Accessibility Policy
Duke University Press is committed to providing accessible content to all users, regardless of their abilities.
Standards
Our goal is to comply with current standards and guidelines set forth by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the European Accessibility Act (EAA). Specifically, we strive to provide digital content that meets or exceeds the guidelines set out in the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1, Level AA Conformance (WCAG 2.1 Level AA). We also follow guidance from the Duke University Web Accessibility Office.
Examples of accessibility features commonly employed include:
- Providing text alternatives for images and other non-text content
- Semantically marked-up structure for logical reading order and navigation
- Careful consideration for readability as it applies to color and contrast
- Tagging of non-English languages for accuracy of pronunciation by screen readers
Duke University Press Book and Journal Content
Duke University Press books and journal issues published after June 2025 will be, with few exceptions, conformant with WCAG 2.1 Level AA.
The primary accessible format for our books is the epub format and for our journals, the full-text HTML presented at read.dukeupress.edu. Duke University Press is committed to continuously remediating our backlist books and journals to conform to the target accessibility standard.
Partner Publishers’ Book and Journal Content
Duke University Press supports other scholarly publishers through the Project Euclid and Scholarly Publishing Collective services. While Duke University Press ensures that www.projecteuclid.org and www.scholarlypublishingcollective.org support WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards, each partner publisher is responsible for the accessibility of the scholarly content they publish to the sites.
Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT)
Detailed information about the compliance of each of our content sites can be found in the following VPAT documents:
- Duke University Press Humanities and Social Science Platform VPAT (PDF download)
- Scholarly Publishing Collective Platform VPAT (PDF download)
- Project Euclid Platform VPAT (PDF download)
Accessibility Improvements
We are committed to ongoing accessibility improvements. Current efforts include:
- Development and maintenance of an accessibility roadmap and a process to track and address accessibility issues identified on our websites
- Continuous remediation for accessibility of ebook and journal content published prior to June 2025
Contact Us
We welcome your feedback as we continue to work toward ensuring that all people have access to Duke University Press content.
- To report a digital accessibility barrier or to send questions or comments on our accessibility efforts, please use our Digital Accessibility Feedback Form.
- To request an electronic version of a textbook, use our Request for Electronic Text form.
- To inquire about licensing, contact our Library Relations team at [email protected].
