Accessibility

Built to be usable by everyone.

This site targets WCAG 2.1 Level AA. The specifics, so you can hold us to them:

• Keyboard first: every interactive element is reachable and operable by keyboard; a skip link jumps past navigation; focus is always visibly indicated
• Dialogs behave: the item viewer is a real modal: focus moves into it, returns to where you were when it closes, and Esc always exits
• Contrast: body text, links, and controls meet or exceed the 4.5:1 WCAG AA ratio; we re-measure on every palette change
• Announced changes: search results and live counts are announced through screen-reader live regions
• No motion without consent: animations are disabled when your system requests reduced motion
• Works when scripts don't: every page reads fully with JavaScript off; search and embedded players are enhancements, not requirements, and every item links to its archive.org record
• Scales and prints: the layout reflows at 400% zoom, and a print stylesheet produces clean citations

An honest limit on our media

Our mission is bit-exact preservation: we mirror archival files byte for byte and deliberately do not modify them. That means we cannot add captions, transcripts, or descriptions to a 1924 disc transfer; doing so would break the chain of custody that makes the mirror trustworthy. Where a source institution provides accessible versions (transcripts, described media), our records link to them directly.

Found a barrier?

Tell us and it becomes a fix, not a shrug. Reach us through the message button on our archive.org account page and describe the page and what did not work.