Accessibility

Our commitment to accessibility

At Oxford University Press, we always seek to make our products accessible to, and inclusive of all our users, including those with visual, hearing, cognitive, or motor impairments.

To support these goals, we follow the general principles of web usability and universal design and, where feasible, endeavour to make our platforms and services accessible to all regardless of physical or cognitive impairment or the device used.

While level AA of the World Wide Web Consortium Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) is often the standard specified in legislation, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990), the European Accessibility Act (2025), and other relevant regulations, we have been working towards a higher standard (WCAG 2.2) for many years.

We keep this page updated so you can find the most accurate information about the accessibility of Oxford Learning Link.

Information for users

The following functionality has been included for accessibility.

Information for blind users

• All content and interactive elements on the page are usable with screen readers
• Forms and inputs have been labelled so that their purpose is communicated via a screen reader
• All pages have skip navigation links so that repeated navigation elements can be bypassed

Information for partially-sighted and low-vision users

• All page elements (excluding interactive content) have been designed so that brightness contrast levels comply with the  WCAG AA standard of 4.5:1 between foreground and background colors
• The majority of pages can be magnified up to 400% and most of page content will reflow so that all content is presented on the page without the need for horizontal scrolling. Some customized content will necessitate horizontal scrolling before magnifying
• New features are tested against the NVDA screen-reader and the Google Chrome screen-reader during development
• Images within digital content have alternative text provided
• There may be browser features or extensions that will support your individual needs, such as changing text size and color, or system settings or applications that can override colors on this site
• Adjusting monitor settings to change brightness, contrast or color settings, or using physical colored monitor overlays may also provide extra support when using this site
• Further tips and guidance for making adjustments to your computer, laptop, tablet or smart phone to make it easier to use can be found on the GCF Global resource (NA) and the AbilityNet My Computer My Way  resource (UK)
• Most punctuation, special characters, and emojis can be read by screen-readers (e.g., JAWS, NVDA). You can use settings within your chosen software to control the level of reading and how certain characters are read by the screen-reader
• Note that many platforms also provide a “read aloud” feature to recite screen content but these are primarily intended for sight-enabled users and may not replicate the robust features of screen-readers, such as the presentation of alt-text for images
• All non-third party videos have descriptive text provided

Information for keyboard-only users

• All elements of this site should be reachable and usable with a keyboard
• Elements that can be used with a keyboard should display a visible focus outline when the element has been reached by the keyboard. The site will display the default outline style as determined by your browser. For Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, this is currently a red dashed outline
• Dropdowns and expandable menus can be opened by pressing the Enter key. Items within the menu can then be navigated using the Tab key. Checkboxes can be checked or unchecked using the space bar
• Skip navigation links are present on every page to avoid having to tab through repeated page elements each time the page loads

Text-to-speech compatibility

• Closed captions and transcripts are available for all pre-recorded multimedia files and can be found in the media player frame by clicking on the ‘Captions’ and ‘Show Transcript’ buttons respectively.
• Some users of the platform may benefit from listening to text. The platform itself does not currently include an embedded text-to-speech tool. However, text-to-speech compatibility is:

  -- built into the Edge browser and available as plug-ins for Chrome and Firefox browsers.

  -- built into most modern digital devices such as PCs, Macs, tablets and smart phones e.g. the VoiceOver screen-reader, integrated into the Mac OS X operating system.

Continuous improvements

We do recognise that some parts of this website may not be accessible to all users:

• some legacy content was created before accessibility guidelines were well known; therefore they are not fully accessible. Where possible, we have supplied an accessible HTML alternative.
• some tables and diagrams contained within HTML format content are presented as images.
• some images within HTML content do not include alt-text but most include adjacent descriptions.
• third party software is used to enhance the user experience. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that any third party we work with provide accessible software, we cannot guarantee full AA compliance. For example: YouTube, Spotify, MolView, Interactive Timelines.
• some material is inherently not accessible. This is particularly the case with highly visual or interactive activities. In these cases, we endeavour to provide alt-text-based accessible versions that convey the content of the activity.

We will continue to update this page with details of further improvements as they are added to the site.

Guidance on navigating the site

Guidance for users when navigating Oxford Learning Link :

Note: For many OUP titles, Oxford Learning Link content is available via the Oxford Learning Link platform, which can be navigated with both a mouse and a keyboard. However, our content is also available in courseware on a third-party platform, and via links embedded in individual instructors’ courses within an institution’s LMS/VLE. In those cases, the Oxford Learning Link interface (site navigation, header links, footer links, etc.) is not displayed to the user, and so the guidance below regarding those elements does not apply:

Skip links

Each page includes a “Skip” link that allows you to move directly to the main content, bypassing navigation elements. The link appears when you first tab into the page. The skip links will take you to different locations depending on the page, but in most cases the links will jump to the first link in the page’s left-hand column.

