Accessibility
A book about working in the open should be readable by everyone. The ebook edition of Open and Async was built accessible from the first draft, not retrofitted — and I test it on every change.
Conformance status
The ebook (EPUB) edition conforms to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA and EPUB Accessibility 1.1 — the standards the European Accessibility Act points to for ebooks.
I verify conformance on every build with three independent tools: ACE by DAISY (the reference EPUB accessibility checker, reporting zero violations), axe-core for WCAG 2.1 AA (contrast verified in both light and dark reading modes), and EPUBCheck for structural validity. Conformance is self-certified by Open & Async LLC.
What the accessible edition provides
- Reflowable text
- You control the font, size, spacing, and colors. Nothing is locked to a fixed layout.
- Logical reading order
- Content follows a single, sensible order for screen readers and keyboard navigation.
- Full navigation
- A navigable table of contents plus next/previous structural navigation throughout.
- Semantic structure
- Real headings, lists, and landmarks (DPUB-ARIA roles) — not styling that only looks like structure.
- Image alt text
- Every meaningful image has a text description; purely decorative glyphs are marked so screen readers skip them.
- Light and dark modes
- Both themes meet the contrast threshold, and either can be overridden by your reading system.
- No hazards
- No flashing, motion, or sound. All content is text-based.
By format
Ebook (EPUB / Kindle) — the accessible edition described above, sold on Amazon, Apple Books, Kobo, and via Ingram. This is the recommended format for readers who use assistive technology.
Print paperback — a fixed 6×9″ page, so the reflow and screen-reader features above don’t apply. Readers who need them should choose the ebook.
Known limitations
I’d rather name these than pretend they don’t exist:
- The ebook does not yet include a page list mapping to the print edition’s page numbers, so citing a specific print page from the ebook isn’t possible.
- Translated editions (Portuguese, Spanish, German) are in preparation; their accessibility metadata is localized, but each edition’s conformance is confirmed at its own release, not before.
Tell me where I fell short
If something is hard to read or use — in any format, with any assistive technology — email accessibility@open-and-async.com. Tell me the format, your device and reading app, and what went wrong. I treat accessibility defects as bugs and aim to reply within five business days.
Last reviewed July 8, 2026.