Project Gutenberg Accessibility Conformance Report
WCAG Edition(Based on VPAT® Version 2.5Rev)
Name of Product/Version: Project Gutenberg HTML files
Report Date:
4/2t/2026
Product Description:
This report covers HTML ebook files on the Project Gutenberg website, which delivers over 75,000 free ebooks, most of them in the US public domain. Contact Information: a11y@pglaf.org
Notes:
This report covers HTML ebook files available on the Project Gutenberg website. HTML has many accessibility attributes and standards for Accessibility. The website also provides the same books in multiple formats, some of which are 99% accessible, others which are not accessible. See separate VPATs for plain text and EPUB3 Ebooks, along with the website itself. The website also offers PDF and EPUB2 files for the benefit of readers using older generation ebook readers. These are not generally accessible.
Project Gutenberg is a not-for-profit organization driven by volunteers. We welcome comments and improvements for our accessibility documentation, and we are committed to improving accessibility of our very large collection books that belong to all of us; we can only do that with help from volunteers. Maybe you, dear reader, will be one of those volunteers?
Evaluation Methods Used:
The HTML files on the Project Gutenberg website are generated using open source software called Ebookmaker, which is available for download on Github. The HTML files include accessibility metadata and are derived from source HTML3, XHTML4, and HTML(5) files uploaded by volunteers over the course of over 25 years. All files have been checked for validity with W3C standards by the W3C Nu Validator. We have recently begun checking accessibility attributes of these files using the WAVE checker available at wave.webaim.org.
Applicable Standards/Guidelines
This report covers the degree of conformance for the following accessibility standard/guidelines:
| Standard/Guideline | Included In Report |
|---|---|
| Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 | Level A (Yes) Level AA (Yes) Level AAA (No) |
Terms
The terms used in the Conformance Level information are defined as follows:
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Supports: The functionality of the product has at least one method that meets the criterion without known defects or meets with equivalent facilitation.
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Partially Supports: Some functionality of the product does not meet the criterion.
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Does Not Support: The majority of product functionality does not meet the criterion.
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Not Applicable: The criterion is not relevant to the product.
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Not Evaluated: The product has not been evaluated against the criterion. This can only be used in WCAG Level AAA criteria.
WCAG 2.x Report
Note: When reporting on conformance with the WCAG 2.x Success Criteria, they are scoped for full pages, complete processes, and accessibility-supported ways of using technology as documented in the WCAG 2.0 Conformance Requirements.
Table 1: Success Criteria, Level A
Notes: In a collection of over 75,000 books produced by hundreds of different volunteers, many books will succeed in AAA criteria, while some will fail for A criteria. While Project Gutenberg endeavors to update its entire collection to modern accessibility standards, it is not realistic to expect 100% compliance in the foreseeable future. Many books are compliant today; others are more problematic.
| Criteria | Conformance Level | Remarks and Explanations |
|---|---|---|
| 1.1.1 Non-text Content (Level A) | Partially Supports | Many images lack alt-text descriptions |
| 1.2.1 Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded) (Level A) | Not applicable | |
| 1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded) (Level A) | Not applicable | |
| 1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded) (Level A) | Not applicable | |
| 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A) | Supports | |
| 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence (Level A) | Supports | |
| 1.3.3 Sensory Characteristics (Level A) | Supports | |
| 1.4.1 Use of Color (Level A) | Supports | |
| 1.4.2 Audio Control (Level A) | Not applicable | |
| 2.1.1 Keyboard (Level A) | Supports | |
| 2.1.2 No Keyboard Trap (Level A) | Supports | |
| 2.1.4 Character Key Shortcuts (Level A 2.1 and 2.2) | Not applicable | |
| 2.2.1 Timing Adjustable (Level A) | Not applicable | |
| 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide (Level A) | Not applicable | |
| 2.3.1 Three Flashes or Below Threshold (Level A) | Not applicable | |
| 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks (Level A) | Supports | All books to support by May 31, 2026 |
| 2.4.2 Page Titled (Level A) | Supports | |
| 2.4.3 Focus Order (Level A) | Supports | |
| 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) (Level A) | Supports | |
| 2.5.1 Pointer Gestures (Level A 2.1 and 2.2) | Not applicable | |
| 2.5.2 Pointer Cancellation (Level A 2.1 and 2.2) | Not applicable | |
| 2.5.3 Label in Name (Level A 2.1 and 2.2) | Not applicable | |
| 2.5.4 Motion Actuation (Level A 2.1 and 2.2) | Not applicable | |
