Accessibility

Accessibility is a core value and design component of Fulcrum. As part of the ongoing development of Fulcrum, we work to make the platform and its content inclusive, accessible, and usable for all readers.
Fulcrum makes every reasonable effort to have its products and services available to all customers and users, especially those with disabilities, allocating significant time and resources towards ensuring Fulcrum users have equal access. We approach this with three guiding principles:
Be responsive
to requests for remediation or reported accessibility issues. We aim to respond to requests within 2 business days.
Be proactive
by identifying and working on known platform issues and remediation of content for most likely to be used and essential functions of the platform.
Be transparent
as to what we are planning and doing to support accessibility requirements for the platform and its content.
You can follow our accessibility journey in the
Accessibility Roadmap
Conformance Status and VPAT®s
Fulcrum aims to meet the latest
WCAG 2 AA Standards
(currently WCAG 2.2 AA) in two ways:
Developing a platform with infrastructure that meets web accessibility guidelines and includes accessibility features. We report Fulcrum's compliance with WCAG 2.2 and Section 508 in a
Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT®) Version 2.5 INT
Creating and sharing resources that help publishers produce accessible content. We report content compliance
in collection specific VPAT®s
Fulcrum's conformance status is assessed through a combination of automated tools, manual self-evaluation, user testing and feedback, and third-party evaluation.
Last manual review of platform: May-June 2025
Last automated review of platform: Since January 2026, Fulcrum is scanned weekly to identify accessibility issues.
Submitting Accessibility Evaluations
While Fulcrum maintains its own accessibility evaluation schedules, methodologies, and prioritization processes, we welcome accessibility feedback and evaluations from outside entities. If evaluations are conducted and shared with us, we give priority and preference to evaluations that use manual testing methods with specific assistive technologies over automated evaluations.
Compatibility with Assistive Technology
Screen Reader Compatibility
Fulcrum should be compatible with most major screen readers. It is optimized for use with NVDA in Firefox. New features are tested with NVDA in Firefox and VoiceOver in Safari. Fulcrum should be compatible with recent versions of the following screen readers:
JAWS
NVDA
VoiceOver
The site is also compatible with:
basic operating system screen magnifiers and contrast settings
accessibility browser extensions, such as Read Aloud (text to speech), Zoom Text Only (magnifier), and High Contrast for Chrome
speech recognition software
operating system speech packages
Known issues
For readers using NVDA:
In the Fulcrum Reader, alt-text image descriptions will be read when the embedded image is selected via the TAB key, but will not be read automatically via continuous reading. Alt-text image descriptions can be accessed by selecting the embedded image via keyboard controls or by following the link to the full image media page.
In the Fulcrum Reader, when searching inside the text of a book and following a search result, the matched term in the text is indicated on the page only through visual highlighting of the matched text, but the excerpts and chapter locations are accessible through screen reader technology.
In the Fulcrum Reader, text selection for highlighting or note taking does not work as expected.
On
book title pages
, “Overview” is the default tab. To get to other tabs on that page, navigate to the “Overview” heading and press the right arrow key.
On
resources pages
, “Info” is the default tab. To get to others tabs, navigate to the “Info” heading and press the right arrow key.
For readers using VoiceOver:
When the focus in the Fulcrum Reader is on a piece of embedded content such as a video or image, the VoiceOver rotor only recognizes the media controls as links. To access the other links and menu buttons through the rotor, navigate away from the embedded piece of media first.
For readers using Microsoft Edge Read Aloud:
In the Fulcrum Reader, the visual display of text does not continue to scroll when Read Aloud reaches the bottom of the page.
In the Fulcrum Reader, it is not possible to adjust the emphasis styles in Read Aloud.
For readers playing time-based media in resources or ebooks:
As of January 2022, the current version of AblePlayer on Fulcrum has a known issue where audio descriptions can auto-play when users activate descriptions to be read aloud by the player and navigate book pages. Turning off the read aloud function of the descriptions will resolve this issue.
For readers using Dragon NaturallySpeaking:
Filter buttons and content on the
Search and Browse Books
page do not respond to voice command navigation.
Keyboard Compatibility
In the Fulcrum Reader, all of the pages, and media content such as videos, audio, and images should be accessible via standard keyboard controls only (no use of a mouse required).
Standard keyboard controls include:
TAB to move through links and buttons
SHIFT+TAB to go back to a previous link or button
ENTER to select
Left and right arrow keys in the Fulcrum Reader provide shortcuts for easy page flipping or scrolling.
Using scroll mode in the Fulcrum Reader, Page Up and Page Down and up and down arrow keys also allow for page scrolling.
