Project Gutenberg Accessibility Conformance Report
WCAG Edition(Based on VPAT® Version 2.5Rev)
Name of Product/Version: Project Gutenberg Website
Report Date:
4/24/2026
Product Description:
This report covers 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 does not include the books themselves, delivered in multiple formats, some of which are 99% accessible, others which are not accessible. See separate VPATs for plain text, EPUB3 and HTML Ebooks. 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 website was tested using the WAVE tool at https://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:
| Criteria | Conformance Level | Remarks and Explanations |
|---|---|---|
| 1.1.1 Non-text Content (Level A) | Supports | |
| 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 | |
| 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) | Supports | |
| 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) | Supports | |
| 3.2.2 On Input (Level A) | Supports | |
| 3.2.6 Consistent Help (Level A 2.2 only) | Supports | |
| 3.3.1 Error Identification (Level A) | Supports | |
| 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (Level A) | Supports | |
| 3.3.7 Redundant Entry (Level A 2.2 only) | Supports | |
| 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) | Supports | |
| 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (Level AA) | Supports | |
| 1.4.4 Resize text (Level AA) | Supports | |
| 1.4.5 Images of Text (Level AA) | Supports | |
| 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) | Supports | |
| 1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus (Level AA 2.1 and 2.2) | Supports | |
| 2.4.5 Multiple Ways (Level AA) | Supports | |
| 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (Level AA) | Supports | |
| 2.4.7 Focus Visible (Level AA) | Supports | |
| 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured (Minimum) (Level AA 2.2 only) | Supports | |
| 2.5.7 Dragging Movements (Level AA 2.2 only) | Supports | |
| 2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum) (Level AA 2.2 only) | Supports | |
| 3.1.2 Language of Parts (Level AA) | Supports | |
| 3.2.3 Consistent Navigation (Level AA) | Supports | |
| 3.2.4 Consistent Identification (Level AA) | Supports | |
| 3.3.3 Error Suggestion (Level AA) | Supports | |
| 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) | Supports |
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 | |
| 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) | Partially Supports | Foreground and background colors can’t be selected by the user |
| 1.4.9 Images of Text (No Exception) (Level AAA) | Supports | |
| 2.1.3 Keyboard (No Exception) (Level AAA) | Supports | |
| 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) | Does Not Support | |
| 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) | Supports | |
| 2.4.13 Focus Appearance (Level AAA 2.2 only) | Supports | |
| 2.5.5 Target Size (Level AAA 2.1 and 2.2) | Supports | |
| 2.5.6 Concurrent Input Mechanisms (Level AAA 2.1 and 2.2) | Not applicable | |
| 3.1.3 Unusual Words (Level AAA) | Not Evaluated | |
| 3.1.4 Abbreviations (Level AAA) | Not Evaluated | Is EPUB an Abbreviation? |
| 3.1.5 Reading Level (Level AAA) | Not Evaluated | |
| 3.1.6 Pronunciation (Level AAA) | Not Evaluated | |
| 3.2.5 Change on Request (Level AAA) | Not applicable | |
| 3.3.5 Help (Level AAA) | Partially Supports | Help on search and file formats |
| 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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