Accessibility
Mission Statement
Taylor & Francis Group is committed to ensuring that its digital products are accessible to all users, regardless of their ability or the technology they're using. This includes people with visual, hearing, cognitive or motor impairments.
We are continually working on improving the accessibility and usability of our platforms, including Taylor & Francis Online.
Taylor & Francis is working towards conforming with level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 and Section 508 Standards of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act for its Taylor and Francis Online platform.
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 standards are set by World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the main international standards organization for the Internet. These guidelines are widely accepted as the gold standards for digital accessibility and serve as the basis of most accessibility regulations worldwide.
The Section 508 Standards were established to implement Section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act, which requires government agencies to provide access to electronic and information technologies for disabled individuals that is comparable to access available to non-disabled individuals.
For a detailed review of how Taylor & Francis Online supports the WCAG 2.1 and Section 508 criteria, please refer to our Voluntary Product Assessment Template (VPAT) document.
Please note: This statement was prepared in March 2020. It was last updated in May 2022.
Accessibility explained
At Taylor & Francis we recognize that a clear accessibility commitment improves the online experience for all users of our digital products and that disabilities can take many forms including visual, motor and cognitive.
We are committed to ensuring that our digital products are accessible to all users, regardless of their ability or assistive technology they use.
Visual - includes blind low vision and colour blind:
Taylor & Francis strives to ensure compatibility of its platforms with popular screen readers. To support users who do not have a screen reader, we offer a text-to-speech functionality at the top of each journal article page. Furthermore, text on Taylor & Francis Online can be resized without assistive technology (up to 200%) without loss of content or functionality.
For more information on the available assistive technology for vision impaired users, please refer to the website of the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), an organisation with whom Taylor & Francis collaborates on accessibility related matters.
Motor includes people who are not able to use a mouse:
The Taylor & Francis Online platform is navigable via the keyboard, without the need to use the mouse. Pages also include “a go to top” link to make it easier to navigate the page.
Cognitive - includes dyslexia, ADD, and epilepsy:
To assist users with cognitive disabilities, we have enhanced the platform so that all graphical elements have meaningful text equivalents. Pages are descriptively titled, and global navigation links are consistent across pages to make it easy to understand the layout of the platform.
For a more comprehensive list of accessibility enhancements implemented on Taylor & Francis Online, please visit the Accessibility features section of this page.
Accessibility principles
All accessibility enhancements on Taylor & Francis Online have been implemented in line with the Four Principles of Accessibility, as published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). These principles provide that websites should be:
1) Perceivable - Users must be able to perceive the information being presented to them by at least one of their senses.
2) Operable - This means that users must be able to operate the interface. The interface cannot require interaction that a user cannot perform.
3) Understandable - Users must be able to understand the information as well as the operation of the user interface.
4) Robust - Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies. This means that users must be able to access the content as technologies advance.
Accessibility features
Taylor & Francis is committed to meeting the Four Principles of Accessibility, as set out above. As a result we are working towards making the following changes to parts of our platform.
Principle 1 - Perceivable
Readability
- Information on Taylor & Francis Online is presented with consideration for readability. Foreground is separated from background with the use of appropriate color and contrast
- Text and images of text have a contrast ratio of at least 4:5:1.
- Text can be resized without assistive technology (up to 200%) without loss of content or functionality.
Alternative text for images
- Most non-text elements outside of journal content are provided with alternative text.
Adaptable content
- The reading and navigation order are logical and intuitive.
- Content can be presented without loss of information or functionality, and without requiring scrolling in two dimensions for:
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- Vertical scrolling at a width equivalent to 320 CSS pixels;
- Horizontal scrolling at a height equivalent to 256 CSS pixels
- The display is responsive. Content view and operation is not restricted to a single display orientation, such as portrait or landscape.
Text to speech
- ReadSpeaker - the text-to-speech “listen” widget at the top of the article page can be used to listen to written content. Individuals with impaired vision or difficulty in reading can now access an audio version of an article.
- ReadSpeaker allows the translation of the full article into other languages, making published research available to readers across the globe.
Principle 2 – Operable
A user can easily use controls, buttons, navigation etc.
Keyboard accessible
- All platform functionalities are operable through keyboard interface. The user can navigate to and from all navigable page elements using only a keyboard. For example, volume, share button and dropdown can be all operated using tabs.
Page structure
- Headings hierarchy is correctly used to organise content.
- Web pages have titles that clearly describe topic or purpose.
- All labels and fields are clearly defined.
- The purpose of each link can be determined from the text alone or the link text.
- Components receive focus in an order that preserves meaning and operability.
- The navigation order of links, form elements etc is logical and intuitive.
Navigation
- Consistent, global navigation links are provided.