When reading PDFs in the Fulcrum Reader, pages can be rotated by either using the "Rotate Clockwise" button or pressing R on the keyboard. Both will rotate the page 90 degrees clockwise.
The default video player shortcuts are as follows:
Alt + Control + p or spacebar = Play/Pause
Alt + Control + s = Restart
Alt + Control + r = Rewind
Alt + Control + f = Forward
Alt + Control + v or 1-9 = Volume
Alt + Control + m = Mute/Unmute
Alt + Control + c = Hide captions
Escape = Close current dialog or popup menu
(The modifier keys can be changed through video keyboard settings.)
Accessibility Features
Discovering Accessible Content
All book pages on Fulcrum include an "Accessibility Claims" tab that includes accessibility information about the book if supplied by the publisher.
If a book is not screen reader-friendly or has no supplied accessibility information, a button to request an accessible file for the book will be available. If the book is restricted access, you must be authenticated and authorized to the book or product for this button to appear.
Fulcrum Reader
For certain content, users can choose between page-by-page and scroll view in the Fulcrum Reader. To switch views, select the Preferences and Settings button and choose your preferred Display mode.
Image descriptions are enabled for screen readers through alt-text attributes and linked extended descriptions when necessary (and when provided by publisher).
While there is no built-in text-to-speech feature, screen readers and text-to-speech browser extensions such as Read Aloud for Chrome should work with the Fulcrum Reader as well as all of the book, publisher, and media pages.
Time-based Media
AblePlayer video and audio player has the capability for captions, audio descriptions, and transcripts, though not all publishers may provide these features. The caption font, size, color, and location can be adjusted in the player settings. Captions and transcripts are available when provided by the publisher. As of January 2022, the current version of AblePlayer on Fulcrum has a known issue where audio descriptions can auto-play based on the time codes when users activate descriptions to be read aloud by the player. Turning off the read aloud function of the descriptions will resolve this issue.
For readers with low vision
In the Fulcrum Reader, a book's text can be zoomed up to 400% through the Preferences and Settings menu. Switching to scroll view is recommended when enlarging the text as this will shift the text from two columns to one.
Operating system text zoom and font accessibility settings and browser extensions such as Zoom Text Only for Chrome should work with all of the other text on book, publisher, and media pages, as well as the menu bars in the Fulcrum Reader.
The video player offers a full screen view and the image viewer offers a zoom function.
The video player supports user control of caption settings, including toggle, position, font, size, text color, background, and opacity as well as user control of audio description (when captions and audio descriptions provided by publisher).
Operating system contrast accessibility features and browser extensions such as High Contrast for Chrome should work with the Fulcrum Reader in addition to all other Fulcrum pages.
Accessibility Roadmap
Four areas of focus guide the Fulcrum Accessibility Roadmap:
Make it easy to request accessible copies of books that do not meet accessibility requirements.
Clearly communicate a book's accessibility conformance and features.
Provide evidence of a plan to remediate books that do not meet accessibility requirements.
Ensure the platform and its functionality are as accessible as possible.
Fulcrum's accessibility roadmap contains past, present, and future accessibility activies with estimated timelines and status updates.
Activity
Outcome
Timeline
Status
Support applicable WCAG 2.2 AA criteria that are only "partially supported"
Improve platform conformance with WCAG 2.2 AA.
Q2 2026
In progress
Assess accessibility gaps in content and create detailed remediation plans for publishers
Action plans for remediating the most used and relevant backlist content hosted on Fulcrum with timelines for title by title remediation.
Q2 2026
In progress
Enable Theme options in the Fulcrum Reader
Users will be able to change the background color and text colors for a customized reading experience.
Q2 2026
In progress
Investigate compatibility with speech input assistive technology
Test various speech input assistive technologies on platform and identify any compatibility issues; explore solutions for existing and known compatibility issues.
Q2 2026
In progress
Add accessibility metadata for PDF book content
Users can easily identify accessibility features available in PDF ebooks.
Q2 2026
In progress
Enable searching and browsing of content based on accessibility conformance
Users can find content that meets accessibility standards
Q3 2026
Planned
Complete medium priority accessibility improvements to the Fulcrum Reader
Improve the usability of keyboard and assistive technology navigation of the Fulcrum Reader.
Q2 2026
Planned
Improve the usability of navigating search hit highlights in Fulcrum Reader
Enables equitable access to search highlighting for assistive technology users by not solely relying on color to indicate search result matches in text.
Q2/Q3 2026
Planned
Create VPAT®s for Big Ten Open Books, Boydell and Brewer, University of Westminster Press, and Lived Places Publishing
Accessibility conformance reports are available that assess platform and content accessibility of these hosted collections and publishers.
