Accessibility QA Checklist
Note
This checklist is no longer being maintained. Content developers are advised to review the EPUB Accessibility and Techniques documents for guidance on creating
accessible EPUB Publications. A conformance checking tool is currently under development that will
obsolete this checklist. When completed, this page will be removed.
Semantics
Semantics from the EPUB Structural Semantics Vocabulary added to identify structural
sections and significant content structures
Secondary content is identifiable from logical reading order by inclusion in
aside and figure tags
The order of the markup in content files matches the primary narrative
The publication is readable from beginning to end without scripting or styles
applied
CSS properties not defined using the style attribute
XHTML Content Documents
The lang and xml:lang attributes are set on all root
html elements
The lang and xml:lang attributes are set on all instances
of foreign language prose
em, strong, i and b tags used as
per their definitions in HTML5CSS styling used for presentational bolding and italics
Link text clearly indicates destination, or meaningful alternative is provided in a
title attribute
A secondary means of identifying linked text has been provided
All structurally-significant content grouped in section elements
Numbered headings accurately reflect the document hierarchy
Each sectioning element has only a single heading
Headings have not been used in blockquote and figure
elements
Sets of related items marked up using ol or ul elements, as
appropriate
Glossaries, dictionaries, faqs and similar name/value association lists marked up
using dl elements
All table heading cells identified using th elements
The thead element used to group multi-row headings
The scope attribute added when heading cell applicability is not
clear
The headers attribute added to cells when their heading is ambiguous or
contained in more than one cell
A summary of the table layout and content provided for all complex tables
Captions provided, as applicable
Tables not used for presentational or fixed layout of content
Native controls enabled by default
To assist when audio may not be audible, one or more of the following
provided:
Transcripts of audio content provided
Sign-language interpretation provided via an associated video element
Navigation by scene provided, when applicable
Native controls enabled by default
To assist when audio may not be audible, one or more of the following
provided:
Captions for all video content containing audio content
Subtitles for all video content contain ing spoken language
Sign-language interpretation track for all video content
Transcripts of video content provided
To assist when video may not be visible:
Text description tracks provided
Navigation by scene provided, when applicable
Images, charts, code samples and other secondary content encapsulated in
figure tags
The figcaption element used to identify figure captions
Text alternatives provided for all significant images
Descriptions provided for all significant images
alt attribute left empty for all decorative imagesThe ARIA role attribute included with the property presentation for all decorative images
alt attribute used to provide meaningful labels to image map areasServer-side image maps not used
A meaningful title added to all significant iframe elements
A link to the associated content document included as a fallback for all significant
iframe elements
Relative sizing units used for all iframe elements
Scrolling not disabled by default on iframe elements
Notes within the primary narrative identified using the aside element
with an appropriate epub:type value
Groups of notes identified by an appropriate epub:type value
Note references identified using the epub:type attribute with the value
noteref
Annotations within the primary narrative identified using the aside
element with an epub:type attribute with the value annotation
Inline annotations identified using the ruby element
Annotation references identified using the epub:type attribute with the
value annoref
Changes in context identified using hr elements
The print source identified in a dc:source element in the package
document metadata section
Print page break locations included when the EPUB has a print equivalent
The navigation document includes a page-list nav to facilitate page
navigation
MathML
MathML markup included for all math content
Simple MathML content described using the alttext attribute
Complex MathML content described using an embedded annotation-xml
element
SVG Content Documents and Images
The xml:lang attribute set on all root svg elements
The xml:lang attribute set on all instances of foreign language text
within each SVG image
All significant images include a title (title element)
All complex images include a description (desc element)
All components within an SVG image include a title and
desc
All presentational SVG images marked using the ARIA role attribute
Component definitions re-used whenever possible to simplify overall comprehension
All embedded text content contained in text elements
Sufficient contrast maintained between embedded text and background image
Custom fonts used in place of creating text as images
All embedded links include an xlink:title attribute explaining the target
location
Linked components are visually distinguishable from unlinked components
CSS rules defined for title and desc elements to enable
rendering
Visual styling of components separated into CSS style sheets to facilitate reader
customization
Scripting not required to render or understand SVG images
ARIA roles, states and properties used to enhance the accessibility of scripted
content
Text equivalents are updated whenever dynamic content changes
Device-independent events used for all interactive actions
EPUB Style Sheets
Semantic markup used whenever colors convey information visually
Sufficient contrast levels maintained between the text and any background colors and
images (as defined in WCAG 2.0)
Text not positioned over pictures and other images with noisy backgrounds
Red/green combinations have been avoided
Red/black combinations have been avoided
Brightly colored hue combinations have been avoided
Background images not used to convey information
Sufficient contrast levels maintained between the text and any background colors and
images (as defined in WCAG 2.0)
Content critical to the logical flow of a publication not initialized in a hidden
state
HTML5 and ARIA techniques used to include optional text and descriptions
The state of the aria-hidden attribute maintained as the visibility of
content is toggled
Fixed Layout
Logical reading order maintained in markup
Semantic markup applied to content to facilitate comprehension of layout
Publication does not contain empty documents that employ the background-image property to display images
Navigation
The toc nav includes the full structure of the publication
The hidden attribute used to disable visual rendering of unwanted
levels
Links to all significant sections of the publication added
The package document metadata includes a dc:source element identifying
the print edition
Links to all illustrations and figures in the publication provided
Links to all tables in the publication provided
Media Overlays
Sufficient contrast maintained between active text and the highlighting color
Each list in the markup represented by a seq element with its
epub:type attribute set to list
Each list item in the markup represented either by a seq or
par element with its epub:type attribute set to list-item
All related dt and dd elements in a definition list are
grouped together in a seq element with its epub:type attribute set to
list-item
Each table in the markup represented by a seq element with its
epub:type attribute set to table
Each table row in the markup represented by a seq element with its
epub:type attribute set to table-row
Each table cell in the markup represented either by a seq or
par element with its epub:type attribute set to table-cell
Text-to-Speech
The lexicon defines all unique proper names, nouns and other complex words
The lexicon includes the default pronunciation for any heteronyms
Pronunciations defined to disambiguate heteronyms
Pronunciations defined for ambiguous number forms
Pronunciations defined for jargon, slang, slurred and other non-standard speech
forms
All abbreviations, acronyms, numbers and other constructs that should be spelled out
have the spell-out property defined
Scripted Interactivity
Scripting not required in order to traverse the complete logical reading order of the
publication
Scripting not required in order to make content visible
Readers can access all content regardless of location, preference settings, etc.
Scripting not used to manipulate the HTML DOM in such a way that it produces invalid
markup
All custom controls are reachable in a device-independent manner
All custom controls fully implement ARIA roles, states and properties, as
appropriate
All live regions identified using ARIA roles and properties
Assertiveness of all announcements matches their importance to the reading
experience
figure and figcaption used to add context when
canvas represents a static imagecanvas only used to enhance graph, chart and similar data
representationsARIA roles, states and properties used to make interactive canvas
elements accessible
Alternate representations and fallbacks included when accessible scripting not
possible
