LibGuides: Library Accessibility: Databases

What Are Databases?

You can think of different databases like different streaming sites - each hosts its own collection of different eBooks, articles, newspapers, reports, videos, or more. Each will provide access to that collection in their own way, with different accessibility features, searching parameters, and sign-in requirements.

King's shares database access with Dalhousie, allowing our students, faculty and staff access to more than 500 databases. Find them all on the Dalhousie A-Z List of Databases.

Most database content can be searched using the Novanet Catalogue. Search for the title you're looking for, and results will come up with links to available databases.

Because King's and Dalhousie share an online catalogue with other university libraries, not all the links provided will be available using your login credentials. The best option will usually be the link that says "DAL users only". You may also see date restrictions provided next to the links; if you know your article was published outside the range described, try a different link.

If you can't find the resource you're looking for through the Novanet Catalogue, it's worth checking some of the more obscure databases directly. Dalhousie A-Z List of Databases.

What is an eBook?

An eBook is an electronic version of a traditional print book. These can be read online on a desktop or on mobile devices. Most eBooks that can be accessed by King's students are available through Dalhousie's database subscriptions, such as ProQuest eBook Central and EBSCO Academic eBook Collection, though some may come directly from the publisher.

Downloading a full eBook will give you access to that title offline for a specific loan period. This is not always given as an option, due to licensing restrictions.

Depending on the database you're using to access that title, you may need to register for an account - you will still get Institutional access as long as the Dalhousie banner is on the page when you create the account. We suggest you use your netID as your sign-in email.

You may also be required to download a reading software to get offline access- Adobe Digital Editions is mentioned in the example above, and is available for free.

Licensing Restrictions

Publishers impose access restrictions based on the subscriptions purchased by the Institution. Between these and Copyright Protection laws, there may be some limits to the titles you can access.

These are some examples and what that means for you:

User quantity limit: only a specific number of people are allowed to access a title at the same time.
- If you're given a notice that the maximum amount of people are reading a title you're looking for, try looking in Novanet to see if there's another link that you can access. Otherwise, you'll have to try again a a later time.
Paywall: the Dalhousie subscriptions don't give us access to all titles in a database.
- If you hit a paywall for something you need, and there are no other available links for that title in Novanet, you can submit an Interlibrary Loan Request.
Interlibrary Loan restrictions: full eBooks cannot be borrowed from other libraries*.
- You can request single chapters or articles, which will be sent to your email digitally.
- You can request a full physical book.
- *The only exception is for those with registered print disabilities - please see the Accessible Interlibrary Loans section for more details.

Popular Text Databases

These are some of the databases that are most commonly used by King's students.

Learn about some of the accessibility features provided by each on the corresponding tabs.

The 2024 EBSCO eBook Accessibility User Guide and FAQs provides the most recent and comprehensive information on accessibility features.

Accessibility Statement:

Compliant with the WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) 2.1 level A and AA, the U.S. Section 508 Standards of the Federal Rehabilitation Act, and UK and EU accessibility legislation for Public Sector Bodies (UK, EU).

Some highlights from the link above:

EBSCO provides texts in PDF, EPUB, and/or HTML.
PDF formats have a fixed page size that may not work well on all devices or screen sizes/zoom levels.
PDF eBooks are compatible with screen readers using an ASCII text layer.
EPUB and HTML files provide the higher-level accessibility options common for the format.
Most full book downloads work best with Adobe Digital Editions reader, available for desktop or mobile.
Partial downloads (pages, articles, chapters) can be read using any PDF reader tool.

Full book downloads require registering for a personal account - you will still get Institutional access as long as you see the Dalhousie banner at the top of the page before you create an account. It is recommended that you use your netID as your login email.

Listen Tool

EBSCO ReadSpeaker Listen Tool. Menu options: Listen. Play button. Settings. Reading Voice. Click and Listen. Enlarge Text. Text Mode. Page Mask. Download mp3. Help.

