VitalSource Updates Bookshelf Accessibility

VitalSource Technologies, a provider of digital educational content for colleges and universities, is updating the accessibility features of its VitalSource Bookshelf e-book platform.

In 2014, VitalSource acquired CourseSmart, another higher education digital textbook provider. VitalSource is migrating all of CourseSmart's accessible PDF content to the VitalSource Bookshelf platform and expects to complete the migration by mid-August 2015. The new VitalSource Bookshelf content will include more than 1,000 textbook titles enhanced through the Student E-rent Pilot Project (STEPP), which was initiated by the Alternative Media Access Center (AMAC) to help college students with print-related disabilities access affordable textbooks.

VitalSource has also announced updates to its desktop and mobile applications. According to information from the company, the updated applications "provide greater support for assistive technologies interacting with EPUB and PDF content." VitalSource's downloadable apps will also gain support for user-added EPUB content to provide "access for assistive technologies to a wide range of Open Education Resources (OER) and other content sources."

VitalSource is increasing its collaboration with members of the accessibility community to help ensure that its platform meets accessibility standards. The company is an active participant in the Center for Accessible Materials Innovation (CAMI) and collaborates with organizations such as the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), Tech For All, JISC and AMAC. VitalSource evaluates the accessibility of its Bookshelf platform using screen-reading programs including JAWS and NVDA for Windows, VoiceOver for Mac and iOS and TalkBack for Android.

Further information about VitalSource Bookshelf's enhanced accessibility features can be found on the VitalSource site.

About the Author

Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • network of transparent cloud icons, each containing a security symbol like a lock or shield

    Okta, OpenID Foundation Propose New Identity Security Standard

    Okta and the OpenID Foundation have announced the formation of the IPSIE Working Group — with the acronym standing for Interoperability Profiling for Secure Identity in the Enterprise — dedicated to a new identity security standard for Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications.

  • white desk with an open digital tablet showing AI-related icons like gears and neural networks

    Elon University and AAC&U Release Student Guide to AI

    A new publication from Elon University 's Imagining the Digital Future Center and the American Association of Colleges and Universities offers students key principles for navigating college in the age of artificial intelligence.

  • Global AI vibrancy ranking

    United States Leads in Stanford HAI Global AI Ranking

    A new ranking tool from the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI) AI Index puts the United States in the No. 1 spot for global AI leadership.

  • computer with a red warning icon on its screen, surrounded by digital grids, glowing neural network patterns, and a holographic brain

    Report Highlights Security Risks of Open Source AI

    In these days of rampant ransomware and other cybersecurity exploits, security is paramount to both proprietary and open source AI approaches — and here the open source movement might be susceptible to some inherent drawbacks, such as use of possibly insecure code from unknown sources.