Accessibility at Taylor & Francis

This statement was prepared in January 2020.
It was last updated in November 2024.

Taylor & Francis is committed to ensuring all our products, platforms and websites are accessible to as wide an audience as possible. We are continually improving the quality and accessibility of our content, to address the needs of all customers, and support them to reach their highest potential.

Standards and legislation

We are committed to complying with both the W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA Standard and the European Accessibility Act (June 2025), along with adhering to guidance from:

Accessibility in numbers

Formats

95% of eBooks in PDF and EPUB format.
175,000+ eBooks in EPUB3, the most accessible format.
100% of journals published in HTML, PDF and EPUB since 2019.
1 million journal articles in EPUB (20% of all articles).

Distribution

32,266 alternative format book requests since 2010.
145,000+ eBook and PDF titles on RNIB Bookshare.
131,000+ eBook titles on Bookshare US.
180,000+ eBook titles available via 70+ distribution channels and resellers; including Amazon, EBSCO, ProQuest and VitalSource.
153,000 EPUB3 files available on Taylor & Francis eBooks.
1.4 billion journal articles downloaded from Taylor & Francis Online since 2021 (all formats).
23.9 million journal articles downloaded in EPUB format from Taylor & Francis Online since 2021 (1.7% of all downloads).

Image descriptions

9,088 eBook titles published with alt-text, with 94% of the titles being actioned since 2022.
450 journals with some articles that contain alt-text.
6,232 articles that contain alt-text, with 91% of the articles being actioned since 2022.

Access Text Network (ATN), on 1 April 2024, Georgia Tech announced that it was discontinuing its provision of ATN services. This was a partnership between four stakeholders: Association of American Publishers (AAP), Centre for Inclusive Design & Innovation at Georgia Tech, participating publishers, and participating post-secondary institutions. We joined ATN in 2021 and await an update on the service continuation. The AAP remains deeply committed to supporting efforts to meet the needs of individuals with disabilities and are assessing how best to restore the service.

Image descriptions (alt-text)

Taylor & Francis introduced image descriptions (also known as alternative text, or alt-text) into the eBook workflows in 2020.

Over 9,088 titles have been published with 100% alt-text and hundreds more are In Production as of August 2024. Long descriptions are supplied where necessary, for more complex images.
Over 450 key journals contain some level of alt-text, spanning 6,232 articles.

In 2021, we launched a website for authors and contributors to support with the submission of alt-text for images with their final manuscripts. The site contains our Alt-Text Guide for Books, as well as example images, grouped by subject category. These resources are to be used alongside the Books Publishing Guidelines.

From June 2024, all new frontlist titles have image descriptions created during publication to ensure they’re born accessible. The backlist is being worked on with a goal of 2030 for completion.

eBooks

We publish eBooks in both PDF and EPUB3 format. Varying levels of accessibility are available depending on the age of the product.

Our eBook content is designed with a logical reading order and includes mark-up and heading structure to ensure easy navigation and compatibility with assistive technologies, such as screen readers and the use of keyboard navigation.

Our EPUBs specifically contain accessibility features for structured navigation and reading order. This ensures that users can navigate Taylor & Francis content by chapter, page, and sub-heading. Our EPUBs support magnification and reflow of content allowing users to adjust the font size to meet their needs.

The above is true of titles published since 2018, while more historical titles may not offer this functionality.

We have more than 180,000 eBooks available and are continually digitizing and upgrading our backlist content. If you would like to recommend a published title for digitization we would love to hear from you, so that we can explore your needs and expand our digital offering, as long as the rights permit.

We also upgraded 50,000 EPUB2 files into the more accessible EPUB3 format during a two-year project, which completed in 2023. This work improved the structural integrity and navigation of these files, with accessibility in mind.

Journals

Journal articles are available as HTML, PDF and EPUB3 format. Varying levels of accessibility are available depending on the age of the product.

We completed a project in 2023 to convert more than 360,000 Journal articles from PDF into EPUB3 and these are now accessible on our Journals platform, Taylor & Francis Online (TFO). The platform currently hosts more than one million EPUB3 files and all newly published articles will be converted automatically, allowing customers to choose between PDF or EPUB3.

