Ebook Central

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Introduction

All researchers, regardless of ability, need access to scholarly information. ProQuest is committed to providing all our users with a fully accessible experience for research, teaching, and learning.

At ProQuest, we make every effort to ensure that our products – including Ebook Central – can be used by everyone. Ebook Central is continually designed and developed to meet Level AA of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.2). This statement provides information for Ebook Central web, and native applications for Windows, MacOS, Android, and iOS.

Users of Ebook Central should be able to:

Navigate using just a keyboard or speech recognition software
Navigate using a screen reader
Go directly to main content areas on the page using skip links (web)
Listen to an ebook using a screen reader with Text Only Mode enabled
Zoom in up to 200% using browser tools without text spilling off screen

If you have a disability and need to make your computer, tablet or other device easier to use, AbilityNet is a recommended resource. We also recommend browsing free add-ons offered for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.

There may be some parts of this product that are not fully accessible:

Some ebooks may not be fully accessible to screen reader users or people with low vision, due to the following reasons:
- Lack of accessibility features for text, images, and data tables, such as recommended contrast ratios, alt text, structure tags, headings, and language tags
Some elements in the application may not provide clear or accurate information about their state or function, such as the following:
- Headings that are not ordered or organized in a logical hierarchy
- Menu elements that do not identify the correct expanded/collapsed state o Pagination elements that do not identify the selected state o Links that do not meet the 4.5:1 contrast ratio
Ebook Central does not offer an embedded text-to-speech tool

Accessibility features and issues on Ebook Central Web

Ebook Formats

Ebook Central hosts millions of ebooks from thousands of publishers. We collaborate closely with publishers to ensure that we have the highest quality, most accessible ebooks for all devices. Users can read anywhere on the go using their favorite device – a tablet, mobile device, or laptop. Because the Ebook Central online reading experience is designed and developed for accessibility, we recommend reading your book online for the best experience.

Ebook Central offers ebooks in two formats, depending on publisher preferences:

ePub is an HTML-based format that supports reflowable text. When users resize their browser or access the book on a smaller device like mobile devices or tablets, the text will automatically reflow to adjust to your screen size. Users can also adjust the font size for most ebooks in the Display Options menu within the ePub Reader.
PDF is an image-based format that keeps the look and feel of a printed book. The book has a set number of pages with a fixed width. These books may not display as well on smaller devices and may require additional zooming.

More information about the ebook formats supported on Ebook Central can be found here: What are the differences between ePub and PDF ebooks when reading online on Ebook Central? (proquest.com)

Though every effort has been made to support a fully accessible experience, there are some exceptions that are outside of our control:

Some ebooks may not allow for text magnification or font-size increases
Some ebooks may contain images that have not been given alt text
Some ebooks may contain content that does not contain appropriate structure tags and headings
Some ebooks may contain data tables that are not properly marked-up
Some ebooks may include text in a different language than the primary language of the ebook

eBook remediation requests

If the existing content does not meet the needs of users, remediation options are available and can be requested via the Support team. We continue to work with publishers to encourage them to provide content that meets current accessibility standards.

If a library wishes to have the full book without DRM or expiration, please contact Bookshare, a nonprofit organization that provides accessible titles to patrons with disabilities and organizations that serve them. If BookShare is unable to supply you with a file, please Submit a Case to our content team who will work with our publishing partners to provide you a remediated file.

Screen readers

Ebook Central is tested using the following screen reader and browser combinations:

Desktop: Chrome + JAWS
Desktop: Microsoft Edge + JAWS
Desktop: Firefox + NVDA
Desktop: Safari + VoiceOver
Mobile Apple devices: Safari + VoiceOver
Mobile Android devices: Chrome + TalkBack

When users are reading online in the PDF Reader, Text Only Mode can be enabled to allow PDF book content to be read using a screen reader.

More information about how to enable Text Only Mode can be found here:

Download, print, and copy

Within the limits of daily usage, hundreds of thousands of full titles and individual chapters are available on Ebook Central without download, copy, or print restrictions (DRM-Free). This content can be easily downloaded to any device, including a laptop, tablet, or mobile device. The DRM limits for each book are available on the Book Detail page.

For ebooks that have digital rights restrictions that are set by the publisher, ebooks can be downloaded and accessed through Adobe Digital Editions or another application like Pocketbook Reader.

Access to copy and print functionality is available using assistive technologies within publisher specified limitations. Most titles with restrictions allow for 20% of the text to be copied and 40% of the text to be printed. Information about print and copy limits is available within the Availability section on the Book Detail page for each book.

Downloaded chapters and printed pages can be accessed through Adobe Reader and Microsoft Edge, which includes an embedded text-to-speech tool.

