read

Accessibility: A Requirement, Not A Feature

By RedShelf

You'll often find RedShelf in a classroom. But you'll also find us in a locker, under a bed, on the kitchen island—or on a boat sailing to a tropical one. Now, more than ever before, we're connecting engaging digital content with learners everywhere, when and where they want it.  

But our job is not done there. Because one out of every seven students has some sort of disability—and only a fraction of them reach out to their Disability Services Office for support—it is critical that all of the materials we provide are inherently accessible to every learner, even those who don't disclose and existing disability.

At RedShelf, accessibility is fundamental to our software development process.  Our unique, "accessibility-first" approach is one of the ways we remain on the forefront of digital content delivery.

  • Our dedicated Accessibility Team trains every new hire on the importance of our company-wide philosophy.

  • We evaluate accessibility and usability from the beginning, and throughout the Software Development Lifecycle.

  • We encourage our publishing partners to create content in EPUB format, and provide feedback on content that does not meet our standards for accessibility.  (To learn more read DAISY Consortium’s white paper, Producing Better Documents for Everyone)

  • We go beyond industry ICT standards (WCAG 2.1, Section 508 & 504 Compliance) and are transparent in reporting our VPAT results as well as our status on planned accessibility initiatives.

  • We support and contribute to industry standards for accessibility in development, design, and compliance, as well as involve people with disabilities in our research, testing and beta releases.

  • Our Accessibility Policy statement is readily available on all RedShelf digital products, along with contact information for our Accessibility Team.

Want to learn more?

We encourage every educator to meet one of the masked heroes of course materials: Metadata. Listen, or watch a closed captioned recording of Accessibility Metadata: A Digital Textbook Superhero, recorded on Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD.)  

Magnifying glass over accessibility metadata

Tags: #Accessibility