Manual Checking
Checklist for manual checking
EPubs and PDFs
Text Features
Reading Order and Navigation
Check that the reading/focus order when pressing TABText iscorrectactual Check that the reading/focus order when pressing TAB retains meaningCheck that there are multiple ways to navigate the document correctlyWe recommend books have a table of contents that consists of links to sections (rather than non-linked), this is just one way of meeting accessibility standards so isn't automatically checked for as a techniqueCheck that any repeating navigation sections are consistent throughoutEPubs: Check that static page breaks are navigable, check pagination
Semantic Tagging
Check that all headings are correct for their purpose and describe the section correctlyCheck that non-decorative/real content is tagged correctly, and that decorative/artefact content is tagged correctlyPDFs: Check that tags support the separate reading orderCheck that headers, footers, notes and references are tagged correctlyCheck that lists, tables and TOCs are tagged correctlyCheck that non-text features (figures, graphics, captions, links, mathematical expressions) are tagged and grouped correctlyCheck that other structure elements tagged correctlyPDFs: Check that the role mapping is correct
Non-text Features
Check that all the non-text features (figures, graphics, captions, links, mathematical expressions) have meaningful ALT textCheck that non-text features (figures, graphics, captions, links, mathematical expressions) have multiple ways of conveying meaning, i.e. they'retext; notjust relying on colour or symbols etc.Check thatimages oftexttext.- Colours
actualof textashaswellcontrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 Check that linksHeadings areaccessibledescriptiveandofmeaningfulthe content they containCheckTextthatislist'sreflowablenumbers,withoutletters or bullets are displayed and tagged correctlyproblemsTry to express tables expressed as simply as possible, and check that it's headers, rows and columns are tagged correctly
Text Features
can - be
Checkresizedthere are nowithout problemswith changing the orientation, text size or text reflowCheck that lineLine height and spacing, letter spacing and word spacing can all be changed without problemsWeOrientationrecommendcanavoidingbejustifiedchangedtext,withoutwhichproblems- Fonts
beyondareminimumcodedlegal accessibility requirementscorrectly
Non-Text Features
- Non-text features (figures, graphics, captions, links, mathematical expressions) have meaningful ALT text
- Colours of non-text features (figures, graphics) has contrast ratio of at least 3:1
- Non-text features (figures, graphics, captions, links, mathematical expressions) have multiple ways of conveying meaning
- Links are accessible and meaningful
- Other clickable elements are 24 x 24 pixels
- Other clickable elements have visible text that matches the text in the underlying code
- A list's numbers, letters or bullets are displayed and tagged correctly
- A tables's headers, rows and columns are tagged correctly
Semantic Tagging
- Non-decorative/real and decorative/artefact content is all tagged correctly
- Non-text features (figures, graphics, captions, links, mathematical expressions) are tagged and grouped correctly
- Lists, tables and TOCs are tagged correctly
- Headers, footers, notes and references are tagged correctly
- Headings are tagged as headings
- Headings have just 1 <H1>, at the beginning
- Headings <H2>-<H6> don't skip levels
- No headings <H7> or higher
- Other non-PDF structure elements tagged correctly (Epubs)
- PDF tags support the separate reading order (PDFs)
- PDF role mapping is correct (PDFs)
- Other structure elements in PDF tagged correctly (PDFs)
Reading Order and Navigation
- Multiple ways to navigate
- Static page breaks are present (Epubs)
- Static page breaks are navigable (Epubs)
- Navigation consistent throughout
- Reading/focus order retains meaning when using tabs or a screenreader
- Repeating blocks of content can be skipped
Metadata and Conformance reporting
EPubs:FileCheckhas metadata- File metadata has a title that
theissourceused instead ofpaginationfileis identifiedname CheckFile metadata has a valid language- Where the
languagelangaugeof the file andchanges, individual partsarehavetaggedacorrectlyvalid language CheckSourcethatofthestaticfilepage breaks/pagination is identifiable (Epubs)- File metadata includes full accessibility conformance information
HTML and Web Pages
For HTML books and web pages, you would need to consider all of WCAG AA, rather than just the selected checklist above that only includes aspects of standards that apply to ebook files that need to be manually checked. Below are a list of already available widely used WCAG based checklists:
Checklist of Checkpoints for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0
Deque Accessibility Developer's Guide