Accessibility

PutOut is designed to be accessible out of the box. Your readers will be able to navigate and read your book regardless of how they browse the web.

What's Included

These accessibility features are built in automatically:

Skip-to-content link — Keyboard users can press Tab on any page to reveal a "Skip to content" link that jumps past the navigation straight to the chapter text
Keyboard navigation — Readers can Tab through all interactive elements, use arrow keys (← →) to move between chapters, and press Escape to close the sidebar menu
Screen reader support — Proper heading hierarchy, descriptive labels on all buttons and links, and landmark regions so screen readers can announce the page structure
Focus indicators — When navigating with the keyboard, a visible outline appears around the focused element, colored to match your accent color
Dark mode — Readers who need reduced brightness or prefer dark backgrounds can switch to dark mode using the footer toggle; Auto mode respects the operating system preference
Works without JavaScript — If a reader has JavaScript disabled, a banner at the top of the page lets them know that JavaScript enhances navigation. The page content is still fully readable
Print-friendly — When readers print a chapter page, navigation elements, sidebars, and buttons are automatically hidden, leaving just the chapter content

While PutOut handles the technical side of accessibility, the content you write matters too:

Use descriptive link text — Write "read the sourdough chapter" instead of "click here"
Use heading levels in order — Start your chapter content with ## H2 headings (the chapter title is already H1), then use ### H3 for subsections. Don't skip levels
Add alt text to images — When including images in your Markdown, describe what's shown:
```
![A golden-brown sourdough loaf on a cutting board](/assets/loaf.png)
```
Keep descriptions concise — Chapter descriptions should be clear summaries that make sense to anyone, including those using screen readers