EPUB Translation QA Checklist: TOC, Footnotes, Metadata, and E-Reader Testing

EPUB translation QA has three separate gates: the words must be right, the EPUB package must remain valid, and the final book must work in its target reading systems. Passing one gate does not compensate for failing another.

Download the EPUB translation QA checklist and record evidence against the exact final build. Use one row per defect pattern and location; do not turn an unchecked item into an assumed pass.

Define the Release Contract Before Reviewing

Write down the edition you are trying to release:

• source and target language, including script and regional variant;
• reflowable or fixed-layout EPUB;
• monolingual or bilingual output;
• required retailers, apps, and device classes;
• expected title, author, translator, identifier, and series metadata;
• required accessibility behavior;
• approved glossary, style guide, and do-not-translate list; and
• who can accept a blocker, major, or cosmetic defect.

Without this contract, reviewers can disagree indefinitely about stylistic preferences while missing a wrong chapter order or broken note link.

For general language acceptance across a whole book, use the book translation QA checklist. This article owns the EPUB-specific package and delivery gate.

Freeze and Identify the Candidate Build

Copy the source EPUB and translated candidate into a controlled review folder. Record filenames, hashes or build IDs, tool versions, translation date, and every post-translation edit. Keep the source unchanged.

Create simple inventories for both editions:

A file can look convincing at the beginning while omitting its last chapter. Inventory comparison catches failures that visual polish hides.

Validate the EPUB Package

The EPUB 3.3 specification describes the package document, manifest, spine, navigation document, content resources, and container. Use the current production release of the W3C-maintained EPUBCheck to check the translated candidate against the intended EPUB version.

Treat these as release blockers until resolved:

• missing or malformed package and container files;
• resources referenced by content but absent from the package;
• manifest entries that do not resolve;
• broken required navigation;
• invalid content that prevents reliable parsing; and
• errors specific to the EPUB version you intend to distribute.

Do not “repair” an error by deleting an unfamiliar resource without confirming what it does. A stylesheet, font, accessibility file, or navigation resource may be essential even when one reader appears to ignore it.

Save the validation report with the candidate. Rerun it after every package, markup, CSS, font, or navigation change.

Check the Manifest, Spine, and Reading Order

The manifest declares publication resources; the spine determines the default reading sequence. Translation and reconstruction workflows can create orphan files, duplicate chapters, or reorder content.

Verify that:

• every intended chapter appears once in the spine;
• front matter, body, notes, bibliography, and back matter are in the correct order;
• every image, stylesheet, font, and content document used by the book is declared;
• removed source-only resources are not still linked;
• cover designation and cover resource match the translated edition;
• fixed-layout and page-progression properties are intentional; and
• the first readable content is the intended opening, not a production artifact.

Open the first, a middle, and the last spine item. Then compare the complete source and target spine lists. Sampling alone cannot prove completeness.

Audit the Table of Contents and Navigation

The navigation document is a functional interface, not just a list of translated labels.

Check every TOC entry for:

1. a natural target-language label;
2. the correct hierarchy;
3. a valid target;
4. a destination whose visible heading matches the label; and
5. the same intended chapter relationship as the source.

Also review landmarks, page-list navigation, lists of figures or tables, and index links when present. A translated label can pass language review while pointing to the previous chapter.

Test navigation with both a link-level check and a reading system. Machine validation can find a missing fragment; a human must still catch a link that resolves to the wrong but valid location.

Test Footnotes, Endnotes, and Cross-References

For representative notes—and every note if the edition is note-heavy—verify:

• the note marker remains beside the intended statement;
• the link opens the correct note;
• the note text is complete and translated according to the editorial policy;
• numbering or symbols remain consistent;
• the return link goes back to the correct passage; and
• popup-note behavior degrades to ordinary navigation where popups are unsupported.

Search for broken fragments and duplicate IDs across the package. Then manually test notes near the beginning, middle, and end of the book. Inspect internal references such as “see Chapter 7” against the translated heading and final structure rather than assuming the source label still applies.

Verify Metadata as Edition Data

Metadata must describe the translated edition, not merely survive unchanged from the source.

