LibGuides: Accessibility Resources: Library Resources

Research Databases

Many of the library's research databases are in basic compliance with accessibility standards. The ones listed below offer added features to enhance their accessibility.

Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window
This database of popular magazine and scholarly journal articles provides a text-to-speech feature for any articles available in HTML full text. Click the Listen button at the top of the article and you will hear the article read to you. Articles available in PDF format can be downloaded and read by most screen readers.

Books and More (WorldCat)
Our library's Books and More tool (the online catalog) has been rated as accessible to screen readers. Use it to find books, e-books, videos, and other materials in our library's collection.

Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
In this collection of online encyclopedias, use the "Read Aloud" feature at the top of each article to have the article's entire text read to you.
Ebook Central This link opens in a new window
This e-book database offers an Accessibility Mode for its online reader that makes its e-books accessible to screen readers. Users of screen readers should be automatically prompted to enable Accessibility Mode; if not, instructions on turning on accessibility mode can be found here.. Contact one of our librarians if you need additional assistance or information on this feature.
EBSCO eBook collection This link opens in a new window
Ebooks can be viewed online in either ePub or PDF format, both of which have been tested to be accessible to most screen readers. You can also download these ebooks and open them in Adobe Digital Editions, which is compatible with screen readers.
Gale Reference This link opens in a new window
This collection of online scholarly encyclopedias includes a text-to-speech feature. At the top of each article, click the Listen button to have the article read to you.

OneSearch
The library's OneSearch tool complies with WCAG 2.0 and Section 508 guidelines on accessibility. It can be searched with screen readers and navigated using keyboard strokes.

Video Databases

Films on Demand Video Collection This link opens in a new window
The vast majority of streaming videos in Films on Demand include closed captioning plus a transcript that you can read alongside the video as it plays. Click the CC symbol beneath the video player to activate the captions.

A number of the videos in Films on Demand also include audio descriptions (an overlaid audio track describing what is seen on screen). Films with Audio Descriptions can be identified by an "AD" icon.
Kanopy Streaming Video This link opens in a new window
Most of the streaming videos in this collection include closed captioning. Click the CC button beneath the video player to activate the captioning. Each video has an interactive transcript that can be viewed as the video plays.

Other Resources

As an alternative to screen reader software installed on your computer, you can use the ReadSpeaker tool that is installed in Brightspace. This software includes text-to-speech (read-aloud) capability for any content or documents posted in Brightspace. ReadSpeaker also includes a tool called TextAid that is available through the MyMeredith portal, and which can be used for text-to-speech on websites and documents outside of Brightspace.

The following are available to you if you have qualified and registered for services from the Meredith College Disability Services office.

If a particular PDF article from a library database is not readable by your screen reader, ask the library's Reference Desk about converting the file to a readable PDF using the Adobe Reader program.
The KIC Scanner in the library's Creation Station room can create searchable PDFs from either books (scanned on the KIC scanner bed) or stacks of papers (scanned on the Automatic Document Feeder that is connected to the KIC). These PDFs can be read on screen readers. Ask a librarian for instructions.
The Disability Services office and Carlyle Campbell Library will do our best to obtain audio versions or screen reader-friendly versions of print books that are needed for research. This includes books at the Carlyle Campbell Library as well as books that could only be obtained from other libraries. Library staff may be able to make scans of needed book chapters on a limited basis. Please allow five business days for us to scan chapters.