Video and ancillary materials

We remediate online content, such as PowerPoints, held on our Instructor and Student Resources sites (ISRs). If a DVD is packaged with a book you have purchased, this should already contain closed captioning and we provide transcripts wherever possible.

We’ve migrated DVD and Disc content for close to 1,000 titles to a downloadable format to better support customers of both print and eBook products, and we are working to improve the provision of accessible support materials across our websites.

We also provide YouTube playlists for many of our ISR sites. YouTube allows users to turn on closed captioning for individual videos, or for all videos by setting this as a default. You can turn on closed captions by clicking the CC icon at the bottom right of the video. If you would like closed captions to be turned on for all YouTube videos this can be done by changing your account settings. More information on how to do this can be found by going to YouTube Help.

Provided texts are DRM-free and are primarily available in searchable PDF format, which function with most screen reading software. Alternatively, we can supply texts in Word, EPUB or XML format.

Some content in PDF format may not have been designed for accessibility – for example, older archive content reproduced from original printed sources may be presented as scanned PDFs, or images of text. We will always attempt to supply an OCR PDF (with optical character recognition) for screen reading, but this may not always be possible.

Please note, when purchase of an accessible eBook or journal article is not possible and a request is made, we require that the requested title has been legally obtained (by either the university or individual) before we are able to provide the text. It is also notable that texts published before the year 2000 are less likely to be immediately available in electronic format.

All material published by Taylor & Francis Group, and its imprints, is protected under international copyright and intellectual property laws and we ask you to respect this when using our content.

Product platforms

Taylor & Francis eBooks

Library customers will find more than 180,000 book titles in PDF and EPUB format on our eBook platform, Taylor & Francis eBooks. 153,000 titles are available in EPUB3 format. Read about the platform’s WCAG 2.1 AA status in our Newsroom.

The EPUB format was introduced to the Taylor & Francis eBooks platform in September 2024, along with one of three additional accessibility messages on the product page:

Global Certified Accessible™ publisher – Benetech Certified (GCA): confirms the title is available as an EPUB, and that EPUB meets GCA standards and the WCAG 2.0 AA level of accessibility. Selecting the GCA logo will navigate you to a page providing more detailed accessibility information.
Accessibility Information: confirms the title is available as an EPUB with accessibility features, but does not yet meet GCA or WCAG standards. Selecting the Accessibility Information logo will navigate you to a page providing more detailed accessibility information.
Accessibility Disclaimer: this message is collapsed by default. When expanded the message clearly advises that an EPUB version of the title is not available.

Our new eReader launched in September 2024. It is designed to significantly enhance the experience of engaging with our digital content and interactive resource. Users can easily highlight text and add notes directly within the eReader, facilitating the marking of important sections and personal annotations for future reference. The robust search tool enables users to locate specific terms, phrases, or concepts throughout the text. User can adjust font sizes and styles to match their reading preferences. The eReader integrates with reference management software, making it easy to export citations and handle bibliographic data efficiently. The “read-aloud” function audibly reads the text of an eBook or digital publication, and users can select their preferred voice type, playback speed and pitch.

Regarding Digital Rights Management (DRM), both DRM and DRM-free titles are available on the platform. While most of our eBooks are available with unlimited user concurrency, DRM-protected eBooks are restricted to one concurrent user per copy purchased, allowing a single user to read the title at any one time. As such, DRM-protected titles can only be read online and they carry a copy/paste and print limitation up to 20 pages per session (of the title, per user). Before purchasing, DRM-protected books will show a message stating the “Book is DRM-protected". Once purchased, you will be able to read-online, and they carry a copy/paste and print limitation up to 20 pages per session (of the title, per user). If you reach the limitation, you will receive a message advising you of this. For DRM-free titles you will be presented with the options to either read-online or download.

You may also purchase Taylor & Francis eBooks from any one of our many eBook sellers, including Routledge.com, VitalSource, Amazon, ProQuest, EBSCO and more. We distribute accessibility metadata about all of our eBooks to these channels. Our eBooks should be accessible via these platforms and other available eReaders, though some titles may contain Digital Rights Management (DRM). Our standard limits for copying and printing from a third-party channel are 10 per cent of the book or one chapter (whichever is greater). Please note that these restrictions may be different for different platforms and access models.

