Taylor & Francis has announced the completion of an extensive testing and development program to ensure its eBooks website (TaylorFrancis.com) is fully inclusive. The international research publisher’s platform has achieved the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) recommendations at a high level (AA), confirming it meets the requirements of users with a disability.
Taylor & Francis eBooks is a single-destination platform for over 125,000 books in science, technology, engineering, medical, humanities and social sciences. The focus of the latest development program was to make sure this key knowledge hub is accessible to researchers and readers regardless of any impairments.
Updates and testing were carried out with a range of website visitors in mind, including those with vision, hearing and mobility disabilities. Taylor & Francis’ team of developers and accessibility experts tested the site and its code according to the rigorous standards set out in the World Wide Web Consortium’s WCAG criteria; from keyboard navigation and page titles to use of color and link text.
Stacy Scott, Accessibility Officer at Taylor & Francis, said: “We’re delighted the eBooks site has achieved WCAG 2.1, the gold standard of accessibility requirements. This is the result of a collaborative effort by teams across Taylor & Francis, each with the same goal: inclusion for all. Reaching this milestone also means that libraries, who are often legally required meet their users’ accessibility needs, can confidently include Taylor & Francis eBooks in their holdings”.
Scott added: “Just because our eBooks platform now meets the international guidelines, that doesn’t mean that our accessibility team stops their work. We will be performing regular tests to check the site continues to fully serve all its users and will also ensure accessibility is embedded into the design of new functionality as the platform develops”.
Taylor & Francis, a signatory of both the Accessible Books Consortium and Publishing Accessibility Action Group UK charters, has a firm commitment to accessibility. Last year it became a Global Certified Accessible Publisher and produces all new eBooks in EPUB format.
Full details about the Taylor & Francis accessibility program can be found in its Corporate Accessibility Statement. A detailed Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) is also available for the eBooks platform.