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Electronic Resource Accessibility

Read Aloud Features

Many of our library databases provide a read aloud option and download to mp3 feature for fulltext articles available in HTML format.

Select the HTML Full Text link.

Click on the orange play icon (appearing just under the article's title) to start the audio.

You can select up to three accents from the drop down menu box.

Click the download icon to download an mp3 file of the audio.

Adobe Acrobat Reader

Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat both have a read aloud feature. This feature will allow PDFs that are ADA accessible to be read out loud for patrons. 

 

Windows

In Windows OS to turn the read aloud feature on:

  • open the PDF
  • go to the View option at the top of the screen and select Read Out Loud and then scroll down to the last option listed called, Activate Read Out Loud
  • click on the screen to begin reading

To pause, select a specific section, or, read to the end of the document, select view, the read out loud option, and then the appropriate option (pause, etc.)

 

MacOS

In Mac OS to turn the read aloud feature on:

  • open the PDF
  • go to the Edit option at the top of the screen and select Speech and then select the option, Start Speaking
  • reader will start automatically

To stop, select Edit at the top of the screen, then select Speech, and last select the option, Stop Speaking

Database-Specific Accessibility Information

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 screenreader-accessible and conform to accessibility best practices. In addition many databases offer additional accessibility features. See below for database-specific accessibility information.

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.