Nanoc is a flexible Ruby static site generator with 2.3K+ GitHub stars — rule-driven compilation pipeline, support for ERB/Haml/AsciiDoc/Markdown, built-in link and HTML validation — but it has no WCAG accessibility audit, no Core Web Vitals scoring, and no post-deployment health monitoring. PageGuard audits the live deployed URL of any Nanoc site externally — free, no Ruby toolchain needed, results in 30 seconds.
ADA Title II Deadline: April 24, 2026
State and local government websites must meet WCAG 2.1 AA by April 24, 2026. Nanoc is used by government agencies, academic institutions, and research organizations for technical documentation and publication sites — many facing real ADA compliance obligations. ERB and Haml layouts may lack ARIA landmark roles, Markdown content filters may not preserve image alt text, AsciiDoc compilation can produce inaccessible table markup, custom helper methods may generate interactive components without keyboard support, and hand-crafted CSS may fail color contrast requirements. Nanoc's built-in nanoc check validates HTML and internal links but cannot audit WCAG compliance. Layout changes and filter updates can silently introduce accessibility regressions. PageGuard evaluates the fully rendered Nanoc site externally without modifying your Rules file or Ruby source.
nanoc check validates internal links, stale output files, and HTML validity (via W3C validator gem); custom checkers extensible as Ruby classes; selective recompilation of changed items only for faster builds on large sites
| Feature | PageGuard | Nanoc |
|---|---|---|
| What is it? | External website health monitor — scans any URL for performance, accessibility, SEO, and best practices | Flexible Ruby-based static site generator using a rule-driven compilation system — content items processed through filters, layouts, and routing rules defined in a Rules file; no fixed directory structure; highly customizable pipeline; supports ERB, Haml, Slim, Markdown, AsciiDoc, and any content transformation; 2.3K+ GitHub stars; popular for technical documentation, academic sites, and projects requiring custom content workflows |
| Free tier | ✓ Yes — unlimited one-off scans, no signup required | Free and open source (MIT license); requires Ruby; install via gem install nanoc; define compilation rules in Rules file specifying filters (Markdown→HTML, Sass→CSS), layouts, and routing patterns; run nanoc compile to build output; nanoc live for development server with live reload; nanoc check to validate internal links, stale files, and HTML validity; deploy static output/ to any web host |
| Accessibility audit (WCAG / ADA) | ✓ Yes — WCAG 2.1 AA scored 0–100 with specific issue list | No — Nanoc compiles content through a pipeline of Ruby filters and ERB/Haml layouts into static HTML files but has no built-in WCAG or ADA accessibility auditing; accessibility quality depends entirely on the HTML markup in ERB/Haml layouts, the output of content filters applied to Markdown/AsciiDoc sources, any JavaScript added via Nanoc's asset pipeline, and whether layout authors have implemented correct ARIA attributes, heading hierarchy, skip-navigation links, and color contrast in their templates |
| Technical SEO audit | ✓ Yes — meta tags, headings, canonical, structured data | No — Nanoc has no built-in SEO audit; meta tags, Open Graph tags, canonical URLs, and structured data must be manually added to ERB/Haml layouts or via helper methods; sitemap.xml requires a custom Rules entry and ERB template; no automated detection of missing meta descriptions, duplicate page titles, broken canonical URLs, or invalid structured data in compiled output |
| Performance audit (Core Web Vitals) | ✓ Yes — LCP, CLS, FCP scored 0–100 per scan | No — Nanoc outputs static HTML/CSS/JS with no built-in Core Web Vitals measurement; performance depends on CSS/JS filter pipeline configuration, image optimization (nanoc-image-processor or manual), JavaScript bundle size from any added asset pipeline, CDN or hosting provider delivery speed; no automated LCP, CLS, or FCP scoring for deployed Nanoc sites |
| Rule-driven compilation pipeline | No — PageGuard is a monitoring tool, not a site generator | ✓ Yes — Nanoc's primary advantage is its flexible Rules file: define exactly which filter chain to apply to each content item (e.g., :kramdown for Markdown posts, :asciidoctor for AsciiDoc docs, :sass for stylesheets, :erb for HTML templates), specify routing patterns, and compose layout hierarchies; no enforced directory structure; create custom filters as Ruby classes; process data from YAML, JSON, CSV, or external APIs as Nanoc data sources; compile a single item, a pattern of items, or the full site selectively |
