WCAG 2.2 accessible EPUBs, by default.

The EAA implementing technical standard is EN 301 549, which inherits WCAG 2.1 Level AA — but most certifiers and retailers are already requiring elements from WCAG 2.2. Practically, ebooks now have to:

• Provide a meaningful alt-text description on every informational image.
• Use semantic markup for headings, lists, blockquotes, footnotes — not visual formatting that fakes it.
• Declare the language of the body and of any inline non-default-language phrases.
• Carry a navigable EPUB Navigation Document with all chapters and major sections.
• Use a reading order that matches the visual order (no reflow surprises).
• Avoid encoding-only emphasis (e.g. ALL CAPS where italic is meant).
• Embed page-break markers matching the print edition where one exists.

Each rule individually is small. Together they are the difference between a book a blind reader can read and a book a blind reader can’t.

The moment your EPUB lands in our system, it’s run through a multi-stage validator that was originally built for an institutional publishing client. Every step is automatic — you don’t see most of it.

1. Structural validation (EPUBCheck)

We run the official EPUBCheck 5 conformance suite against the file. If there are errors (missingtoc.ncx identifiers, malformed navigation documents, broken hrefs, incorrect MIME types), our auto-heal fixes the ones that have unambiguous fixes and reports the ones that need a human.

2. Accessibility audit

We run an accessibility pass that checks: every image has an altattribute (warns on empty); every link has descriptive link text (warns on “click here”); the document has a declared language; the nav document is present and complete; headings increase by at most one level at a time; the reading order is correct.

3. Metadata enrichment

We add the EPUB accessibilityFeature, accessibilityHazard, and accessibilityMode metadata fields, which European retailers use to surface accessible books in their search results. Most indie books are invisible to accessibility-filtered searches because these fields are missing — we add them.

4. ONIX accessibility flags

When we deliver to Cantook, IngramSpark, or any retailer that consumes ONIX, we set ONIX codes 94, 95, and 97 (accessibility summary, conformance, and reading order respectively) so the retailer’s automated systems recognize the book as compliant. This is how your book becomes findable by accessibility-aware buyers.

We don’t need to name names — but it’s worth being honest. Aggregators fall into three buckets:

• Bucket 1: Pass-through services(most US-focused aggregators). Your EPUB goes through unchanged. If it’s broken, it’s broken. If a retailer rejects it, the rejection is forwarded to you with no fix path.
• Bucket 2: Validation-only services.They run EPUBCheck and tell you what’s wrong. You fix it and re-upload. Accessibility is on you.
• Bucket 3: Auto-healing services like Chiify. We run the checks and apply unambiguous fixes automatically — at no cost. You see a clean EPUB go live, and your accessibility metadata is set without you touching anything.

The reason most aggregators are in buckets 1 or 2 is that auto-healing requires building and maintaining a sophisticated EPUB-manipulation library. We built one for our institutional clients and have made it the default for every Chiify author — at no extra charge.

• EU sales — your book is eligible across all 27 EU markets, including the high-spending Nordics and Germany where library lending is a real income stream.
• Library sales — OverDrive, Hoopla, Cantook, Bibliotheca and most institutional library platforms give accessible books preferred placement in their digital collections.
• School and university adoption — academic libraries are required (under Section 504, ADA, and EAA) to prefer accessible materials when available.
• Disability community readership — there are roughly 285 million people worldwide with significant visual impairments who use screen readers or refreshable braille displays. They buy books. They share recommendations.
• Future-proofing— the UK, Canada, Australia, and several US states have accessibility laws in various stages of enforcement. Building accessible from the start means you don’t pay to retrofit later.