The client is a well-established European company with more than 35 years of experience delivering typesetting and editorial services to publishers. The company originally focused on print production and later expanded its services to support publishers across European markets. With the rise of digital content consumption and tightening EU accessibility legislation, the company now delivers content aligned with modern digital accessibility standards.
The client required a comprehensive ePub3 content conversion program aligned with WCAG 2.1 AA standards and the broader obligations of the European Accessibility Act. Their publishing output covered educational textbooks, consumer entertainment, and informational material, each requiring EPUB Accessibility 1.1 conformance, assistive technology compatibility, and support for reflowable layouts and user-adjustable display settings. The client needed a production partner with structured workflows, strong quality controls, and the ability to consistently meet SLA turnaround times while supporting growing output demands.
The project required eBook conversion and content transformation for legacy content that was neither structurally consistent nor formatted with digital accessibility in mind. Moving from a mix of legacy file types to fully ePub3 AA-compliant content meant resolving a range of technical and organizational issues across individual files, each with its own formatting problems. The pressure to maintain fast per-title delivery throughout the remediation process added a further operational constraint.
Poorly Constructed Source Documents
The source files lacked a consistent structural logic, making it difficult to convert them into the semantic HTML5 elements required for accessible ePub3 output. Many files required individual review to correct hierarchy issues, define meaningful alt text needs, and prepare complex elements such as tables, equations, and multimedia for WCAG-compliant remediation.
No Standardized Content Templates
The lack of a shared templating and tagging framework meant each title entered the workflow with different formatting rules. This inconsistency slowed conversion because files could not follow a uniform structure from the start. A consistent content framework was required to improve processing speed and maintain uniformity across the catalog.
Stringent Assistive Technology Compatibility Requirements
The client required that every deliverable meet WCAG 2.1 AA and EPUB Accessibility 1.1 standards while remaining compatible with screen readers, text-to-speech tools, and other assistive technologies. This created the need for rigorous validation across structure, navigation, accessibility attributes, and user experience before delivery.
To address the scale and complexity of the client's requirements, we assembled a dedicated ePub3 content conversion team of 23 offshore programmers. From initial content analysis through final compliance validation, accessibility was integrated throughout the pipeline. This ensured that every title met WCAG 2.1 AA compliance and EPUB standards before delivery.
Each title was built to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA and EPUB Accessibility 1.1 requirements from the outset. Compliance was treated as a structural design principle, so that every file's content architecture supported both regulatory requirements under the European Accessibility Act and full usability across all supported platforms and devices.
Our team applied semantic HTML5 conversion elements - headings, paragraphs, list structures, and table markup - to establish logical, machine-readable document hierarchies. This structural foundation enabled screen readers and other assistive technologies to interpret content accurately, allowing users to navigate titles by heading, section, or specific element rather than progressing line by line.
Non-text elements - images, charts, and multimedia - were assigned descriptive alt text so that visually impaired readers could access that content. Navigation landmarks and ARIA roles were embedded throughout each title to support programmatic navigation on all major reading platforms. Where audio-visual content was present, we used media overlays to synchronize text with narration, enabling a combined visual and auditory reading experience.
Multi-language ePub3 outputs were configured to allow readers to switch between language versions without navigational friction. Each language variant retained full accessibility features, including dynamic font resizing, reflowable layouts that eliminate horizontal scrolling on smaller screens, and high-contrast display modes for readers with varying visual accessibility needs.
We optimized the ePub3 files for consistent performance across all major reading environments - e-readers including Kindle, Kobo, and iBooks; mobile and desktop browser applications; and assistive technologies such as JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver. Accessibility features were validated across all these environments to confirm that compliance was preserved regardless of the platform used.
Every completed title passed through automated validation via Ace by DAISY, which checked for accessibility compliance gaps, and EPUBCheck, which verified structural file integrity. Accessibility specialists then manually reviewed flagged outputs and resolved any issues before final delivery.
Ace by DAISY
Automated WCAG accessibility validation tool used to detect compliance gaps across all delivered ePub3 files before specialist review
EPUBCheck
Technical file structure verification tool used to confirm standard conformance and integrity of every ePub3 output prior to delivery
Adobe InDesign
Primary layout and composition platform used for managing structured source content through print-to-digital conversion workflows
XSLT Stylesheets
XML-to-ePub3 content transformation pipelines used for semantic tagging and structural conversion across the full title catalog
Sigil
ePub editing and content structuring environment used for fine-grained accessibility attribute implementation and ARIA role embedding
We established a reliable ePub3 production framework that scaled with the client's volume demands while keeping compliance and delivery consistency non-negotiable throughout.
25,000-30,000 Pages Converted Monthly
We sustained 25,000-30,000 pages of accessible ePub3 output every month, exceeding the client's previous in-house capacity by 65%.
100% Compliance Sustained across All Titles
Every title was validated against WCAG 2.1 Level AA and EPUB Accessibility 1.1 - with no rework required for accessibility defects after delivery.
40% Reduction in Per-Title Delivery Time
We cut the average per-title turnaround by 40% while consistently delivering each title within a 4-5 working-day window.
From legacy content remediation to large-volume WCAG 2.1 AA production, we deliver ePub3 content conversion at the speed and scale global publishers demand. Reach out to us at info@suntecdigital.com to discuss your project requirements.
info@suntecdigital.com
+44 203 514 2601
+1 585 283 0055
