Research Guides: NECC Library Database Accessibility: Individual Database Usage Tips

Individual Database Usage Tips

For screen reader users:

Full text is provided in HTML or PDF (or sometimes both) formats. Use the HTML version when available, as the accessibility of PDFs to screen readers varies.
Articles can be listened to and audio downloaded using ReadSpeaker (see EBSCO box for more information on ReadSpeaker). Choose the Listen link in the HTML full text entry to hear the audio file. If you use ReadSpeaker with a screen reader, to stop the audio, list the links on the page and select Stop.

For keyboard users:

To refine your search, it is quicker to access the Search Options on the search pages rather than the Refine Results option on the results page.
On the results page, to close the Relevance, Page Options and Share drop-down boxes, tab back up to the heading and press Enter

CINAHL with Full Text This link opens in a new window
CINAHL is the professional source for full-text articles from over 580 journals in nursing and allied health.
GreenFILE This link opens in a new window
Research database focusing on the relationship between human beings and the environment, with information on topics ranging from global warming to recycling to alternate fuel sources and beyond.

For screen reader users:

If you experience problems accessing the search and drop-down boxes on the home page or in advanced search, you can access them by tabbing.
On the results page, it is difficult to navigate beyond the first list of results, so your initial keywords need to be as precise as possible. To access references not on the first page, you will need to move to the last reference on the page (list the links on the page and move to the last title link) and then tab once, which will generate a further list of references. From the list of links on the page you will then need to move back up the reference title links to read the new ones.

Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
A collection of full-text reference titles covering all major subject areas.

For screen reader users:

Books can be read online and have an accessibility mode, so image PDFs can be read as text and other functions such as searching for a book or within the book are optimized for screen reader use. Accessibility Mode can be accessed in JAWS by listing the form fields INSERT+ F5, select "Enable Accessibility Mode Button" and press ENTER twice.

Ebook Central This link opens in a new window
Includes thousands of electronic books across the academic spectrum specifically chosen for the community college curriculum.
eBook Community College Collection This link opens in a new window
This multidisciplinary collection contains more than 64,000 e-books covering key subject areas including humanities, social sciences, business, science, technology and literary criticism.

For screen reader users:

Search results appear in the following order: checkbox, reference number, article title (hyperlinked), author, reference details, article information, page of first match and PDF.
To access the full text of articles, either choose PDF from the results list or click on the article title and then choose PDFs. If a PDF is not sufficiently tagged, JSTOR can manually tag PDFs. Contact the NECC Library with any requests for JSTOR PDF tagging.

For screen reader users:

If you list the form fields on the Advanced Search page, the search button, labelled as "Submit Query," appears before the search boxes.
Press ENTER to conduct a search
JAWS cannot interpret pronunciation guidance/phonetics

Oxford English Dictionary This link opens in a new window
Widely regarded as the accepted authority on the English language. It is an unsurpassed guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of 600,000 words. As a historical dictionary, the OED is very different from Dictionaries of current English, in which the focus is on present-day meanings. You’ll still find present-day meanings in the OED, but you’ll also find the history of individual words, and of the language.

For screen reader users:

To search from the initial page, list the links and select "Search"
Search results are displayed in the following order: check box, result number, reference details, View HTML and View PDF.
Use View HTML whenever possible, as it includes heading levels to aid navigation.

Project Muse This link opens in a new window
Full-text journal articles focused on the humanities and social sciences.

For screen reader users:

When using Internet Explorer, specify date ranges in Advanced Search by pressing ALT + DOWN ARROW to open the Date Range combo box, then use the up and down arrows to move through the options. Press ENTER to choose the appropriate date range. If you don't access the combo box this way, JAWS will get confused.
Choose Full Text rather than Full Text - PDF when available to avoid untagged/OCR optimized PDFs; once in Full Text, select Level Heading 2 to go straight to the text of the entry

Boston Globe (1980 – present) This link opens in a new window
Full-text of the Boston Globe.

The Open University. (n.d.). Databases with accessibility issues. Retrieved February 20, 2020, from The Open University Help and Support website: https://www.open.ac.uk/library/help-and-support/databases-accessibility-issues

Mildred F. Sawyer Library. (2020, April 8). Screen Reading and Library Resources: A Guide for ADA Accessibility Retrieved from https://suffolk.libguides.com/c.php?g=654172&p=4589949