SAGE Vantage Student Site Accessibility Guide

Last updated: 10 July 2023

Welcome to the accessibility guide for the SAGE Vantage Student Site (hereafter SAGE Vantage). We frequently make improvements to make our site more accessible, so you may wish to bookmark this page and check back every now and then.

This page is intended as a user guide to the site’s accessibility features. If you would like to request specific information on WCAG 2.1 AA conformance and Section 508 compliance (including VPAT requests), you can message SAGE’s accessibility team at online.accessibility@sagepub.com. If you’re interested in the accessibility of other SAGE products and formats, or accessibility at SAGE generally, see our global accessibility statement.

This document is also available as an accessible PDF. If you would like this document in an alternative format, or if you have any other questions about the accessibility of SAGE Vantage, contact us at online.accessibility@sagepub.com.

SAGE Vantage content and alternative formats

The SAGE Vantage platform provides content through its interface. Should a qualified student require a book hosted on SAGE Vantage as an ePub or fully typeset PDF, we recommend that disability officers first try obtaining the title through our partners AccessText Network, Bookshare, RNIB Bookshare or the Accessible Book Consortium's Global Book Service.

If you need further assistance, you can send an inquiry to accessrequest@sagepub.com. We reply to all inquiries promptly, typically within five working days. If we do not have the file in-house, we shall exercise reasonable efforts to have the file produced at no cost to the requestor. Please note this service may take 2–3 weeks. We are not able to provide books in Word, HTML or XML format. PDFs obtained from SAGE directly are DRM-free (no password protection or print/copy restrictions) and permit magnification by the rendering application. Please note that accessible copies are issued for use by qualified students only.

Reading and viewing guidance – SAGE Vantage interface

Specific guidance for keyboard navigation

You can use a keyboard to navigate SAGE Vantage and use its features. Use the tab key to move through the interactive elements of the page and the visible outline will indicate which element has focus. Features on the site have been designed not to rely on mouse-only interactions like hovering and drag-and-drop.

Limitations and exceptions:

• While reading a page using a screen reader, the keystrokes used are not viewed as activity by the site. After thirty (30) minutes of inactivity (other than reading), the site will return you to the login page, if you do not respond to the pop-up alert. Once you have logged in again, you will be returned to the page you were reading.
• In limited instances, focus may return to running foot or address bar, for example, when exiting the Enter Access Code or Start Grace Period pop-ups.
• Notetaking and highlighting functionality currently are not fully available using a keyboard. Using a screen reader’s selecting capabilities, some of this functionality is available in a limited capacity.

Skipping repetitive content

SAGE Vantage contains a "Skip to main content" link on its pages, which becomes visible when it receives focus. This link always appears as the first link on the page, so you can navigate to it by tabbing down once when the page loads, or by tabbing back up to the top of the page at any time. Clicking the link will bypass the site’s navigation menus and move focus to the page’s main content. Many pages also provide a second or third link as well to assist in navigation to a specific activity or knowledge check.

Video player

Our video player supports keyboard operation and navigation.

Limitations and exceptions:

• The dark background on some videos may limit visible focus for some of the interactive player elements.

Specific guidance for visually impaired users

Reading order

Reading order usually follows the visual order of the content and uses a left-to-right, top-to-bottom convention. Items in the right rail are read after the content in the main content pane.

Navigating by page section

Each page on SAGE Vantage is divided into landmarks so that the layout of the page can be perceived by assistive technologies. As well as using the skip link on each page to bypass repetitive elements, if you use a screen reader you can use these landmarks to scan and navigate the page. Useful landmarks include:

• There is a banner landmark.
• Navigation: Navigation elements, such as a link to the homepage, navigation menus, a help link and a login menu, and the right rail elements, including pagination links on search results.
• Main: The main content of the page. Structurally, this is the content under the H1 on each page.
• Search: Search functionality, such as the quick search on every page.
• Aside/Complementary: Content that is separate but supplements the main content, for example chapter tools.
• Region: Used to identify an area in the document identified as significant, such as course information, course progress, and assignments.
• Contentinfo: The site’s footer, where useful site-wide information, such as policies and contact information, can be found.

Navigating by heading

Attention has been given to each page’s semantic structure (i.e., its H1 to H6 tags) to ensure that headings are descriptive and useful.

Color contrast

All text on the platform meets minimum recommended contrast ratios against the background. This is 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text. If you still have trouble reading text on the site, the next section contains information about changing the text size. Alternatively, you may find it helpful to use a browser extension to specify your own color combinations, such as Change Colors for Chrome.

Limitations and exceptions:

• Some content may contain figures and graphics (including images of text) that do not use sufficient color contrast or that use color as the only means of conveying information. If you find any graphics to be illegible that do not have alternative text and/or a long description, contact online.accessibility@sagepub.com and we will endeavor to update them.

Text size and magnification

You can change the size and style of text by altering the default font settings in your browser, or you can alternatively use your browser’s Zoom functionality, a browser magnification extension, or ZoomText. SAGE Vantage uses responsive design, so changing the zoom level in your browser will reflow the layout of the page: as you zoom in or out, the page will rearrange itself to use your screen space in the best way.

Limitations and exceptions:

• Reading and Data Activities are currently only available on a desktop.

Text alternatives for visual content

Navigational images and icons, as well as many images in the content itself, contain useful alternative text. When alt text and long descriptions are available in the content, these are rendered in the interface. However, if you encounter an image that does not have a text alternative, and you need one, you can request alternative text for specific images by contacting online.accessibility@sagepub.com.

Images that are decorative or incidental are given a ‘null’ alt attribute, so they are properly ignored by screen readers.

Limitations and exceptions:

• Audio descriptions are not currently available for videos on SAGE Vantage.

MathML support

Mathematical notations are rendered in MathML, and as such can be read, reformatted, and magnified using assistive technology. All equations should be displayed as MathML; however, if you encounter an equation that is not and does not have a text alternative, and you need one, you can request alternative text for specific images by contacting online.accessibility@sagepub.com.

Screen reader compatibility

Our site is designed to follow a logical reading order and semantic structure rather than work with any specific screen reader. However, we test our site with the following combinations:

• JAWS and Chrome
• NVDA and Firefox

Limitations and exceptions:

• In the video player, those using a screen reader can use the keyboard to play the video and operate close captioning.
• Context or content may update or change without screen reader notifying you.

Note: Screen reader and browser technology is constantly changing. While SAGE tests using these specific combinations, there may be instances in which a user of assistive technology encounters challenges outside SAGE’s control.

Specific guidance for users with hearing impairments

Video captions

All videos on SAGE Vantage have synchronized closed captions, which are written by professional transcribers and available in several formats.

On video pages, the transcript below the video automatically scrolls and highlights the section of the transcript currently being spoken. You can also scroll the transcript yourself. Clicking on dialogue in the transcript will skip to the relevant part of the video. This functionality is not available to keyboard users.

If you prefer to view the captions as subtitles, you can switch these on and off by clicking the ‘CC’ button in the video player.

Specific guidance for problems with comprehension, memory, problem-solving or attention

Scrolling transcripts

Videos on SAGE Vantage contain transcripts that automatically scroll and highlight text. If you find this distracting, you can switch this feature off by unchecking the ‘Auto scroll’ checkbox.

Text-to-speech tools

All content on SAGE Vantage can be copied and pasted into a text-to-speech tool with no barriers.

How to contact us

If you have any comments, questions or feedback about the accessibility of SAGE Vantage, SAGE’s accessibility team would love to hear from you. You can contact us at online.accessibility@sagepub.com.