# -*- coding: utf-8; mode: structured-text -*-
# Copyright (C) 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 OUI Technology Ltd.
# Copyright (C) 2019 Tomáš Cerha <t.cerha@gmail.com>
# This is part of the LCG Documentation.
# See the file index.en.txt for copying conditions.

= Introduction =

The LCG is a computer program designed to process structured textual and
multimedia data and produce their output presentation in one of the supported
output formats.  LCG is highly modular and many of its components may be used
independently as Python libraries.

LCG stands for Learning Content Generator, since it was initially developed to
generate e-learning courses, but the current use is much wider, so we don't
refer to it by the full name to prevent missunderstanding.

LCG supports /multimedia/ and /interactive/ content.  /Accessibility/ is one
of the major concerns, with a special attention to users of screen-readers and
other assistive technologies.

The input data formats were designed to allow content creation without the need
for any particular software or tool and to be easy to understand and edit even
for non-technicians.

One of the key points is total /separation/ of /input data/ and their /output
presentation/.  Thus it is easy to change the appearance and user interface of
the generated output without any changes in the source data.  This proved to be
very useful when customizing interactive user interfaces to different output
formats and for different target groups (e.g. people with various handicaps or
using special technologies).

LCG defines a set of generic content elements, such as /paragraphs, sections,
bullet lists or tables/.  This set can be, however, further extended for
particular application.  Implementations of more specialized constructs, such
as /input forms/, /media viewers/players/ or /interactive exercises/ exist.

LCG also handles documents in /multiple languages/ correctly.  It is able to
manage several language versions of one document, as well as intermix more
languages in one document.

The following output formats are currently supported:
  * HTML (a set of hyperlinked web pages)
  * IMS content package (for use within a Learning Management System)
  * HHP help (HTML Help Workshop format used by many on-line help viewers)
  * PDF (a printable document)

LCG is /Free Software/ distributed under the terms of GNU General Public
License.