| 3.1.1 Language of Page (Level A) | Supports | |
| 3.2.1 On Focus (Level A) | Not applicable | |
| 3.2.2 On Input (Level A) | Not applicable | |
| 3.2.6 Consistent Help (Level A 2.2 only) | Not applicable | |
| 3.3.1 Error Identification (Level A) | Not applicable | |
| 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (Level A) | Not applicable | |
| 3.3.7 Redundant Entry (Level A 2.2 only) | Not applicable | |
| 4.1.1 Parsing (Level A) WCAG 2.0 and 2.1 – Always answer ‘Supports’ WCAG 2.2 (obsolete and removed) - Does not apply | Supports | For WCAG 2.0 and 2.1, the September 2023 errata update indicates this criterion is always supported. See the WCAG 2.0 Editorial Errata and the WCAG 2.1 Editorial Errata. |
| 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A) | Supports |
Table 2: Success Criteria, Level AA
Notes:
| Criteria | Conformance Level | Remarks and Explanations |
|---|---|---|
| 1.2.4 Captions (Live) (Level AA) | Not applicable | |
| 1.2.5 Audio Description (Prerecorded) (Level AA) | Not applicable | |
| 1.3.4 Orientation (Level AA 2.1 and 2.2) | Supports | |
| 1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose (Level AA 2.1 and 2.2) | Not applicable | |
| 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (Level AA) | Supports | A small number of books may present a small amount of insufficient contrast text. |
| 1.4.4 Resize text (Level AA) | Supports | A small number of books used fixed text size |
| 1.4.5 Images of Text (Level AA) | Partially Supports | Books more than 15 years old may need alt-text for images of text. |
| 1.4.10 Reflow (Level AA 2.1 and 2.2) | Supports | |
| 1.4.11 Non-text Contrast (Level AA 2.1 and 2.2) | Supports | |
| 1.4.12 Text Spacing (Level AA 2.1 and 2.2) | Partially Supports | Most books have appropriate spacing |
| 1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus (Level AA 2.1 and 2.2) | Not applicable | |
| 2.4.5 Multiple Ways (Level AA) | Not applicable | |
| 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (Level AA) | Supports | |
| 2.4.7 Focus Visible (Level AA) | Not applicable | |
| 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured (Minimum) (Level AA 2.2 only) | Not applicable | |
| 2.5.7 Dragging Movements (Level AA 2.2 only) | Not applicable | |
| 2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum) (Level AA 2.2 only) | Not applicable | |
| 3.1.2 Language of Parts (Level AA) | Partially Supports | Older multilingual books may have incomplete language labelling. |
| 3.2.3 Consistent Navigation (Level AA) | Supports | Within each ebook. |
| 3.2.4 Consistent Identification (Level AA) | Supports | Within each ebook. |
| 3.3.3 Error Suggestion (Level AA) | Not applicable | |
| 3.3.4 Error Prevention (Legal, Financial, Data) (Level AA) | Not applicable | |
| 3.3.8 Accessible Authentication (Minimum) (Level AA 2.2 only) | Not applicable | |
| 4.1.3 Status Messages (Level AA 2.1 and 2.2) | Not applicable |
Table 3: Success Criteria, Level AAA
Notes:
| Criteria | Conformance Level | Remarks and Explanations |
|---|---|---|
| 1.2.6 Sign Language (Prerecorded) (Level AAA) | Not applicable | |
| 1.2.7 Extended Audio Description (Prerecorded) (Level AAA) | Not applicable | |
| 1.2.8 Media Alternative (Prerecorded) (Level AAA) | Not applicable | |
| 1.2.9 Audio-only (Live) (Level AAA) | Not applicable | |
| 1.3.6 Identify Purpose (Level AAA 2.1 and 2.2) | Supports | Music presented with native widgets |
| 1.4.6 Contrast (Enhanced) (Level AAA) | Partially Supports | Some text may not have AAA contrast |
| 1.4.7 Low or No Background Audio (Level AAA) | Not applicable | |
| 1.4.8 Visual Presentation (Level AAA) | Does Not Support | |
| 1.4.9 Images of Text (No Exception) (Level AAA) | Partially Supports | Supported in many books |
| 2.1.3 Keyboard (No Exception) (Level AAA) | Partially Supports | Supported in many books |
| 2.2.3 No Timing (Level AAA) | Not applicable | |
| 2.2.4 Interruptions (Level AAA) | Not applicable | |
| 2.2.5 Re-authenticating (Level AAA) | Not applicable | |
| 2.2.6 Timeouts (Level AAA 2.1 and 2.2) | Not applicable | |
| 2.3.2 Three Flashes (Level AAA) | Not applicable | |
| 2.3.3 Animation from Interactions (Level AAA 2.1 and 2.2) | Not applicable | |
| 2.4.8 Location (Level AAA) | Supports | Books are single pages |
| 2.4.9 Link Purpose (Link Only) (Level AAA) | Supports | |
| 2.4.10 Section Headings (Level AAA) | Supports | |
| 2.4.12 Focus Not Obscured (Enhanced) (Level AAA 2.2 only) | Not applicable | |
| 2.4.13 Focus Appearance (Level AAA 2.2 only) | Not applicable | |
| 2.5.5 Target Size (Level AAA 2.1 and 2.2) | Not applicable | |
| 2.5.6 Concurrent Input Mechanisms (Level AAA 2.1 and 2.2) | Not applicable | |
| 3.1.3 Unusual Words (Level AAA) | Not Evaluated | PG does not change words in books |
| 3.1.4 Abbreviations (Level AAA) | Not Evaluated | PG does not change abbreviations in books |
| 3.1.5 Reading Level (Level AAA) | Not Evaluated | PG does not rewrite books |
| 3.1.6 Pronunciation (Level AAA) | Not Evaluated | |
| 3.2.5 Change on Request (Level AAA) | Not applicable | |
| 3.3.5 Help (Level AAA) | Not applicable | |
| 3.3.6 Error Prevention (All) (Level AAA) | Not applicable | |
| 3.3.9 Accessible Authentication (Enhanced) (Level AAA 2.2 only) | Not applicable |
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