Library Vendor E-Resources Accessibility Options: Screen Readers, Text-to-Speech and Navigation Features

Users of Alexander Street should be able to:

• Navigate most of the website using just a keyboard. 
• Go directly to main content areas on the page using skip links.
• Listen to most of the website using a screen reader.
• Access fully searchable transcripts and captions for most video content.
• See track lists for all audio files
• Navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
• Zoom in up to 200% using browser tools without text spilling off screen.

There may be some parts of this website that are not fully accessible:

• Some features on pages are not easily accessible with a keyboard
• Not all PDFs on this site are entirely readable by screen readers 
• A small portion of the content which was provided to us from our vendors can’t be guaranteed to follow accessibility guidelines for color contrast, flashing content, or PDF coding guidelines
• Text descriptions of audio files are not available
• There may be cases where headings are not included or heading levels are skipped.
• Some of our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard
• Skip links are not focused on page load
• Some image links don’t have enough visual contrast to indicate when they are on focus.

Gale’s platforms are designed to support users with visual, hearing, mobility or cognitive impairments, and any users accessing via keyboard-only inputs or assistive technologies. We employ ARIA (Accessibility for Rich Internet Applications) to enhance navigation, orientation and labelling for users of screen readers and other assistive technology. Our platforms do not convey information or meaning using color only: whenever color is used to convey information, it is paired with an alternative method of conveyance. Color contrast for platform elements is always 4.5:1 or greater: however, documents may include images of tables, charts and graphs that do not meet minimum contrast standards. In the majority of cases, users are able to: 

• Read articles in HTML text which supports re-sizing and reflowability. All documents in OneFile, In Context and Gale eBooks are available as HTML, as are most documents in Gale Literature and Gale Business Insights. These files are all free of DRM (Digital Rights Management).

• Change font, font sizes, font spacing and color contrast, either via browser controls or via a dedicated toolbar which is available at the top of every HTML article. This feature applies changes to the article text only, and the chosen font size persists throughout the user’s session. 

• Use the ‘Adjust Image’ feature in Gale Primary Sources to change the contrast or invert colours of document images

• Zoom in up to 200% using the browser zoom function without requiring horizontal scrolling

• Read OCR (Optical Character Recognition) text for the majority of Gale Primary Sources archives

• Use a keyboard to navigate the site without encountering keyboard traps

• Use a screen reader to access text, either via a third-party application or using the built-in Readspeaker functionality which is accessible in the article toolbar for all HTML articles (see the Readspeaker Support Page for further details and guidance). Users can also use built-in browser functionality (e.g. the Edge browser’s text-to-speech features) or browser plugins for Chrome or Firefox (note: users are responsible for checking the suitability and safety of any plugin before installing).

• Skip to main content to avoid repetitive links

• Read page titles which are consistent and descriptive, allowing users to immediately grasp what the contents of the page are 

• Easily navigate the site using consistently tagged structural elements such as headings and ARIA regions to ensure correct reading order, and correctly named links

• Use predictive search (search assist) to see recommended search terms 

• Use forms which have correct field labels and easily understandable error messages

• Download PDFs where available, with no Digital Rights Management (DRM) restrictions on copying or printing functionality. Users who require full book files can contact Accessibility.Gale@cengage.com and any PDFs provided will also be DRM-free.

• Access transcripts and closed captions of video and audio content.

Access alt text for images: where provided by the publishers, this is fully supported by the Gale platform.

Cengage Group Accessibility Policy
Accessibility | Cengage Group - Cengage Group – Cengage

The ProQuest Platform is home to many databases. These databases can be searched separately or together using the same interface. Regardless of which database(s) you use on the ProQuest Platform, you should be able to:

• Navigate the website using just a keyboard or speech recognition software.
• Go directly to main content areas on the page using skip links.
• Listen to the website using a screen reader.
• Navigate page content using headings.
• Access fully searchable transcripts and captions for the majority of video content.
• Request on-demand an accessible, textual version of image-based text content.
• View and manipulate images using keyboard-accessible controls.
• Adjust color contrast in browser settings. ProQuest style guides specify using colors that meet minimum contrast specifications.
• Zoom in up to 400% using browser tools without text spilling off screen.

Some of the content is not fully accessible:

• Some PDF documents provided by publishers are not optimized for accessibility.
• A small portion of our image-based content does not have an accessible equivalent option.
• While alternative text is present for images and icons within the user interface, there may not be alternative text for every image within an article. The ProQuest Platform supports image descriptions if provided by the publisher.
• There may be cases where headings are not included or heading levels are skipped.
• Some video or audio-only content doesn't have transcripts. Most videos do not have audio descriptions.

Specific guidance for visually impaired users

Reading order
Reading order follows the visual order of the content and uses a left-to-right, top-to-bottom convention.

