Why ebooks are part of the conversation
EU accessibility rules include ebooks and dedicated software among covered services. This has made accessible digital publishing a commercial and regulatory concern, not only a best-practice goal.
Why “every ebook must…” is too broad
The legal framework includes scope rules and exemptions, including provisions affecting certain microenterprises and situations involving disproportionate burden or fundamental alteration. Publishers should avoid reducing the law to a single universal sentence.
What technical teams can do
Production teams can build accessible structure, navigation, text alternatives, language information, and accessibility metadata and can document technical checks. Those are concrete actions regardless of the publisher’s ultimate legal analysis.
When to get legal advice
If a decision depends on whether a specific business, product, or service is legally in scope, consult qualified counsel familiar with the relevant EU implementation rather than relying on a formatting vendor’s marketing copy.
Primary sources
- European Commission accessibility overview — official EU overview
- EUR-Lex EAA summary — official legal summary
- W3C EPUB Accessibility 1.1 — technical EPUB accessibility requirements