Review:

• publication language and language declarations inside content documents;
• localized title and subtitle;
• author and translator names with the agreed contributor roles;
• publisher, identifier, series, and edition information;
• reading direction and page progression where relevant;
• modified date required by the EPUB version;
• cover metadata and image; and
• accessibility metadata claimed by the edition.

Do not invent an identifier, overwrite authorship, or claim accessibility features that were not verified. Retailer listing metadata may be entered separately from package metadata, so compare both before release.

Apple's book-validation guidance specifically warns about resources missing from the manifest, invalid URI characters, and unsupported encodings. Use retailer requirements as additional delivery gates, not substitutes for the EPUB standard.

Review Translation Completeness and Consistency

Compare the source and target at structure level before judging style:

• heading count and hierarchy;
• paragraph and list-item presence;
• table rows, columns, headers, and units;
• figures, captions, callouts, and alt text;
• footnotes, endnotes, references, and acknowledgments;
• names, numbers, dates, codes, formulas, and URLs; and
• source-language leftovers or accidental duplicated translation.

Then apply the approved terminology and style decisions across chapters. Search for high-risk proper names and key terms, including known rejected variants. A fluent first chapter does not prove consistency in Chapter 20.

For bilingual editions, inspect paragraph pairing and language attributes with the bilingual EPUB translation workflow.

Stress-Test Reflow, Fonts, and Scripts

Translation changes length and may introduce an entirely different character set.

For reflowable books:

• test narrow and wide viewports;
• increase and decrease font size;
• change orientation, theme, and typeface where supported;
• inspect long headings, lists, tables, captions, and block quotes;
• confirm custom CSS can be overridden without making the book unintelligible; and
• look for fixed heights, clipping, overlap, forced justification, and excessive whitespace.

For CJK, Arabic, Hebrew, Indic, Cyrillic, and mixed-script content, test glyph coverage, combining marks, shaping, punctuation, numbers, emphasis styles, and fallback fonts. A font that covers regular text may lack the bold or italic glyphs used by the book.

For RTL editions, verify both paragraph direction and book progression. Do not reverse character order or add manual spaces to force one screenshot to look correct.

Check Images, Alt Text, and Text Inside Images

Confirm every source image intended for the edition remains present, correctly referenced, and paired with the right caption. Review target-language alternative text where the image needs it. Do not translate a filename and break its link.

Text embedded in images is a separate production task. Inventory covers, diagrams, screenshots, maps, charts, and illustrated labels. Decide whether each should remain, be localized, or be recreated. A translated body does not make an untranslated diagram usable.

Inspect image legibility in grayscale when e-ink readers are in scope and at the smallest supported screen. Keep source files and rights evidence for any recreated asset.

Test Search, Selection, and Text-to-Speech

Where the target reading system supports them:

• search for distinctive translated phrases in the opening, middle, and final chapter;
• select and copy text to confirm it is real text rather than an image;
• test pronunciation at a target-language passage;
• test a mixed-language name or quotation;
• confirm headings and navigation are exposed in a useful order; and
• check whether language changes are marked at the right scope.

These are behavior checks, not universal EPUB guarantees. Record the app or device and version with each result.

Run the Final Reader Matrix

Structural QA finishes with delivery testing. Amazon recommends Kindle Previewer for device, orientation, font, and feature views. Kobo's testing instructions tell publishers to inspect the Kobo-processed EPUB in Kobo apps or an eReader. Apple documents adding an EPUB as a proof in Apple Books Publisher.

Test the exact final candidate in every environment required by the release plan. Use the dedicated Kindle, Kobo, and Apple Books test matrix when those three platforms are in scope.

Final EPUB Translation Release Gate

Release only when:

• the candidate and evidence identify the same build;
• EPUBCheck has no unresolved release-blocking errors;
• manifest, spine, navigation, and metadata match the intended edition;
• content inventory shows no missing, duplicated, or untranslated material;
• notes and cross-references resolve in both directions;
• terminology, numbers, names, and target-language prose pass review;
• fonts, scripts, reflow, images, and accessibility requirements pass;
• every required reading system passes the final matrix; and
• all blocker and major defects are fixed and rechecked.

Use BookTranslator's EPUB translator to produce a complete-file translated draft when that is the next step. The output is the start of this release process, not evidence that language, package, and retailer QA have already passed.