Accessibility position statement

Summary 

Taylor & Francis (T&F) is committed to ensuring that all our products, services, platforms and websites are accessible to as wide an audience as possible. The World Health Organization estimates that 1.3 billion people experience significant disability over the course of their lifetime. This represents 16% of the world’s population, or 1 in 6 of us. In addition to those with a disability, our audience includes those with temporary disabilities, conditions, and general impairments which can require reasonable adjustments as to how they interact with our products. Inclusive access ensures that any person can engage with products, places, services, and technology without any barriers. 

Being accessible is not just about granting access, but operating on the principle that accessibility should feature as part of the design and implementation of everyday life. We believe that following this principle allows us to embrace accessibility as an opportunity, whilst also keeping us ahead of any legislation. This is why we at T&F are working towards the goal that all our content should be “born accessible” i.e. accessible from its creation. 

T&F guiding principles 

The T&F Accessibility Team is working towards compliance with internationally recognised accessibility guidelines, including W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA Standard. WCAG sets a baseline of compliance, including four key principles which require that our content is: 

  • Perceivable 
  • Operable 
  • Understandable 
  • Robust  

This means that overall, our digital content and platforms must follow a foundation of web accessibility, regardless of the abilities or the software and technologies used by the reader.  

T&F approach 

At T&F, we recognise that a clear accessibility commitment improves the online experience for all users of our platforms and content. With this in mind, we have partnered with different groups and certification schemes to ensure that we are following industry best practice, as highlighted below: 

We have made significant progress in our accessibility journey and achieved many key milestones, while recognising there is still much to do. The T&F Accessibility Team leads the business on this journey, providing guidance and training.  

Our key achievements include: 

  • Developing a clear communication protocol, including an accessibility policy on our website and named accessibility contacts so that users have direct accessibility support when using our products.   
  • Monitoring and reporting on our progress towards accessibility goals. 
  • Developing our content to feature image descriptions. 
  • Making 95% of our eBooks available in both PDF and EPUB format. 
  • Working towards making ancillary materials compliant – we are the only leading publisher currently doing this, as far as we are aware. 

For further details of our progress, please visit Accessibility at Taylor & Francis.   

Call to action  

At T&F, our goal is to move beyond mandatory compliance with legislation, in order to put accessibility at the heart of what we do. We call on the broader publishing industry and our academic communities to develop this accessibility mindset.  

Research suggests that market forces are not enough to enable equal access to those with disabilitiesi, therefore a conscious adoption of an accessible mindset is key to making progress in this area. In other words, we call on you to join us in our pledge to be “born accessible”.  

We believe that the best way to approach this is to incorporate accessibility into every aspect of business and working practices. Whether internally or externally, embodying and embedding accessibility means building it into business culture and practices.  

For most organisations, including T&F, this means developing a continuous improvement mindset, so that every employee considers how they can incorporate accessibility into their everyday interactions. To start or continue this journey we recommend signing up to the UK Publishing Accessibility Action Group (PAAG).  

Our Accessibility Team also welcomes questions as well as areas for enhancement, so please do reach out for guidance to either Stacy Scott, our Head of Accessibility or Jennie Mather, our Accessibility Officer. 

i Botelho, F. H. F. (2021). Accessibility to digital technology: Virtual barriers, real opportunities. Assistive Technology, 33(sup1), 27–34. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400435.2021.1945705