More information about downloading ebooks and print and copy functionality can be found in the following support articles:

Text-to-speech

Ebook Central does not offer an embedded text-to-speech tool, however text-to-speech is:

Built into the Microsoft Edge browser
Built into most digital devices
Available as a browser plug-in for Chrome and Firefox

When users are reading online in the PDF Reader and attempting to use a text-to-speech tool, Text Only Mode may need to be enabled to allow the PDF book content to be read by the tool. More information about how to enable Text Only Mode can be found here:

Downloaded files can be used with a range of text-to-speech tools. Adobe Reader has built in text-tospeech, users may have a better experience using a free tool like Balabolka, Orato, ATbar. Free tools and plugins can be helpful, but users should check reviews and download sites before installing. Commercial text-to-speech tools like ClaroRead, Read and Write Gold and others are also available.

Structure

Page elements and functionality on Ebook Central are ordered in a meaningful sequence, even when page styling is turned off. The first element on every page is a “Skip to main content” link, which allows users to skip all repetitive navigation and jump directly to the main content of the page. Blocks of content are grouped under logical headings or using structural elements. Heading elements on every page contain unique names to help users identify which page they are currently viewing.

Our goal is to provide a fully accessible experience, however there are still some areas that we are working to improve:

Some headings in the application may need to reordered or re-organized to create a more logical hierarchy
Some ebooks may contain content that does not contain appropriate structure tags and headings
Some elements may not identify the correct expanded/collapsed state
Some pagination elements may not identify the selected state

Image description

Ebook Central is designed to support alternative access to non-text content wherever possible, including alt text and long descriptions. All images on Ebook Central used to represent functionality or actions have associated text labels or alternative text if a text label is not appropriate. Decorative images have blank alt text to ensure that they will be ignored by assistive technologies.

Our aim is to provide a fully accessible experience; however, the following exceptions remain:

Some ebooks may contain images that have not been given alt text
Some ebooks may contain images that have not been given long descriptions
When alt text or long descriptions are not provided by the publisher additional assistance may be required.

Magnification

Text throughout the Ebook Central site can be resized without assistive technology up to 200% without loss of content or functionality. When using the ePub Reader, resizing the default font size as well as zooming the browser can increase the overall magnification achieved.

We seek to support a fully accessible experience, but there are still some limitations that we are aware of:

Some ebooks may not allow for text magnification or font-size increases

Colors, contrasts, and fonts

Ebook Central uses color to enhance usability and all text, icons, and graphics meet the recommended color contrast ratios. Color is never the only means of conveying information, including indicating an action, prompting a response, or distinguishing a visual element. For example, the product logo is identifiable as such to assistive technologies.

Ebook Central also allows users to enable the OpenDyslexic typeface. Enabling this setting converts all text on the Ebook Central site to the OpenDyslexic typeface. More information about how to enable this setting can be found here: How do I use Ebook Central in the OpenDyslexic typeface? (proquest.com)

While we are committed to providing a fully accessible experience, there are some outstanding issues that we are working to resolve:

Some links that appear over background images do not meet the 4.5:1 contrast ratio
Text in some ebooks may not meet the recommended color contrast ratio
OpenDyslexic font cannot be applied to ebook content

User sessions

Ebook Central has a default timeout session length of 30 minutes, however the timeout period is extended by six hours for users with Text Only Mode enabled. More information about how to enable Text Only Mode can be found here:

Keyboard navigation

Ebook Central is designed with keyboard navigation in mind. Users can move focus to and away from components throughout the entire web application and the primary product navigation links appear in the same place, in the same order, on every page of the Ebook Central site.

Future enhancements

The Ebook Central team is actively working to update the functionality and accessibility of the Ebook Central platform. A full assessment of progress on known accessibility issues across the platform is planned for 2025.

Accessibility features and issues on Ebook Central native applications (Windows, MacOS, Android, and iOS)

The native applications integrate a viewer for ePubs and PDFs. Unfortunately, there are known limitations in the integration for Windows and MacOS. As a result, users on Windows and MacOS are not able to read books through the default reader view for an accessible experience. Unfortunately, the integration issue is outside of our control, but is in progress to be fixed.

There are several workarounds for e-book reading on Windows and MacOS:

Manually enable text-only mode from profile settings
Use iOS or Android apps
Access Ebook Central on the web

The native applications are designed to respect and respond to user customizations and operating system-level accessibility settings. This includes support for high contrast themes, increased text size, magnification, language, and other features when configured through the device or operating system settings.

The applications respect language operating system settings and works well when the operating system and assistive technology are configured in the same language. However, when users switch the application independently from the operating system (for example using the built-in control to change the interface to French on a device set to English), the new language is not programmatically conveyed to assistive technologies. This may affect some users, leading to mispronounced content.

