Disability Support: Our top five ebook providers
Our top five ebook providers
Select an ebook provider to see their accessibility features.
| EBSCO | |
|---|---|
| Unlimited access (DRM free?) | Mostly DRM protected so access restricted |
| Number of users | Varies between ebook |
| Downloading formats |
PDF or EPUB with .acsm extension. Requires Adobe Digital Editions. DRM-free chapter/ pages downloads can be read by any PDF reader. EPUB DRM-free files can be read using Adobe Digital Editions on your laptop. On your mobile you can use iOS, iBooks, Google Play Books, Bluefire Reader. |
| App available? | EBSCO Mobile app |
| Highlighting/note making | Makes general notes only - not linked to any page. Not able to highlight text. |
| Read aloud | Limited with ADE. EBSCO recommends using downloaded chapters or page ranges which are DRM-free. Long term plans are to integrate text to speech within the ebook viewer. |
| Anything else/other features | Can zoom to over 400% |
| Accessibility statement | EBSCO eBook Accessibility User Guide and FAQs |
| Ebook Central | |
|---|---|
| Unlimited access (DRM free?) | No |
| Number of users | Varies between ebook |
| Downloading formats | EPUB and PDF via Adobe Digital Editions. |
| App available? | Use the Adobe Digital Editions app for reading downloaded titles. |
| Highlighting/note making | Available in the online reader and in the Adobe Digital Editions app. |
| Read aloud |
Read aloud is not embedded into Ebook Central. When using the online reader, 'Text Only' mode can be enabled to allow the PDF book content to be read using a screen reader. Ebook Central: Text Only Mode for Screen Readers Downloaded PDF chapters or pages can be read using a standard PDF reader such as Adobe Acrobat Reader’s Read out loud or built–in readers on your device. |
| Anything else/other features |
Access to copy and print functionality is available using assistive technologies within publisher specified limitations. Information about print and copy limits is available within the 'Availability' section on the 'Book Detail' page for each book. You can set up an OpenDyslexic typeface which converts all text on the Ebook Central site to this typeface. More information about how to enable this setting can be found here: How do I use Ebook Central in the OpenDyslexic typeface? |
| Accessibility statement | Accessibility Statement: Ebook Central |
| Taylor & Francis | |
|---|---|
| Unlimited access (DRM free?) | Yes |
| Number of users | Mostly unlimited |
| Downloading formats | EPUB3 and PDF mostly download in full. |
| App available? | Kortext app download and support |
| Highlighting/note making | Online and offline highlighting and notes with the Kortext app. Note making only with Taylor & Francis 'Read Online' feature. |
| Read aloud | Read aloud built into Kortext app. T&F titles also have read aloud when you download the PDF or EPUB (from 16.2.25). |
| Anything else/other features | Online reader permits printing up to 10% of the total book. Printing unavailable in the app. |
| Accessibility statement | Accessibility at Taylor & Francis |
| Elsevier | |
|---|---|
| Unlimited access (DRM free?) | Yes. Read online available only as a web page a chapter at a time. |
| Number of users | Unlimited |
| Downloading formats | PDF only in unlimited chapter downloads |
| App available? | No, so use a standard PDF or EPUB reader. |
| Highlighting/note making | Not available online – depends on your PDF reader. |
| Read aloud | Not built-in to its online reader. Download PDFs and read in a standard PDF reader such as Adobe Acrobat Reader’s Read out loud tool. |
| Anything else/other features | Unlimited printing and copying |
| Accessibility statement | Accessibility statement ScienceDirect |
| Springer | |
|---|---|
| Unlimited access (DRM free?) | Yes. Read online available only as a web page a chapter at a time. |
| Number of users | Unlimited |
| Downloading formats | EPUB and PDF |
| App available? | No, so use a standard PDF or EPUB reader. |
| Highlighting/note making | Not available online – depends on your PDF reader. |
| Read alond | Not built-in to online reader. Download PDFs and read in a standard PDF reader such as Adobe Acrobat Reader’s Read out loud tool. |
| Anything else/other features | Unlimited printing and copying |
| Accessibility statement | Accessibility Statement |
Coventry University
Frederick Lanchester Building
Gosford Street
Coventry, United Kingdom
CV1 5DD
Telephone:+44 (0) 24 7765 7575
Email: ask-a-librarian.lib@coventry.ac.uk