Q2 2026
Planned
Add the ability to insert language tags to metadata fields
Allows additional metadata fields to indicate language shifts from English.
Q2/Q3 2026
Planned
Completed Work
Add the ability for users to modify text display in Fulcrum Reader
Users can adjust word spacing, letter spacing, line heights, margins, and paragraphs to create a customized reading experience.
Q1 2026
Completed
Maintain keyboard focus on search page when applying filters
Keyboard and assistive technology users maintain their location on the page when searching and browsing content, providing a better user experience.
Q1 2026
Completed
Add help support for using system-based text-to-speech tools in Fulcrum Reader
Users have detailed guidance on using a variety of text-to-speech tools in the Fulcrum Reader.
Q3 2025
Completed
Enable users to customize fonts in Fulcrum Reader
Users can apply serif, sans serif, monospace, or dyslexic fonts to EPUBs in the Fulcrum Reader.
Q2 2025
Completed
Display "Request Accessible Copy" button for titles that do not meet accessibility conformance
Make it easy to request file for accessibility remediation.
Q2 2025
Completed
Display title-level accessibility metadata
Users can easily identify accessibility features available within an ebook.
Q2 2025
Completed
Revise and update several VPAT®s, including the platform VPAT
VPAT®s upgraded to report conformance on WCAG 2.2 and follow VPAT® Version 2.5 INT, providing a more comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of platform accessibility.
Q2 2025
Completed
Update Fulcrum EPUB Specification
Now includes more examples and details on making EPUB accessible, along with best practices and guidelines for semantic markup of HTML.
Q1 2025
Completed
Ensure information buttons on the authentication page have unique values.
Screen reader users can now accurately identify and interact with information buttons on the authentication page.
Q3 2024
Completed
Configuring the time-based media player's headings and values to be unique and assigned the correct heading level in the Fulcrum Reader
Screen reader users can now better understand the structure and controls of embedded media players within ebooks.
Q3 2024
Completed
Ensure links distinguish themselves from surrounding non-linked text
Users with low vision or color blindness can clearly identify and navigate links.
Q3 2024
Completed
Announce loading status to assistive technologies when content is loading in the Fulcrum Reader
Screen reader users are now informed when ebook content is loading, providing better feedback and reducing confusion.
Q3 2024
Completed
Revised several VPAT®s including core master VPAT®
Up-to-date accessibility documentation conformance documentation.
Q1 2023
Completed
Upgraded AblePlayer to a newer version
Screen reader users can now access improved video descriptions and interact with transcripts more effectively.
Q1 2022
Completed
Released Audio/Video Guidelines for accessibility
Authors can now follow clear guidance to create accessible multimedia content.
Q1 2022
Completed
Updated Fulcrum PDF Reader core version
Users can now experience better focus management, improved table rendering, and clearer DOI information through ARIA labels.
Q1 2022
Completed
Reformatted all fixed-layout page-image ebooks into structured PDFs
Screen reader users can now more easily navigate and understand older e-book formats.
Q2 2022
Completed
Remediated over 80 EPUBs and updated EPUB workflow
Users can now download EPUBs that meet accessibility standards and include long descriptions for complex images.
Q4 2022
Completed
Updated all VPAT®s to Version 2.4 INT
Users can now reference standardized accessibility reports across all collections.
Q3 2021
Completed
Collaborated with DAISY Consortium to test Fulcrum Reader with NVDA and Edge Read Aloud
Screen reader users can now expect improved compatibility and functionality with popular tools.
Q3 2021
Completed
Conducted two accessibility-focused sprints addressing issues from MSU UARC usability testing
Screen reader users can now benefit from enhanced semantic encoding and better overall support.
Q3 2021
Completed
Conducted assistive technology usability testing with MSU UARC
Identified issues for assistive technology users and users with limited dexterity, created plans and work ticket to address issues.
Q1 2020
Completed
Updated VPAT®s from Version 2.1 to 2.3 INT and added collection-specific VPAT®s
Users can now access more granular accessibility details per collection.
Q1/Q2 2020
Completed
Released multiple platform-wide accessibility improvements
Users can now navigate content more easily with clearer links, improved contrast, and available transcripts.
Q3 2020
Completed
Collaborated with DAISY Consortium for EPUBTest evaluation
Users can now expect ongoing improvements as accessibility gaps are identified and resolved.
Q3 2019
Completed
Underwent high-level PDF and accessibility evaluations by Deque for BTAA
Users can now access evaluations and see improvements based on third-party recommendations.
Q3 2019
Completed
Released Fulcrum EPUB Specification
Authors and publishers can now create EPUBs that adhere to consistent accessibility standards.
