Libraries exemplify accessibility, serving as community anchors that provide essential access to literature and the internet for everyone, without discrimination, and we’re no different! We promote accessibility and work together to provide content in inclusive formats. This commitment is not just about following rules; it shows our responsibility to support knowledge and culture, ensuring everyone can enjoy the written word.
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) defines four primary principles of accessibility (POUR):
- Perceivable: Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive.
- Operable: User interface components and navigation must be operable.
- Understandable: Information and the operation of user interface must be understandable.
- Robust: Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies.
Accessibility statement
Accessibility is one of our core values. In an increasingly digital world, particularly for presses with born-digital publications such as ours, it is paramount to provide our content accessibly to all readers. Accessibility is for everyone!
LP@UF is committed to providing an inclusive and accessible experience to everyone, including individuals with disabilities. LP@UF’s commitment is guided by our accessibility policy to ensure that people with disabilities have full and equal opportunity to access and benefit from the publications and resources offered by LP@UF through the University of Florida Digital Collections (UFDC), Florida Open Journals (Florida OJ), UF Pressbooks, and our website.
Commitment
LP@UF has taken multiple steps to ensure the accessibility of our online experiences:
- LP@UF strives to engage in interval audits, web page scans, and testing by professionals with disabilities to continually assess and improve the accessibility of our website.
- LP@UF further invests in training our digital team on accessibility to ensure our editors and designers are knowledgeable and follow best practices for accessibility.
Optimal experiences
Our publications strive to be compatible with common assistive technologies, including screen readers (e.g., Thorium, Calibre, JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver), speech recognition software, and alternative input devices. We currently use three platforms for our publications:
- Florida OJ (Open Journal Systems, OJS): We use FLVC’s instance of OJS, an open-source platform with built-in web accessibility. After the ADA Title II revisions were released, we worked with our journals to ensure that all issues and articles are accessible PDFs after April 24, 2026.
- Pressbooks: An open-source platform that generates EPUB3 and other accessible formats. Users can read our publications on Pressbooks directly in their browsers, so all text is reflowable and resizable.
- Adobe InDesign: For print-on-demand and creative projects, we utilize InDesign. We are able to generate accessible PDFs and EPUBs with proper tagging and metadata. Finalized PDFs can then be brought into Adobe Acrobat Pro to double-check accessibility and format a PDF/UA.
Best practices for digital publishing accessibility
We understand that achieving accessibility involves finding a balance between structured guidelines and flexible, creative solutions. Our strategy combines checklists with user-friendly tools that are accessible to everyone, making it possible to ensure accessibility regardless of platform, publication type, or scale. A straightforward checklist can empower anyone, from students to faculty, to create more accessible digital publications. Since every book is unique, each one requires individual assessment and planning.
Enhancing accessibility in library publishing: Challenges, best practices, and sustainability
We presented at the Library Publishing Forum in 2025. By fostering dialogue and sharing experiences, this session aimed to build a collective understanding of what is achievable, spotlight gaps, and inspire actionable steps to advance accessibility in publishing practices. Participants leave with a clearer vision of shared challenges and innovations that can be adapted or developed to enhance accessibility in their own work environments.