To make all of the resources hosted in eGrove as accessible as possible, we ask that
We are also committed to making the content already hosted in eGrove as accessible as possible. If you find a resource that needs to be remediated to use with a screen reader, use this form to request service.
UM affiliates (students, faculty, staff) can use the UM Document Converter to convert a document into an alternative, accessible format.
Other sources:
IT Accessibility Checklist (University of Washington)
Creating Accessible Content (Indiana University)
Acknowledgments:
Margaret McLaughlin & Jenny Hoops (2021) Web Accessibility in the Institutional Repository: Crafting User-Centered Submission Policies, The Serials Librarian, 80:1-4, 40-45, DOI: 10.1080/0361526X.
bepress is committed to web accessibility for all, regardless of ability or disability. We work continually to improve the accessibility and usability of Digital Commons, informed by web accessibility standards. Accessibility is an ideal and responsibility that we share with our scholarly community. We collaborate with the administrators at eGrove to make this website and its contents as accessible as possible.
Standards Conformance
bepress endeavors to meet all guidelines and standards established by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 at level AA conformance, and Section 508 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act. These guidelines define how to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities, and conformance to them improves the web's usability for all people.
Digital Commons is partially compliant with WCAG 2.0 at level AA, and we make continual improvements with the aim of achieving full compliance. In certain areas, Digital Commons implements level AAA success criteria.
For a detailed review of how Digital Commons conforms with WCAG 2.0 success criteria, please refer to our Voluntary Product Assessment Template (VPAT) document. This document was produced by the members of the Elsevier and bepress internal accessibility teams.
Accessibility Measures at bepress
Accessibility is a product development priority at bepress, and full standards compliance is represented on our product roadmaps. We promote awareness of accessibility principles among our employees, providing opportunities and resources for them to further develop web accessibility expertise. We maintain a dedicated internal accessibility team to evaluate, support, and improve web accessibility on our platforms.
Our Consulting Services team works together with the eGrove administration to publish accessible pages and content on eGrove. We strive for open communication with our community of repository administrators on our shared challenges and successes in promoting accessible scholarship on the web.
Accessibility Support and Feedback
If you have accessibility questions regarding Digital Commons, or to report accessibility issues, please contact bepress Consulting Services via email at dc-support@bepress.com or by phone at +1 (510) 665-1200 ext. 2. We usually respond within 24 hours on weekdays.
Accessibility Features
Portable Document Format (PDF) Files
Digital Commons records may include PDF files as downloadable primary full texts or supplementary content.
eGrove may choose to make tagged PDFs available for users of assistive technology. Document processing within Digital Commons preserves the tag structure of uploaded PDF files. Primary files may have a standard Digital Commons cover page (which contains appropriate tags) prepended to the document.
eGrove may choose to make PDFs with searchable text or Optical Character Recognition (OCR) available.
Structural Markup
Main navigation links are consistent across pages in eGrove. Site structure is standardized, as all pages comprise 4 sections:
When Cascading Styles Sheets (CSS) are disabled, or when using assistive technology, the 4 sections are read in the above order.
Most content and features are operable using only the keyboard. Most of the content of static pages can be accessed with JavaScript disabled in the web browser.
Skip Navigation Link
Keyboard users may bypass repetitive elements at the top of each page by immediately tabbing to the first interactive item, which is a “Skip to Main Content” link. This allows users to jump to the main section of the current page context.
Visual Design and Mobile Display
All pages and content may be enlarged using standard browser controls or screen magnification software.
A mobile-specific style sheet, with a smaller viewport, is applied for users loading pages on mobile devices. Pages are mostly usable when style sheets are disabled.
Text has sufficient contrast (4.5:1 for small text; 3:1 for large text) with its corresponding background to be clearly legible in almost all areas of the site. Links are visually distinguished from text, and most interactive elements also have obvious visual hover and focus states.
Access Keys
Access keys allow users to jump to specific elements of a web page using keyboard shortcuts. To activate an access key, press the modifier key + the access key.
Access key modifiers differ between the web browsers and operating system platforms:
All pages in eGrove define the following numeric access keys:
Additionally, search results pages may be navigated using the following alphabetical access keys:
Rich text fields on submission forms have the following built-in keyboard shortcuts:
