Accessibility Information on our Ebooks

Please note that all accessibility claims are based on the publisher’s metadata declarations about the properties of their ebooks. However, we cannot guarantee these features can be accessed on library vendor platforms or the reading software created by those platforms. If you cannot access the features in the ebook, please contact the library vendor platform.

If you believe the accessibility claims made on a specific ebook are incorrect, please contact us.

What are the accessibility filters?

These options come from the User Experience Guide for Displaying Accessibility Metadata 2.0 guidelines.

Accepted accessibility standards
Minimum accessibility standards
Supports Nonvisual Reading
Supports Visual Adjustments

“Minimum accessibility standards” indicates that the book meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) level A or adheres to the EPUB Accessibility standard. or E“Accepted accessibility standards” meets WCAG’s level AA or EPUB Accessibility 1.1. Click here to learn more about WCAG and click here to learn more about EPUB Accessiblity, or read on for a glossary of terms.

“Supports Nonvisual Reading” indicates that the book is fully available to text-to-speech and screenreader functionalities (including a requirement for alt-text etc.).

“Supports Visual Adjustments” indicates that (depending on the reading system) readers can adjust layout, font and text size.

Accessibility Glossary

Here’s a handy guide to demystify accessibility terms:

When it says...	What it means...
EPUB	Stands for electronic publication. An EPUB is a file format used for eBooks.
Reflowable	In a reflowable EPUB, the layout is customizable and can be adjusted to fit the size of the screen. Font-size and colour are also adjustable.
Fixed-Layout	In a fixed-layout EPUB, the layout is not customizable. Fixed-layout format is suitable for books where layout is as important as content, such as cookbooks, picture books, and graphic novels.
WCAG 2.2 Level AA	The latest version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines from the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium). Level AA establishes a level of accessibility which should work with most assistive technology on desktop and mobile devices.
EPUB Accessibility Specification 1.1	This specification identifies the conformance requirements for verifying the accessibility of an EPUB.
Born Accessible	An eBook that is accessible from day 1 and does not have to be remediated post-production to include accessibility features.
Benetech Certified	Refers to a publisher or eBook production vendor who has gone through Benetech’s GCA (Global Certified Accessible) program to certify their workflow and ensure the production of born accessible eBooks.
Table of Contents	This allows readers to navigate to the major sections of the book.
Reading Order	This ensures that readers can navigate through content in a logical order that is consistent with the meaning of the content.
Print-equivalent page numbering	This allows eBook readers to reference passages especially for academic work or to follow along with print readers and easily find what others are referencing.
Alt-text/Alternative textual descriptions	Alternative text, or Alt-text, is text that is used in place of visual content (e.g., pictures, charts, graphs, etc.) for those who cannot view the non-text content.
Structural Navigation	Indicates that all headings are properly marked up and allows users of assistive technology to quickly navigate through the different heading levels.
Use of Colour	Ensures that colour is not used as the only visual means of conveying information, indicating an action, prompting a response, or distinguishing a visual element. When colours are used as the sole method for identifying screen elements, controls, or giving instructions, persons who are blind, colour blind, or have low vision may find the information unusable.
High Contrast Display	Providing maximum contrast between the content and the background allows for the text to be legible for anyone with low vision or colour deficiencies.
Language Tagging	The language of the eBook’s text has been specified and phrases or words in different languages have been marked up with the appropriate language codes. Both of these optimize text-to-speech functionality in eBook reading applications.
ARIA Roles	ARIA stands for Accessible Rich Internet Applications. ARIA roles organize and improve the structural navigation within an EPUB by identifying key sections of the content for users of assistive technology.
Accessibility Summary	The accessibility summary is textual metadata within an EPUB that summarizes the book’s accessibility features, hazards, and other notable accessibility-related details.