Skip to Main Content

Electronic Resources @ UCC Library: Accessibility

Information for UCC staff and students in relation to accessing electronic resources to support their learning, teaching and research.

Details

CAS SciFinder

In October, 2024, as part of usability improvements, some Accessibility enhancements included:

  • Improved support for screen reading technologies
  • Improved keyboard navigation controls
  • Improved visual contrast
  • Improved alt text for images

 

EBSCO

Navigating EBSCO eBooks with Screen Readers

Using EBSCO eBooks with a Braille Display

 

Elsevier

Here are some features that enhance the accessibility of ScienceDirect

  • HTML journal articles and book chapters are compatible with screen readers such as JAWS, NVDA and Apple's VoiceOver.
  • Pages are well structured using headings, landmarks and lists so users of assistive technology can easily jump around pages.
  • Math content is available in MathML, which can be spoken by text-to-speech engines or converted to Braille and pasted into math equation editors or Microsoft Office documents.
  • Pages employ ARIA (Accessibility for Rich Internet Applications) to enhance navigation, orientation and labelling for users of screen readers and other assistive technology.
  • Images have alternative text descriptions to convey the meaning of an image to screen readers.
  • PDFs with searchable text are available.

 

OneSearch

Users of OneSearch 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.
  • Easily read text on the page due to high colour contrast.
  • Listen to most of the website using a screen reader.
  • Navigate most of the website using speech recognition software.
  • Zoom in up to 400% using browser tools without text spilling off screen.

 

ProQuest platform

The Text-To-Speech Player appears on the "Full Text" tab of a document, below the abstract and above the body of the document.  

Please note:

The "Listen" option is only available for English language documents where the Full Text is available onscreen.  The "Listen" option is not available for Full Text PDFs or for non-English language documents.

At present, the Ebook Central platform does not have an embedded Text-To-Speech player.  See the Ebook Central Accessibility Statement or watch this video for details.

 

Taylor & Francis

A new and enhanced eReader has been introduced for Taylor & Francis eBooks accessed on taylorfrancis.com.  The new and enhanced eReader offers the ability to download in ePub, facilitates changes to font sizes and styles, includes read aloud functionality (multiple languages available), and integrates with reference management software.  Existing features will continue such as Bookshelf, Bookmarks, Notes, Highlighting and Search functionality.  Personalisation settings (Bookshelf, Bookmarks, Notes, Highlights) will not be carried over automatically, so users will need to set these up again in the new eReader. 

The Readspeaker text-to-audio option for journal content allows users to select the journal article they are looking for and listen to it via audio.  Simply highlight or hover over specific sections, or press play to listen to the entire article from start to finish.

 

Accessibility Aids available in Boole Library

The Library has a number of accessibility aids available to borrow including colour blind glasses and c-pen readers.  Browse all accessibility equipment available to borrow under the Wellbeing and Accessibility category here. 

 

Some useful tools:

AbilityNet - My Computer My Way

Accessibility Bookmarklets

Dyslexia Association of Ireland - Assistive Technology videos

Google Chrome Accessibility Extensions

JAWS Screen Reading software - What's New in 2024

Mozilla Firefox Accessibility Extensions

NVDA 2024.3 User Guide

Reading PDFs with Reflow and Accessibility Features

VoiceOver User Guide from Apple

Library Icon Logo