When the Listen Tool is available, you are able to use the built-in text-to-speech function with customizable options. When the tool is not present, the best option is to download the desired text and use your preferred text-to-speech system.

Other features

EBSCO’s company-wide design standards include requirements for minimum color contrast.
EBSCO’s eBook viewer has been tested with color inversion tools.

The ProQuest Platform Accessibility Statement page provides the most recent and comprehensive information on accessibility features.

Accessibility Statement:

The ProQuest Platform is continually designed and developed to meet Level AA of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.2) and Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act for features and functions.

Features:

When searching, eBooks and articles that are accessible through the Dalhousie subscription will say Full text. These can be read online, or downloaded if the option is given. If it does not say Full text, it is not available.
Download PDF will require you to open the text online first, before signing in with your NetID and password - this is to confirm your access.
Much of the content within ProQuest is available in PDF format.
Watch for the note Full text - PDF (Scanned Image) versus Full text - PDF when you hover over the full-text or download buttons.
Please ask Library Staff if you discover you need a better quality PDF of an article.
You may get better results using HTML documents which can be used by screen readers.
ProQuest doesn't have its own in-built screen reader, but Full text - PDF and HTML files will work with most available screen readers.
Access fully searchable transcripts and captions for the majority of video content.

Some of the content on this database is not fully accessible:

Some PDF documents provided by publishers are not optimized for accessibility.
A small portion of the image-based content does not have an accessible equivalent option.
There may not be alternative text for every image within an article. Image descriptions are supported if provided by the publisher.
There may be cases where headings are not included or heading levels are skipped.
Some video or audio-only content doesn't have transcripts. Most videos do not have audio description

Gale's Platform Accessibility Policy provides the most recent and comprehensive information on accessibility features.

Accessibility Statement:

Conforming with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), level A & AA, Section 508 standards of the US Rehabilitation Act , the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), EU Directive on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies 2016, UK Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No.2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Some highlights from the link above:

"For an optimal online reading experience, we recommend using Gale’s HTML text article display, as this supports all of the Accessibility Features described above, such as re-sizing, reflow and text-to-speech access, either via browser controls or via the toolbar at the top of every HTML article. Options include:

- Change to alternate fonts including Open Dyslexic
- Adjust font size and letter, word, and line spacing
- Select from four different color contrast options.

Additionally, the HTML includes Text-to-speech using Readspeaker (https://support.gale.com/doc/readspeaker) and the ability to translate into 49 languages or download as an MP3."

Tools

5 icons for the Gale accessibility tools

The above icons are what shows on Gale platforms at the article level.

Translate
Decrease font size
Increase font size
Display options
Listen

The JSTOR Accessibility policies page provides the most recent and comprehensive information on accessibility features.

Accessibility policy:

We apply WCAG and Section 508 standards to improve the user experience for everyone. [...] The target for JSTOR is WCAG 2.1 Level AA.

Highlights from the link above:

JSTOR doesn't provide built-in screen reading systems or text adjustment. However, it will comply with adjustments you make by changing appearance settings/preferences in your browser.

"Measures have been taken to ensure that you are able to:

Resize text, adjust text spacing, change fonts, and change colors by adjusting browser settings (for example, this can be done in the appearance settings in Chrome or in Firefox’s preferences or by using browser plug-ins).
Navigate the website using just a keyboard and access all interactive elements.
Skip directly to main content and skip long lists of links.
Zoom in at least 200%. Text will reflow so it can be presented without loss of information or functionality.
Use the content in your desired orientation. Both landscape and portrait layouts will work responsively with the content.
Listen and use the website with a screen reader (ex. NVDA, VoiceOver, JAWS). All functionality within the JSTOR platform is accessible to these technologies.
Understand page hierarchy due to proper heading structure and the reading order being set correctly.
Utilize browser text-to-speech tools on the platform and with PDF content.
Access alternative text for images that are a part of the interface. Content contributed directly by JSTOR participating institutions and users (referred to as Community Collections) will display any supplied alternative text and descriptions of content."