Production guide / Accessible publishing
Accessible EPUB production and QA: a practical publisher workflow.
A practical workflow for producing and checking accessible EPUBs: source preparation, structure, descriptions, navigation, validation, reader testing, metadata and release evidence.
Scope and review note
This guide is an operational framework, not a declaration that a publication conforms to an accessibility standard or law. EPUB Accessibility 1.2 was a W3C Candidate Recommendation Draft when this guide was reviewed; consult the current specification, applicable requirements and qualified accessibility support for your titles and markets.
01 / The guide
01
Start with the source and a defined accessibility outcome.
Accessible EPUB production is most dependable when accessibility decisions begin before conversion. Identify the publication’s language, audience, reading order, visual material, complex structures, interactive content, audio or video, fixed-layout requirements and expected reading systems. Assign clear ownership across editorial, design, conversion, metadata and release teams so that issues are not passed from one supplier or stage to another without resolution.
- Create a title-level accessibility brief before typesetting or conversion begins.
- Identify meaningful images, complex figures, tables, equations, notes, navigation and any content that needs a particular reader interaction.
- Retain a shared issue log, target format, responsible owner and evidence location for the exact edition being released.
02
Build structure and navigation for a complete publication, not isolated files.
An EPUB is a collection of content documents that readers experience as one publication. The W3C techniques therefore emphasise publication-wide reading order, a coherent heading hierarchy, navigation and landmarks. Review each document title, document language, table of contents order and the spine together. A file can appear acceptable on its own while a reader still encounters a confusing journey across the book.
- Ensure table-of-contents order and spine order present a coherent reading journey.
- Use headings that reflect the document’s real place in the publication hierarchy and provide meaningful context.
- Include useful navigation and landmarks for major content and reference sections, then test how supported readers expose them.
03
Treat descriptions, language and rich content as editorial work.
Alternative text, extended descriptions, captions, transcripts and language declarations need subject knowledge as well as technical implementation. Do not rely on a conversion tool to determine what an image means in the surrounding argument. Establish an editorial review for content that carries meaning beyond decoration, and provide the information a reader needs in the most appropriate place and form.
- Classify images and other non-text content by their purpose before writing a description or deciding that none is needed.
- Review tables, maths, notes, links, embedded media and interactive features with the intended reading task in mind.
- Declare the publication and content-document languages accurately, including relevant changes of language.
04
Use automated checks as evidence to investigate, then test the reader journey.
EPUBCheck validates EPUB publications against the official format specifications. Ace by DAISY runs automated accessibility checks and produces a report to assist conformance evaluation. Neither replaces editorial judgement, a full-publication review or reading-system testing. Use both tools to surface issues, record the outcome, and then test the workflows that matter to real readers: opening, navigation, reading controls, assistive technology, content access, DRM and recovery where relevant.
- Run EPUBCheck and investigate format errors or warnings before release.
- Run Ace by DAISY, review its violations, metadata, outlines and image findings, and assign any exceptions explicitly.
- Test representative titles in the proposed reader, devices and access routes; include more than a single page or idealised demonstration.
05
Release evidence, metadata and reader support as one controlled package.
The final EPUB, accessibility evidence, metadata, distribution records and reader-facing information should describe the same edition. EPUB Accessibility covers both full-publication requirements and discoverability metadata; the associated techniques are advisory and are not a standalone basis for a claim. Record what was tested, what was corrected, any limitations communicated to readers, who approved the release and which future change will trigger revalidation.
- Align production evidence with the final EPUB version and distribution metadata.
- Use the accessibility metadata guide and release checklist to confirm how reader-facing facts travel through each channel.
- Define support, correction and revalidation processes before the title is distributed.
02 / Take this to the meeting
Accessible EPUB production and QA checklist
Use this as a working agenda with decision owners, not a box-ticking exercise.
- 01A title-level accessibility brief identifies the edition, source materials, content complexity, intended reading systems and accountable owners.
- 02Publication-wide reading order, headings, titles, navigation, landmarks and languages are reviewed rather than checking content documents in isolation.
- 03Descriptions and alternatives for meaningful non-text content are editorially reviewed in context, alongside tables, notes, maths, media and interactive content where present.
- 04EPUBCheck and Ace by DAISY outputs are retained, investigated and resolved or documented with accountable decisions.
- 05Representative readers, devices, assistive technologies and access routes are tested using the complete title and real reading tasks.
- 06The final EPUB, accessibility metadata, distribution records, reader-facing information, approval record and support route are aligned before release.
03 / Questions
09 Questions publishers ask
EPUBCheck evaluates an EPUB against the official EPUB specifications. It is an important format-validation step, but it does not replace an accessibility evaluation, editorial review or reading-system testing.
Ace by DAISY runs automated accessibility checks on EPUB content and produces a report focused on areas such as violations, metadata, document outlines and images. It assists accessibility-conformance evaluation but should be followed by investigation and practical testing.
A reader experiences an EPUB as one publication. Reading order, navigation, headings, landmarks, metadata and content relationships can fail across the book even when an individual content document seems correct on its own.
Not on that basis alone. Use automated results as evidence within a documented, title-level evaluation of the full publication, current requirements and the relevant reader experience. The W3C techniques are advisory and do not independently establish conformance.
More questions? Answers arranged by role — finance, IT, editorial, marketing, operations.
04 / Sources and next reading
