Check a converted EPUB with a screen reader
Visual appearance cannot establish screen-reader usability. Test headings, continuous reading, links and figures with the actual reading app and assistive technology.
On this page
Test headings with your own screen reader
- Use the screen reader and reading app you actually rely on.
- Navigate by headings before reading continuously.
- Follow one meaningful link and return.
- Compare a representative spoken passage with the source.
Record the task and the spoken behaviour
Use the heading-navigation commands supported by your actual screen reader and reading app; shortcuts differ across software. Record whether the desired heading is discoverable, whether continuous reading follows the expected paragraph sequence and whether links have meaningful labels. For a failure, preserve the exact location and announcement. Do not infer accessibility from an EPUB opening without errors. A useful report names the app, screen reader, versions, file and observed task, allowing someone else to investigate the same condition.
A checklist is not accessibility certification
This article is a testing checklist, not an assistive-technology test result or accessibility certification. EPUBTurn does not guarantee screen-reader accessibility for every converted file. Actual software checks are required.
Keep the result tied to your installed reader
Use the exact downloaded file and record the app, version and reading control you tried. An import check, a font change, heading navigation and spoken output are separate tasks. Do not transfer a result from one reader to another. Compare the same chapter or figure with the source and keep not checked beside every task you did not perform. If the reader rejects the file, record that rejection before deciding whether a passage is missing.
Test the actual file with your assistive tools
EPUBTurn provides the saved reading copy used for this check. The NASA output contains recognised paragraphs, numbered-function text and hardware labels that give you specific screen-reader tasks to try. Download the unchanged sample and check heading navigation, reading order and how the figure description is exposed in your installed reader. We have not performed spoken screen-reader testing on that file. Retained text and a valid EPUB download are useful starting points, not accessibility certification or a guarantee that every figure has an adequate description.
Open the actual source PDF · Download the saved EPUBTurn sample.
For your own document, create an EPUBTurn sample from your PDF, then use the reading checks described here.