGMAN — BOARD MEMBER
relationships · 26
Who they work with
- Apex CoVantage Partner — Member organization whose representative was re-elected to the IDPF Board
- Association of American Publishers Partner — Collaborates with the IDPF to collect and report quarterly US trade wholesale eBook sales data.
- Digital Publishing Interest Group Partner — Collaborating with W3C Digital Publishing Interest Group co-chairs on the development of new publishing group charters.
- Drupal Partner — Website powered by Drupal
- EDRLab Partner — Hosts IDPF Europe and coordinates with IDPF on strategic direction and operations for the EPUB platform.
- EPUB Working Group Partner — Coordinating with the IDPF EPUB Working Group co-chairs to draft charters for new W3C publishing groups.
- European Digital Reading Lab Partner — Collaborated in the creation of the European Digital Reading Lab.
- GitHub Partner — Hosts the EPUB 3.1 revision project and issue tracking for specification updates.
- HarperCollins Partner — Member organization whose representative was re-elected to the IDPF Board
- Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Partner — Member organization whose representative was elected to the IDPF Board
- Ingram Content Group Partner — Member organization whose representative was re-elected to the IDPF Board
- International Digital Publishing Forum Network — OPEN EBOOK FORUM is a member of the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF), participating in its standards development activities.
- Jones & Bartlett Learning Partner — Member organization whose representative was re-elected to the IDPF Board
- Kodansha Partner — Member organization whose representative was re-elected to the IDPF Board
- Penguin Random House Partner — Member organization whose representative was re-elected to the IDPF Board
- Readium Foundation Partner — Coordinates with IDPF through the European Digital Reading Laboratory to advance EPUB platform development.
- Readium Foundation Partner — Launched as an independent organization to develop open source software for EPUB.
- Society for Scholarly Publishing Partner — Co-sponsored the Academic and Professional Publishing track at the IDPF Digital Conference at BookExpo America 2016.
- W3C Partner — Combined operations with W3C to further the development of open standards for digital publishing.
- W3C Partner — Planned combination with W3C to transfer EPUB 3.1 specification and align future development with web standards.
- Wiley Partner — Member organization whose representative was elected to the IDPF Board
- World Wide Web Consortium Partner — Collaborating with W3C on the integration plan and development of joint working groups.
- World Wide Web Consortium Partner — Collaborating with W3C to submit EPUB 3.1 as a royalty-free standard following the approved plan to combine IDPF with W3C.
- World Wide Web Consortium Partner — Combining operations with W3C to advance EPUB standards and web platform integration.
- World Wide Web Consortium Partner — Planned combination with W3C to integrate EPUB standards with the Open Web Platform.
- World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Partner — Planned combination with W3C to integrate digital publishing standards into broader web standards development.
strategies · 3
How they approach the work
Named approaches extracted from this org’s sources. Where others share an approach, follow it to see the full set of orgs running it.
- Collaborative Industry Forum for Shared Standards Developmentmethodology: collaborative_standards_developmentBy convening diverse stakeholders through a collaborative forum, we ensure digital publishing standards reflect broad industry needs and evolving technologies, because inclusive governance builds shared understanding, drives consensus, and strengthens implementation across the ecosystem.
- Open Standards Development for Interoperabilitymethodology: open-standards-developmentBy developing and promoting open, royalty-free technical standards like EPUB, we ensure widespread interoperability across publishing platforms and reading systems, because open and stable specifications enable broad adoption, reduce fragmentation, and lower barriers to access for creators and consumers.
- Standards Convergence with the Open Web Platformmethodology: standards-convergenceBy aligning and integrating EPUB standards with the Open Web Platform through collaboration with W3C, we advance digital publishing interoperability and sustainability, because convergence with widely adopted web standards simplifies implementation, improves accessibility, and ensures long-term technological relevance.