Accessibility in ebooks
The accessibility features may vary between different ebook providers. Here we’ve focused on Ebook Central and VLebooks which are the platforms that provide most of our ebooks although we do have ebooks on other platforms too. On both platforms you can:
- Change colours, contrasts and fonts.
- Zoom in and out.
- Navigate using your keyboard.
- Optimise the screen for ereaders
You may find it useful read the accessibility statements for the platform of the ebook you are reading.
Ebook Central
Read the Ebook Central Accessibility Statement.
You can turn on Accessibility Mode which presents books as plain text instead of images. If you read an Ebook Central ebook online and are using a screenreader the option to turn it on or off will be read aloud. You can also turn it on/off by clicking on Settings > Profile.
Visit Proquest Support for more information
Ebook Central does not have an inbuilt text-to-speech tool. You can use text-to- speech through your browser or using many digital devices.
VLebooks
Read the VLebooks Accessibility Statement.
You can edit the Accessibility Settings (such as changing fonts, contrast etc) on the title page of the book you want to read.
VLebooks has an inbuilt ReadALoud tool. When you are reading an ebook online lick on the ReadALoud icon in the top right-hand corner.
Accessibility FAQs
You may find the following FAQ articles useful:
Useful 3rd party tools
ATbar
ATbar is a free to use toolbar compatible with most browsers that enables you to customise web pages by changing font sizes and/or using coloured overlays. It also has a text read aloud feature. If you enable Accessibility Mode in Ebook Central and view ebooks as text only you will be able to use ATbar to read the ebook aloud.
Adobe Reader
Adobe Reader has some built in accessibility features such as support for screen readers and screen magnifiers, keyboard navigation and, Read Out Loud text-to-speech conversion.
Ebook help & support
Got a question about ebooks? Send the Library an email or start a LiveChat using LibraryTalk.
For a more detailed explanation of ebook availability, licensing, and pricing read our Ebooks Landscape guide.