Accessibility Evaluation

What is accessibility?

Accessibility is the practice of providing tools to remove barriers that can prevent people with physical disabilities from accessing and experiencing content on websites, mobile apps and digital devices, such as ebook readers.

EPUB Accessibility Evaluation

The EPUB Accessibility Evaluation will review the EPUB file for common accessibility recommendations, potential issues, and can help identify areas that may need attention.

Review the results carefully. Each reported issue should be evaluated and, where necessary, corrected by either accepting the recommended fix, or correcting where instructed. This is not an exhaustive list of all requirements for accessibility compliance but does include many of the most common potential issues with EPUB files.

The following is an explanation of what the Accessibility Evaluation is checking.

What does the Accessibility Evaluation check for?

Alt Text

What is alternative text (alt text)? Alt text is a description of an image in the HTML code that does not show visually in the printed or EPUB text. When the screen reader comes across an image with alt text, it is read aloud. If you would like a printed description of the image, you will need to add a caption in addition to the alt text.

Table Headers

Screen readers use header elements to announce row and column. Without headers in the table, readers with vision impairments have no way to understand the data. 

Missing Links

If the Table of Contents visually shows “Chapter 2,” but the EPUB doesn't contain a functioning link to that heading, a screen-reader user may have difficulty navigating directly to it. 

Headings

Style tags (like "Heading 1" or "Heading 2") are required for proper structure. This is also used to build the Contents section and allow readers to move seamlessly around your book.

An example of heading hierarchy:

• Heading 1 (H1) → Chapters
• Heading 2 (H2) → Major sections within a chapter
• Heading 3 (H3) → Subsections within a section

EPUB Navigation

In an EPUB, navigation refers to the structure that guides readers as they move around the book—especially the table of contents and corresponding sections of the book. Navigation assists readers using assistive technology.