Q1 2019
Completed
Conducted accessibility evaluation through Rackham Public Engagement Fellowship
Screen reader users can now navigate the platform more effectively due to identified improvements.
Q3 2018
Completed
Conducted user testing with MSU Usability and Accessibility Research Consulting (MSU UARC)
Users can now benefit from platform changes informed by real-world testing of assistive technology.
Q1 2018
Completed
Conformance of Content
Fulcrum provides hosting for a number of different publishers and we are a signatory of the
Accessible Book Consortium's Charter for Accessible Publishing
. Accessible content is the primary responsibility of each publisher yet to uphold our accessibility commitments to the ABC, we work with publishers to support and improve the accessibility of their content. Below you will find links to VPATs and accessibility features for large collections hosted on Fulcrum.
NOTE:
Developing additional content VPATs for
Big Ten Open Books
Boydell & Brewer
Westminster University Press
, and
Lived Places Publishing
is on our roadmap for 2026. Upon request, we will make a best effort to complete a collection's VPAT within 10 business days. In the meantime information on the accessibility of individual items may be available in the Accessibility Claims tab, and general conformance may be determined by our
platform VPAT
ACLS Humanities EBook
Please see the
ACLS Humanities EBook Collection accessibility page
for VPATs and detailed accessibility conformance information.
BAR Digital Collection
Conformance last evaluated: October 2025
For content conformance information, please see the
BAR Digital Collection Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT®) Version 2.5 INT (Oct 2025)
The BAR Digital Collection is made up of born-digital monographs and reformatted monographs that were page scanned from print into digital format. The format and origin will often inform the accessibility of that content:
PDFs created by reformatting print to digital include page scans with uncorrected OCR text layer to enable functionality with text-to-speech and assitive technology software. Bookmarks have been added ot these PDFs to enable content navigation within reading systems, including the Fulcrum Reader. However, these PDFs do not contain stuctural tagging and markup to identify document structure such as headings and tables. They do not include textual descriptions of images.
Born digital PDFs include a text layer, bookmarks, and linked table of contents. They will work with text-to-speech and assitive technology, but there are some limitations: they do not include structural markup and tagging and they do not include textual descriptions of images.
To request remediation of any content in the BAR Digital Collection, please complete
Fulcrum's accessible file request form
Big Ten Open Books Collection
All titles in the Big Ten Open Books Collection are available in EPUB and PDF format. The EPUB formats have been reformatted to meet or exceed WCAG 2.1 AA and EPUB Accessibility 1.1 conformance. The EPUB format is available for online reading and download through the Fulcrum Reader. The PDF format is made available for download-only. PDF formats have varying levels of accessibility conformance, most notably PDF formats may not contain textual descriptions of images but do have baseline accessibility features and will work with assistive technology.
A VPAT® for the collection with detailed conformance reporting is slated to be available in Q2 2026.
Lever Press
Please see the
Lever Press accessibility page
for detailed accessibility conformance information.
Lived Places Publishing
A detailed accessibility evaluation of content is currently underway and a VPAT® is slated to be made available in Q2 2026.
To request remediation of any content in the Lived Places Publishing collections, please complete
Fulcrum's accessible file request form
University of Michigan Press Ebook Collection
Please see the
U-M Press Ebook Collection accessibility page
for VPATs and detailed accessibility conformance information.
Resources for Creating Accessible Content
There are several resources the Fulcrum team has developed to assist publishers in the creation of accessible content. These resources, as well as others on the web are detailed below.
Describing Visual Resources Toolkit
Funded by the Kress Foundation, this resource was developed by the University of Michigan Press in partnership with leaders and experts in the fields of accessibility for libraries, museums, and archives. The resource aims to help authors, publishers, and others develop a best practice for describing images in the humanities and social sciences.
Fulcrum EPUB Specification
In partnership with
Apex Covantage
we developed and released a specification for the creation of highly accessible and Fulcrum compliant EPUBs. The specification was released under an Apache 2.0 License and can be re-used in-house by publisher's production teams, or supplied to vendors that assist in the creation of a publisher's ebook files.
Accessibility and Publishing
, by Stephanie S. Rosen
Written by University of Michigan Library's Accessibility Specialist, this open access ebook is a primer for publishers looking to gain an orientation to the complex landscape of accessible publishing in the scholarly ecosystem.
Book Industry Study Group Guide to Accessible Publishing and Cheat Sheets
A live, up-to-date guide for publishers looking to start making their content accessible.
Audio/Video Guidelines for Michigan Publishing/U-M Press Authors
A live, up-to-date accessibility guide for authors and publishers who have time-based media that will be hosted on the Fulcrum platform, developed by Michigan Publishing's Accessibility Working Group.