| Built-in content validation | No — PageGuard is a standalone monitoring service | ✓ Yes — nanoc check provides built-in validators: internal_links (detect broken internal hrefs), stale_files (find output files no longer generated), html (W3C HTML validity via the w3c_validators gem); checks can be configured to run automatically before deployment; custom checkers can be written as Ruby classes extending Nanoc::Check; helps catch broken links and HTML errors during the build phase before publishing |
| Automated website monitoring | ✓ Yes — weekly or daily scans with email alerts on score drop | No — Nanoc is a static site generator; it has no post-deployment health monitoring, accessibility regression alerts, uptime checks, or score tracking for the sites it compiles |
| AI-generated plain-English report | ✓ Yes — explains issues in non-technical language | No — no AI health report for sites built with Nanoc |
| ADA Title II compliance monitoring | ✓ Yes — WCAG audit + alert on accessibility regression | No — Nanoc does not audit or alert on WCAG compliance; common accessibility issues in Nanoc sites include: ERB and Haml layouts missing ARIA landmark roles (header, main, nav, footer), Markdown content rendered without preserving alt text for images or generating proper heading hierarchy, custom ERB helper methods generating interactive components without keyboard operability, AsciiDoc content compiled without ARIA-friendly table and figure markup, any JavaScript added through Nanoc's asset pipeline introducing focus traps or missing ARIA live regions, and color contrast issues in hand-crafted CSS stylesheets — all of which require external runtime validation on the deployed production site rather than compile-time checking |
| Works on any platform | ✓ Yes — scans any URL on any front-end or platform | No — Nanoc compiles your own site only; it does not audit sites built by others or using different frameworks |
| Independent external audit | ✓ Yes — third-party scan, shareable URL for clients/stakeholders | No — no built-in tool to generate a shareable external health report for a Nanoc-compiled site |
| Instant on-demand scan | ✓ Yes — results in 30 seconds, no code changes needed | No — no on-demand health scan; external auditing of Nanoc sites requires separate tools like Lighthouse or axe after deployment |
| Multi-site dashboard | ✓ Yes — 1–50 sites depending on plan | Nanoc compiles individual sites; there is no health monitoring dashboard showing accessibility, SEO, and performance scores across multiple Nanoc-compiled deployments |
| Pricing for health monitoring | ✓ Free + from $9/mo for automated monitoring | Health monitoring not available — Nanoc is a static site generator, not a website health monitoring tool |
Get the WCAG accessibility score and Core Web Vitals for your deployed Nanoc site. Results in 30 seconds. No Ruby environment or Rules file access required.
Results in ~30 seconds. 4 scores: Performance, Accessibility, SEO, Best Practices.
Yes — PageGuard scans the live deployed URL of any Nanoc-compiled site and evaluates the rendered HTML output. Enter the public URL and receive a full health report in ~30 seconds covering Core Web Vitals, WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility, technical SEO, and best practices. No Ruby environment, Gemfile, Rules file, or source code access is required.
Nanoc includes nanoc check for HTML validity and internal link checking, but has no WCAG compliance auditing. Common accessibility issues include ERB/Haml layouts lacking ARIA landmark roles, Markdown content without image alt text, AsciiDoc tables without accessible markup, custom helper methods generating non-keyboard-operable interactive elements, and CSS color contrast issues. PageGuard audits your live Nanoc site and provides a WCAG 2.1 AA score with specific accessibility issues to fix.
Nanoc is used by government agencies, academic institutions, and research organizations for technical documentation and publication sites — many facing ADA Title II compliance requirements by April 24, 2026. Layout updates, filter configuration changes, and content additions can introduce accessibility regressions that nanoc check cannot detect. PageGuard evaluates the fully rendered page after each deployment and provides email alerts when accessibility scores drop, without requiring changes to your Rules file or Ruby source code.
No — they serve completely different purposes. Nanoc is a flexible rule-driven static site generator ideal for developers who need precise control over content processing pipelines, custom filter chains, and complex routing patterns for documentation or publishing sites. PageGuard is an external quality monitoring tool for the deployed output of those sites. Organizations publishing with Nanoc should use PageGuard to continuously monitor accessibility compliance, SEO health, and Core Web Vitals performance after each compilation and deployment.