On MacOS, a known issue exists throughout the application when a user presses tab while using VoiceOver keyboard focus moves, but VoiceOver does not announce the newly focused element. Only items that receive direct screen‑reader focus are spoken. Work‑around: Use Object Navigation mode (VO + Arrow keys) as your main way to interact with the macOS app when VoiceOver is active, especially for focusable controls such as buttons, text fields, menu items, and list items

Registration screen

When navigating the registration screen via a screen reader, users may need to enable Object Navigation Mode to access all content and functionality on the screen. User can activate interactive items, such as buttons using the space and enter keys.

Reading an e-Book

There are currently limitations in the Windows and MacOS user experiences for the default ePub and PDF viewers. Users should use the web experience, the Ebook Central App on iOS or Android, or manually enable text-only mode through their profile settings as a workaround.

Some books are only available in PDF format. For these books, users can enable text-only mode. eBook content is provided by publishers, there may be some inaccessible features such as missing alt text for images and some improper character encoding that breaks word integrity. More details on accessibility of e-Book content are described in the section above. We are actively working with our publisher partners to improve the accessibility of book content.

When navigating book content using VoiceOver on iOS, swipe gestures sometimes initially cycle through repeated announcements of “Reader View”. Multiple left swipes are required before reaching the main content.

Managing your bookshelf

When navigating the bookshelf screen on Windows and MacOS, users can use the F6 key to skip between the primary sections of the screen; their profile settings, the Institution Library, and “My Bookshelf” which displays all of the titles the user has downloaded in the app.

Book details panel

There are some known accessibility issues in the book details side panel, which includes the book title not being fully screen reader accessible. The side panel is partially keyboard navigable, but users must use the close button not the esc. key to close the side panel.

Technical information about this site’s accessibility

Ebook Central is committed to making its product accessible, in accordance with:

Level A and Level AA of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.2)
Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act for features and functions.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
EN 301 549 – V3.1.1 – Accessibility requirements for ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) products and services
Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No.2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

This product is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines v2.2 AA standard.

The full Accessibility Compliance Report (WCAG 2.2AA) for Ebook Central can be found:

How we tested this Product

The accessibility of Ebook Central is a continual effort at ProQuest. Accessibility standards are built into our design and style guides and are included as part of requirements in our software development and quality assurance pipeline.

Ebook Central code is checked for accessibility using a range of automated and manual checks including but not limited to:

Color Contrast Analyzers provided by WebAIM and Deque
Deque axe accessibility testing tools
High Contrast Chrome extension
Keyboard-access manual testing and assessment
WAVE (Web Accessibility Evaluation tool) provided by WebAIM
Screen readers such as JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver

Ebook Central is tested on the latest versions of Firefox, Safari, Chrome, and Edge, and on devices including Mac and Windows computers, and Android and iOS devices.

The Ebook Central web experience was last tested on March 16, 2025. The test was carried out internally at ProQuest; the native applications were tested in May 2025.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

Making content accessible is an ongoing effort at ProQuest. We are committed to working with the community to ensure we continue to meet our customers’ needs.

Some of our ongoing efforts includes:

Maintaining and growing a network of trained accessibility champions, providing knowledge-sharing through the cross-functional Accessibility Council
Integrating accessibility at the design stage, building accessibility throughout the development lifecycle
Providing accessibility awareness training for all colleagues, and dedicated training for developers and quality assurance engineers, encouraging team members to pursue certifications
Accessibility is embedded in our development process. Our acceptance of new features and functionality requires compliance with WCAG 2.2 AA
Conducting annual internal end-to-end accessibility reviews
Consulting with accessibility experts such as Deque for ongoing consultation, advisement, and 3rd party audits
Growing our accessibility program with dedicated in-house experts, including IAAP Web Accessibility Specialist (WAS) Certified and DHS Trusted Tester Certified colleagues
Participating in key industry partnerships, such as the Inclusive Publishing Parter Program to stay informed and integrate best practices
Continuously making improvements to remediate known issues and customer cases
Working with our content providers to improve the accessibility of content on our platforms

How to report a problem

If you have difficulty accessing specific content or features with assistive technology after trying the workarounds suggested in this statement, you can contact us using the links provided below. Our support services will respond within three days and are available to accommodate the communication needs of end users with disabilities. We will work with you to identify the best option for remediation, subject to content licensing restrictions and technical capability.

Online: ProQuest Technical Support

Phone:

United States & Canada (toll free): +1 800 889 3358

Outside North America:

+800 4997 4111 or +1 734-707-2513

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This accessibility statement was initially prepared in April 2020. It was last reviewed & revised on June 16, 2025

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