Know which standard is current, which one is emerging, and which rules belong to retailers.
Standards are the foundation; retailer requirements sit on top of them. EbooksLaunch separates those layers so authors can make better production decisions.
EPUB 3.3
The stable W3C Recommendation defining the EPUB 3 publication format and authoring requirements.
W3C specification →EPUB Accessibility 1.1
The stable W3C Recommendation covering accessibility conformance and accessibility metadata for EPUB publications.
W3C specification →EPUB 3.4
Emerging work in the EPUB standards family. A candidate recommendation is not the same thing as the stable recommendation used as a production baseline.
W3C EPUB status →Retailer requirements
Amazon, Kobo, Apple, aggregators, and library channels can impose additional requirements or preferences. Those are platform rules, not replacements for the EPUB standard.
Retailer guidance →Primary sources
- W3C EPUB 3.3 — stable EPUB Recommendation
- W3C EPUB standards index — status of EPUB specifications and drafts
- W3C EPUB Accessibility 1.1 — accessibility conformance and discoverability requirements
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