- All pages on Taylor & Francis Online contain a search box.
- There are multiple ways to navigate Taylor & Francis Online e.g. Table of Contents, Site Map, Menu and the Search functionality.
- There is a mechanism in place to bypass the main navigation.
Avoid flashing and blinking text
- Web pages do not contain anything that flashes more than three times in any one second, or the flash is below the general flash and red flash threshold.
Principle 3 – Understandable
Technology is consistent in its presentation and format, predictable in its design and usage patterns.
Input assistance
- Provides text descriptions to identify required fields that were not completed. These suggestions help users to complete required information.
Predictable web pages
- Web pages are predictable and operate in a consistent way. Repeated components are presented in the same relative order every time they appear.
- Headings are used correctly to display content.
- Focus is used appropriately.
- Navigation is consistent.
Aria Labels
- Unique and descriptive names have been used for each link. ARIA roles and landmarks have been used whenever necessary.
Principle 4 - Robust
I.T. is standards-compliant and designed to function on all appropriate technologies.
Browser support
- Taylor & Francis Online supports all modern browsers and follows the graceful degradation web design strategy for older browsers. This means that all content should be available but newer features may not be fully supported.
Screen readers
- Taylor & Francis Online platform has been built to modern web standards using valid XHTML and CSS.
- We have used headings properly to help assistive technology users browse the page content.
- We have improved focus of certain elements and labelling.
- Taylor & Francis Online is compatible with all known major hardware devices and it automatically adapts to different screen sizes depending on the device being used (e.g. mobile, tablet or laptop).
- We have increased size of tap targets for mobile users (links and buttons).
- eReader functionality delivers live online content in EPUB format within the web browser on any device. Content within the eReader is reflowable and automatically adjusts according to device. eReader will also offer offline reading option, making the content accessible to users no matter their location.
Ensuring accessibility
We use a combination of manual testing and automated tools to test the Taylor & Francis Online platform for accessibility. Automated tools used include:
- Chrome Dev Tools Audit (powered by Axe dev tools)
- Axe plugin for Chrome
- WAVE plugin for Chrome
- Google Lighthouse tool
No accessibility tool provides a 100% thorough assessment of a website's level of accessibility. Therefore, we also carry out manual reviews of the Taylor & Francis platform. This includes a review of the platform by a vision-impaired accessibility specialist who performed a manual test of our platform using different types of assistive technology.
For testing of specific features on the platform in relation to assisting our visually impaired users, we have also obtained feedback from the Royal National Institute of Blind People. (RNIBP).
Our platform has been also audited as part of the Big Ten Academic Alliance and Association of Southeastern Research Libraries third-party accessibility evaluations.
Based on results from accessibility audits, we have carried out accessibility enhancements on the platform and validation testing has been performed to ensure all accessibility enhancements are functional.
To ensure that accessibility standards are maintained, we plan to carry out a thorough platform accessibility audit on annual basis.
At Taylor & Francis we also continually monitor our practices to ensure that accessibility is embedded at every step of the process.
Taylor & Francis Online content and access options
The majority of academic articles on Taylor & Francis Online are available in both HTML and PDF format. All articles published from 2019 onwards are also available in ePub3 format, which offers a more accessible and natural digital reading experience especially on mobile devices.
All newly published articles are converted automatically, allowing customers to choose between PDF or ePub3.
All newly published articles also capture math content in MathML format, which is compatible with text-to-speech engines, can be magnified, converted to Braille, and pasted into math equation editors and/or Microsoft Office documents.
We aim to publish all PDFs with searchable, selectable text, but cannot guarantee this for some of our older or acquired content. Where PDF content is not accessible, our customers can submit a request form to our Academic VIP Requests team, who will endeavour to provide an accessible version of the PDF.
For more details on alternative format requests, and to download a request form, please visit the Alternative Format Requests section on Accessibility at Taylor & Francis page.
Since 2020 we have been rolling out further improvements to the accessibility of our PDF content. Newly published articles are tagged, follow a logical reading order, and lists and tables are clearly defined and easily navigable. Language metadata is present in PDFs and we are pursuing strategies to expand the availability of alternative text for figures contained within our articles.
Help and support
If you have any accessibility issues in using Taylor & Francis Online ,or if you have any comments or questions related to accessibility, please let us know by completing our Contact us form or by emailing [email protected].
The information on this page is specific to Taylor & Francis Online. For an overview of Accessibility at Taylor & Francis, please visit the Accessibility at Taylor & Francis page.
If you would like more general information or help with web accessibility, we recommend the BBC website - My Web, My Way.
The AbilityNet website provides guidance on how to make your computer more accessible.
For more information visit the accessibility information on our help pages.