Navigating by page section
Each page on Sage Research Methods is divided into landmarks so that the layout of the page can be perceived by assistive technologies. As well as using the skip link on each page to bypass repetitive elements, if you use a screen reader you can use these landmarks to scan and navigate the page. Useful landmarks include:

Banner: The site's global header contains a link to the homepage, navigation menus, a search function and a login menu.
Main: The main content of the page. Structurally, this is always the first landmark after the banner landmark.
Navigation: Navigation elements, such as the browse menus.
Complementary: Content that is separate but supplements the main content, for example related content and chapter tools.
Content info: The site's footer where useful site-wide information, such as policies and contact information, can be found.
Region: The site also contains miscellaneous named regions, such as 'Also from Sage Publishing' which links to other Sage products.
Search: Functionality that enables the user to search the site. On search results pages, filters are contained in a search landmark with the name ‘Quick filters’ so they can be accessed or bypassed easily.

Navigating by heading
Attention has been given to each page's semantic structure (i.e. its h1 to h6 tags) to ensure that headings are descriptive and useful. For instance, on search results pages the results begin with an h2 tag reading 'Search results', and each individual result is marked with an h3 tag so you can easily skip through them.

Color contrast
All text on the platform meets minimum recommended contrast ratios against the background. This is 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text. If you still have trouble reading text on the site, the next section contains information about changing the text size. Alternatively, you may find it helpful to use a browser extension to specify your own color combinations, such as Change Colors for Chrome.

Text size and magnification
You can change the size and style of text by altering the default font settings in your browser, or you can alternatively use your browser's zoom functionality. Sage Research Methods uses responsive design (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsive_web_design), so changing the zoom level in your browser will reflow the layout of the page: as you zoom in or out, the page will rearrange itself to use your screen space in the best way. PDFs downloaded from Sage Research Methods support zoom and magnification. As all PDFs have embedded, selectable text, all text can be reflowed in Adobe Acrobat Reader DC and other PDF readers.

Text alternatives for visual content
Navigational images and icons, as well as many images in the content itself, contain useful alternative text. When alt text and long descriptions are available in the content, these are rendered in the interface. Some titles, particularly older ones, do not have text alternatives available for figures and other graphics. If you encounter an image that does not have a text alternative, and you need one, you can request alternative text for specific images by emailing online.accessibility@sagepub.com.

Images that are decorative or incidental are given a 'null' alt attribute so they are properly ignored by screen readers.

Audio descriptions are available on Sage Research Methods for videos published from 2020 onwards.

Screen reader compatibility
Our site is designed to follow a logical reading order and semantic structure rather than work with any specific screen reader. However, we test our site with the following combinations:

• JAWS and Chrome

• NVDA and Firefox

• VoiceOver and Safari

JSTOR's website is accessible to users with disabilities, including persons using a keyboard and those with visual and cognitive impairments.

Measures have been taken to ensure that users are able to:

• Resize text, adjust text spacing, and change fonts by adjusting browser settings (for example, this can be done in the appearance settings in Chrome or in Firefox’s preferences).
• Have sufficient color contrast on all areas of the site. You can change colors by adjusting the browser settings. Typically, this can be done in the appearance settings, such as the font and color preferences in Firefox. There are also plug-ins that work with certain browsers, such as Change Colors on Google Chrome.
• Navigate the website using just a keyboard and access all interactive elements.
• Skip directly to main content and skip long lists of links.
• Zoom in at least 200%. Text will reflow so it can be presented without loss of information or functionality.
• Use the content in any desired orientation. Both landscape and portrait layouts will work responsively with the content.
• Listen and use the website with a screen reader (ex. NVDA, VoiceOver, JAWS). All functionality within the JSTOR platform is accessible to these technologies.
• Understand page hierarchy due to proper heading structure and the reading order being set correctly.
• Utilize text-to-speech tools on the platform and with PDF content. There are many browser plug-in tools (such as Natural Reader for Chrome) that work on JSTOR. Some technology has text-to-speech software built into the device’s accessibility settings.
• Access alternative text for images that are a part of the interface. Content contributed directly by JSTOR participating institutions and users (referred to as Community Collections) will display any supplied alternative text and descriptions of content.
• Understand link destinations without surrounding context.

To access the full text of articles either choose PDF from the results list or click on the article title and then choose PDF.  If a PDF is not sufficiently tagged, JSTOR can manually tag PDFs. For more information see the JSTOR's accessibility policies.

Wiley's commitment to accessibility:
Accessibility - Wiley Online Library
 

Wiley measures accessibility according to the standards set by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 A/AA, Revised Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act, and EN 301 549.

• Key support features include:

  • Alternative text equivalents for platform images

  • Headings and labels that describe a topic and/or identify a purpose

  • Content that can be operated with a keyboard without requiring specific timings for individual keystrokes

  • Content that does not restrict its view and operation to a single display orientation

  • Consistent navigation

  • A user authentication process that does not rely on a cognitive function test