Our commitment
We aim for our website, account area and emails to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at level AA. We treat accessibility as part of building every feature, not a final check, and we fix reported barriers as a priority.
Conformance status: partially conformant. We believe most of the site meets WCAG 2.2 AA, and we are working through the limitations listed below. We will update this statement after our independent audit, planned for [month year].
Reading comfort settings
Every page has a Reading comfort panel, reached from the Aa button in the header, the mobile menu, or the footer. You can:
- Change the text size to small, default, large or extra large. The whole layout scales with it.
- Turn on the easy-read font, which switches the site to Atkinson Hyperlegible, a typeface designed by the Braille Institute for low-vision readers, and replaces our handwritten notes with plain print.
- Choose lights on or off (light or dark theme), or match your device.
- Calm the motion. The site already follows your device’s reduced-motion setting. You can also turn animation off here, or switch it fully on.
- Turn on high contrast, which uses pure black and white, stronger lines and removes the paper texture.
- Always underline links.
- Turn paper sounds on or off. They’re off by default and never play without you doing something first.
What we’ve built in
- Semantic HTML with landmarks, a logical heading structure and a “Skip to content” link on every page.
- Everything works with a keyboard alone, with a clearly visible focus outline. Pop-up panels trap focus while open, close with Escape, and return focus where you were.
- Text and controls meet WCAG AA colour contrast in both light and dark themes. We never use colour alone to show meaning; states also have words or shapes.
- Buttons and links are at least 24 by 24 pixels, and most are 44 by 44.
- Forms have visible labels, helpful hints, and error messages that are announced by screen readers, linked to the field, and explain how to fix the problem. We keep what you’ve typed if something goes wrong.
- Logging in never requires a puzzle or memory test. You can paste passwords and codes, use a password manager, and two-step verification accepts pasted codes or recovery codes.
- Anything you can do by dragging or scratching has a button that does the same thing, such as revealing a gift card or clue.
- Moving content, like the ticker on the home page, can be paused and stops entirely when reduced motion is on.
- Updates that happen without a page reload, like saved settings or quiz results, are announced to screen readers.
- Help is in the same place on every page: the footer links to the FAQ, contact form and this page.
- Pages reflow to a single column at narrow widths and at 400% zoom without sideways scrolling.
- Our book covers are illustrations we generate from each title; they have text alternatives that give the title and author.
Accessible books
Choose Large print in the Sniff Test or your Taste settings and we’ll only send large-print editions. Our large-print stock is smaller, so your matches may lean on the titles we have; tell your curator in the notes field if there are authors you’d like us to look out for. You can also choose Paperbacks only if hardcovers are hard to hold.
We don’t currently offer audiobooks or braille editions. If you’d like them, tell us; it helps us decide what to add.
Compatibility
We test with the latest two versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari on desktop, Safari on iOS and Chrome on Android, with NVDA on Windows and VoiceOver on macOS and iOS. The site works without JavaScript for reading content; interactive features such as the Sniff Test and your account need JavaScript.
Payments take place on Stripe’s checkout pages, which Stripe designs to meet WCAG standards. Our emails use real text, not images of text, and work with images turned off.
Known limitations
- Barcode scanning in the Sniff Test and trade-in pages needs a camera and a browser that supports barcode detection. You can always type the ISBN instead.
- Handwritten notes are decorative and can be harder to read. The easy-read font setting replaces them with print.
- Book Passport notes are written by members and may contain spelling or abbreviations we don’t change.
- Printed clue tags in your box use small handwriting. The same clues are in your account in regular text, where you can enlarge them.
If you find something not on this list, please tell us.
How we test
We check every release with automated testing (axe-core), keyboard-only walk-throughs, screen reader testing, 200% and 400% zoom, and our own reduced-motion and high-contrast modes. This statement was prepared on October 25, 2026, based on a self-assessment. [Add independent audit details after launch.]
Tell us about a barrier
If anything on the site or in your box is hard to use, we want to know. We aim to reply within 2 business days and, where we can, to offer you another way to get what you need while we fix it.
- Email: [accessibility email]
- Use our contact form and choose “Something else”.
- Post: [Company legal name], [Business address]
Please tell us the page, what you were trying to do, and the device and assistive technology you use, if you’re comfortable sharing it.