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Electronic Resource Accessibility

The VSCS Libraries work with many outside vendors to provide access to digital resources. This page contains information on some of the accessibility features of our electronic resources.

If you have questions or run into any problems, please reach out to Michael Braun Hamilton (michael.braunhamilton@vsc.edu) or Tara Samora (tara-jean.samora@vsc.edu).

Read Aloud Features

Read aloud icons from Credo, EBSCO, Gale, and ProQuest databases.Many of our library databases provide a read aloud option for full text articles.

  1. Open the article's full text.
  2. Look for a read aloud icon at the top of the page. The examples to the right are from Credo, EBSCO, Gale, and ProQuest databases (top right to bottom left).

Please note that sometimes old PDFs cannot be read aloud. Some databases will also have an option to download the audio in MP3 format within the read aloud settings.

Adobe Acrobat Reader

Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Acrobat Reader (free software) both have a read aloud feature for accessible PDFs.

  1. Open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader.
  2. In the top left menu, select View > Read out loud > Activate read out loud.

Follow the same steps to pause, select a specific section, or read to the end of the document.

If the document is not in an accessible format, this option won't work. Please contact your school's Disability Services office or email libraries@vsc.edu for help.

Database Accessibility

Digital accessibility is an important part of the libraries' selection criteria for databases for our collection, and the vast majority of the resources available through the libraries are screen reader accessible and conform to accessibility best practices. 

The following links will connect you to specific accessibility information from the vendors who provide access to our various library databases. 

Many of these pages include contact information to request additional information or report issues directly to the vendors themselves, if you would like to do so. Remember that our library staff are always here to assist you in any ways we can.

Acknowledgement

This guide was adapted from Accessibility Tips for Library Resources, University of Arizona Libraries, © 2024 The Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of The University of Arizona, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.