Routledge

When buying an eBook on Routledge.com you will use the Vitalsource Bookshelf platform to access the eBook. VitalSource have invested in making the reading experience accessible and they highlight accessibility features at product level, so you can see whether a book is suitable for your needs before purchasing or opening the book. Learn more about the accessibility features of VitalSource Bookshelf.

Taylor & Francis Online (TFO)

Our Journals platform, Taylor & Francis Online introduced a new feature called ReadSpeaker in 2019, which offers an innovative text to audio option for all journal articles, enriching the content for all online users, while making it more accessible to a wider range of readers.

The introduction of Readspeaker allows logged-in users on Taylor & Francis Online to select any journal article and listen to it via audio, simply by highlighting or hovering over specific sections, or by pressing play to listen to the entire article from start to finish.

Accessibility reports

Each Taylor & Francis site may vary, but our Product team are working to enhance user experience across our sites. Please review the individual Accessibility Statements and Accessibility Conformance Reports for details.

Accessibility Statements

Taylor & Francis Online (TFO) accessibility statement – May 2022
Taylor & Francis eBooks accessibility statement – November 2024
Routledge.com accessibility statement – September 2020

Accessibility Conformance Reports

Taylor & Francis use the International version of The Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) which encompasses Section 508 (US), EN 301 549 (EU) and WCAG2.1 for its products.

The completed template output is the Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR), and it details each aspect of the Standards and how the product supports each criterion (WCAG 2.1, Section 508, and EN 301 549).

Accessibility features of taylorandfrancis.com (this site)

Navigation

We have provided consistent global navigation links, and each page has a breadcrumb trail of navigation leading back to the homepage. All pages on the site contain a search box.

There is also a ‘skip to content’ link on every page which allows users of assistive technologies to navigate directly to the main content.

Markup and headings

This website 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.

Screen reader users

Modern screen readers use a common set of commands allowing you to navigate through a page using the headings:

h – cycle through the headings
Shift + h – cycle backwards through the headings
1 – 6 – move to the next heading of the same level (for example, 1 will move you to the next level 1 heading, 2 will move you to the next level 2 heading)
Shift + 1 – 6 – as above but moving through each heading backwards
Insert + F6 – provide a list of all headings on a page.

Opera users

If you are browsing the site using Opera, you can cycle through the headings using these commands:

s – cycle through the headings
w – cycle backwards through the headings.

Accessibility Contacts

Accessibility Team

Stacy Scott, Head of Accessibility

Our Head of Accessibility, Stacy Scott, joined Taylor & Francis in November 2021. Scott provides central oversight, leadership, guidance, coordination, and support for Taylor & Francis’ accessibility initiatives, as well as providing a clear accessibility strategy across the company. Read about Stacy joining Taylor & Francis in our Newsroom and learn more about Stacy on LinkedIn.

As a blind Mathematics graduate, I have both a personal and professional vantage point from which to understand the challenges faced by learners with a print-disability. I very much enjoy my role and being able to continue my lifelong work to promote and realize my ‘raison d’être’ – a world that is born-accessible and truly inclusive for all.” – Stacy Scott

Jennie Mather, Accessibility Officer

Our Accessibility Officer, Jennie Mather joined Taylor & Francis in May 2024. She supports the development and delivery of our business-wide accessibility strategy, manages our performance dashboard, and coordinates accessibility audits to ensure our portfolio meets legislation standards and offers customers the best user journey.

Jennie has an abundance of experience on accessibility, strategy, brand and inclusive product design and is a truly wonderful disability advocate and ally. You can learn more about Jennie on LinkedIn.

Customer Services

Please contact Taylor & Francis Customer Services with any accessibility-related queries.

Alternatively, if you have trouble with any assistive technologies while using our eBooks, or require remediation on video or ancillary content, please contact [email protected].

Other resources

If you would like more information or help with web accessibility, the BBC website My Web, My Way is an excellent resource.

You can visit AbilityNet to find advice on how to make your device easier to use and the DAISY Consortium guidance on reading systems contains further information about different reading devices as tested by persons with disabilities.

Adobe offers Adobe Reader and provides a guide for using the inbuilt accessibility features:  Reading PDFs with reflow and accessibility features.

Quick links