• Oxford Learning Link Homepage -> link to Carousel
• Search results page -> body section
• Product title homepage -> body section
• Student and instructor/lecturer resources homepage -> body section

Menus

All dropdown menus are usable with a keyboard by tabbing to the menu and then pressing the Enter/Return key to open the menu. The items within each menu can be reached by pressing the Up-Arrow and Down-Arrow keys and selected via the Enter/Return key. To exit a menu without selecting a menu item, use Shift + Tab.

Pop-ups

Several site features are contained within pop-ups. When a keyboard is used to open a pop-up, the focus will be moved into the pop-up and remain within the popup until the user tabs to the ‘Close’ icon and selects it. When the popup closes, the focus returns to the original link that opened the pop-up.

Links

All links are designed to be accessible via keyboard navigation and standard browser controls. When a link receives focus via the Tab key, it will be outlined by your browser’s default style. Once selected, links can be activated by pressing Enter/Return.

Additional support from other sources

There may be browser features or extensions, or physical settings and overlays, which can support your individual needs. Further tips and guidance for adjusting your device can be found on  AbilityNet’s My Computer My Way resource.

How accessible is Oxford Learning Link?

We are currently targeting adherence to level AA of the World Wide Web Consortium Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 (WCAG 2.2).

We commission independent Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates (VPATs) to help us better understand how we can improve accessibility on Oxford Learning Link. Annual VPAT assessments are conducted across multiple browsers and devices using accessibility tools such as NVDA.

The outcome of this assessment is an Accessibility Conformance Report. In our latest assessment from 2026, we achieved full conformance with WCAG 2.2.

Browser and mobile device support

Oxford Learning Link is optimized for use with currently supported, secure versions of these browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari. It can be accessed using older versions, but some features may not function properly. Please check your browser version or contact your organization's IT department for details on any browser updates available.

Oxford Learning Link sometimes uses third-party software to display certain types of content. This software may have features that are not supported by all browsers. Where possible, Oxford University Press works with the relevant third-party developer to address browser-specific issues.

Recent improvements

Much of Oxford Learning Link is already accessible in accordance with WCAG 2.2 AA. We continue to make ongoing improvements, however, and to accomplish these we have a committed investment and development programme to deliver improved accessibility compliance over the coming months and beyond.

Since commencing this programme, these are the areas we have improved:

Screen-reader use

• Improved screen reader announcement of forms across the site, including login and register pages
• Updated the buttons and controls within site pages and content types to ensure they have appropriate screen-reader labels
• Improved screen reader performance on mobile devices across OLL pages and content types
• Added screen-reader text to multiple site pop-ups/dialogs so that they are announced when opened

Keyboard use

• Added consistent display of accessibility and keyboard instructions across content types
• Fixes to keyboard focus order on multiple OLL pages and content types
• Improved keyboard focus behaviour when interacting with modals and popups across the site

General use

• Added support for zoom up to 400% without overlap across many site pages and content types
• Adjusted the text color on multiple site pages and content types to ensure they meet WCAG 2.1 color contrast requirements
• Reviewed images and icons within content types, adding alt-text where necessary
• Reviewed and adjusted heading structure of site pages to provide a proper hierarchy of page content

Forthcoming improvements

Our goal is to bring our platform and content into full conformance with WCAG 2.2 AA by April 1, 2026. Planned development will improve the following areas:

• Revamping purchase journey screens to improve accessibility and deliver a more intuitive user experience.
• Addressing Android TalkBack compatibility issues to enhance usability for screen reader users.
• Improving accessibility of image-based content types by ensuring better support for assistive technologies.

Digital Rights Management (DRM)

Content on Oxford Learning Link that isn’t open access (OA) or available freely for promotional or other reasons for a limited time is only available to authenticated users and is thus subject to digital rights management.

A content item’s availability status is indicated using one of two status icons – Available and Available for Purchase. The meaning of the icons is viewable on hover-over and is read by screen-readers.

How to request accessible copies of our publications

We are proud to collaborate with the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), one of the UK’s leading sight loss charities and the largest community of blind and partially sighted people. If you are in the UK, you can access our frontlist books through RNIB Bookshare. If you are outside of the UK, please send your request to ourAccessibility Resources team.

To make a request for other accessible materials, please complete this non-disclosure agreement to provide details about your situation, and send this along with proof of purchase to our Accessibility Team.

Get in touch

Our commitment to providing accessible and inclusive content is an ongoing activity. If you have any comments or insights on accessibility, or questions you cannot find the answer to on this page, please contact our Accessibility Team.