Add an HTML cover when you want to be able to see it by paging back to page 1 (if you place it at the beginning). If I remember correctly, for ePub 2 there's no spec-sanctioned way to add a cover image, the '<meta name="cover"...>' tag is a de facto standard, but a renderer is not required to do anything special with that. Also some readers don't show covers anywhere, so if you want to make sure the cover is seen/displayed anywhere, add an HTML page with the image.
Similarly, add an HTML toc when you want to make sure it is displayed by paging back and forth, or when it requires special formatting. (Disclaimer: this is for ePub 2, the ePub 3 toc is an HTML page, as far as I know, but I'm not sure about the details of how/when/where it is shown.) If you have a fancy toc with images, summaries, complex structure, etc. you may need a full-blown HTML to show it, and the NCX is only a poor substitute (but required).
For example, I always include an HTML cover, and in the
1001 Nights I included not one, but two HTML tocs, to show the structure by nights and by stories.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fbrzvnrnd
I don't think an EPUB could be validated without a TOC.
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But (at least for ePub 2) that's an NCX toc, not an HTML one, which is what the question is about.