What "conformant" can honestly mean
why nobody serious claims fully automatic compliance
Automated tools find problems. They do not decide whether a picture of a woman at a window is a portrait, a plot point, or decoration. Alt text is an editorial judgment about meaning, and no validator can make it.
What a machine can honestly assert
- This file passes EPUBCheck with zero errors.
- This file declares a language on every content document.
- This file has a navigation document, and a page list that matches its print page markers.
- These images now carry text alternatives.
What only a person can assert
That the text alternatives are true and useful. That is why a conformance claim in Reflow (dcterms:conformsTo, plus a11y:certifiedBy carrying a real name) is only ever written after a human has reviewed every image, and why the certifier named in the file is your imprint, never Reflow.
The honest phrasing
If some findings remain open, say so in the accessibilitySummary. A summary that names what is still outstanding is worth more to a reader, and to a procurement officer, than a claim that cannot survive a question.