One hundred and forty-two alt texts for the wrong book
- Wrong texts
- 14271 per language, counted in the delivered EPUB files
- Time standing
- 18 daysImages replaced 15 Aug, corrected 2 Sep — both dates from version history
- Visible to
- nobodyAn alt text is read aloud, not looked at
- Found by
- outsideNot by the check that was built for it
In both editions of the crime novel The Fourth Page, the chapter images carried alt texts describing the motif of a different book — tap code and ice, that is, The Voice Under the Ice.
Why nobody noticed
Anyone leafing through the book sees the right image. Anyone having it read aloud hears the wrong one. The image strip itself had been replaced on 15 August — cleanly, completely, verified against the delivered file. Only the text beneath it stayed.
What the real problem was
Not the error. Its half.
The correction had been carried out, on the visible half — and so everything anyone would look at was correct. A half-finished correction is more dangerous than one left undone: the visible part covers the invisible part, and the inspection is satisfied by the half.
What we changed
The default is now silent. Where a description used to stand that was true of one particular book, it now reads “Chapter mark.” — a statement true of every book, which therefore cannot become false. The precise description comes from the build command for that volume, and the build speaks up when it is missing.
The check no longer sits in a checklist but in the build. A checklist does not get held up against a new volume. The build always runs.