Accessibility Guide to Library Eresources: Vendors A-B

Resource type: Bibliographic database with some full text

Web accessibility standard: 

Instructions for screen reader users

Before entering the database it is necessary to accept the terms and conditions. JAWS does read these automatically. Once heard you can press tab to highlight ‘I accept the above terms’ then enter. The default is to search The ACM Digital Library rather than The Guide,  which is correct, but the search box on the homepage is labelled as The Guide Edit. If your links list your search results, the article title appears first, followed by the full text in PDF and sometimes HTML format.

View the HTML version if available as the PDF files are often without headings and therefore hard to navigate. Before you can download any full text item you will need to disable your pop up blocker as full text opens in a new window.  Use Adobe Reader to convert the PDF, although it still may not read in a linear way. Articles can also be converted to a more accessible format using OCR (Optical Character Recognition) equipment.

Resource type: Journals 

Web accessibility standard: 

Instructions for screen reader users:

No information (September 2016)

Resource type: Database, full text

Web accessibility standard: All pages delivered will be valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional, as defined by the W3C

Instructions for screen reader and keyboard users:

Blackwell Reference Online Access Keys

Resource type: Video, journals, ebooks

Web accessibility standard:

Instructions for screen reader users and deaf or hard of hearing users:

This database contains video clips which do not have transcripts or subtitles. Some synopses of content are provided.

To play a video screen reader users will need to list headings on the page, choose 'Download options' and tab through the list of formats. The appropriate option can then be selected.

Screenonline - There are no transcripts or subtitles available for the videos, but there are synopses.

Database: Instructions for keyboard and screen reader users and if you need to change the background colour:

Keyboard only users cannot access the references in the results list, carry out an advanced search or browse. Please contact the Library Helpdesk for help with accessing content. Changing the background colour makes some icons disappear, so to access the full text from the results list, select the standard.

Using a screen reader, the easiest way to access the full text PDF is to select the standard number on the results page and then the Download PDF link.

Accessibility issues
Instructions for keyboard and screen reader users and if you need to change the background colour:

Keyboard only users cannot access the references in the results list, carry out an advanced search or browse. Please contact the Library Helpdesk for help with accessing content. Changing the background colour makes some icons disappear, so to access the full text from the results list, select the standard.

Using a screen reader, the easiest way to access the full text PDF is to select the standard number on the results page and then the Download PDF link.

Database: Instructions for screen reader and keyboard users:

Full text is provided in HTML or PDF or in some cases both formats. Use the HTML version when available, as the accessibility of PDFs to screen reader users varies.

Articles can be listened to and the audio downloaded using ReadSpeaker. Choose the Listen link in the HTML full text record of an article to hear the audio file . If you use ReadSpeaker with a screen reader to stop the audio, list the links on the page and select Stop.

Keyboard users: To refine your search it is quicker to access the Search Options on the search pages rather than the Refine Results option on the results page. On the results page, to close the Relevance, Page Options and Share drop down boxes if you don't want to select any of the options in the list, tab back up to heading and press Enter.

Accessibility issues
Instructions for screen reader and keyboard users:

Full text is provided in HTML or PDF or in some cases both formats. Use the HTML version when available, as the accessibility of PDFs to screen reader users varies.

Articles can be listened to and the audio downloaded using ReadSpeaker. Choose the Listen link in the HTML full text record of an article to hear the audio file . If you use ReadSpeaker with a screen reader to stop the audio, list the links on the page and select Stop.

Keyboard users: To refine your search it is quicker to access the Search Options on the search pages rather than the Refine Results option on the results page. On the results page, to close the Relevance, Page Options and Share drop down boxes if you don't want to select any of the options in the list, tab back up to heading and press Enter.