The provision of resources that are accessible to all is a key responsibility for libraries. The Equality Act (2010) means that as an institution the University of Cambridge is legally obligated to provide access to content in a format that all of its members can access, or alternative formats as a reasonable adjustment.
The information below explains some of the ways this can be achieved. For further details see the Alternate formats section of our public-facing LibGuide.
Cambridge University Libraries' ebooks team have developed a policy on ebook purchasing, to ensure that purchased ebooks are accessible for as many users as possible. The policy is intended for use by staff at Cambridge University Libraries involved in the purchasing of ebooks. The information may also be useful for staff at other libraries working to ensure that ebooks they purchase are as accessible as possible.
The policy was last updated September 16th 2020. Download the policy as a pdf document using the link below.
The SensusAccess service is designed to allow disabled students and staff (or those supporting them) to create accessible alternative formats of digital documents. It is a free self-service facility. E-training on how to use SensusAccess is available.
Use the web-form hosted on the University of Cambridge Accessibility and Disability Resource Centre webpages to convert PDFs, JPEGs and other files into an e-book, text file, audio or braille:
Staff who scan and upload material to Moodle or other virtual learning environments have a duty to make scans as accessible as possible. As a minimum, this means:
The UL's Scan & Deliver team can help with scanning for teaching and learning under the CLA licence. Please contact scan-deliver@lib.cam.ac.uk for more information.
It is sometimes not possible to provide resources which are accessible to all at source. The Copyright and Related Rights (Marrakesh Treaty etc) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 allow for the provision or creation of alternate accessible formats for eligible users, without infringing copyright. This is considered a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act (2010).
The following sources of alternate formats are used by the Libraries Accessibility Service. To be eligible, students must have a print disability and be registered with the Accessibility and Disability Resource Centre. There must also be a copy (print or electronic) of the sourced book in a Cambridge library (including college libraries and Electronic Legal Deposit). For further information about eligibility and the legal framework see our student-facing LibGuide.
RNIB Bookshare is a UK-hosted website offered by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB). It provides a UK education collection for print-disabled learners including those with dyslexia or other Specific Learning Disabilities, those who are blind or partially sighted and those who have a physical impairment which makes print books hard to use. 
Textbooks, academic monographs, and other materials to support the UK higher and further education curriculum are available via RNIB Bookshare, and there are currently over 1 million titles to choose from. A range of accessible formats are offered via the website; these can be read electronically or downloaded/adapted to suit the personal reading needs of learners.
If the title needed is not available on RNIB Bookshare and if a publisher is registered with RNIB Bookshare, the Libraries Accessibility Service can request that the title be added.
Access the RNIB Bookshare website.
It is also possible to contribute scans of material to RNIB Bookshare. The University Library's Scan & Deliver team upload eligible whole-book scans made for disabled students. See titles uploaded to RNIB Bookshare. This benefits future RNIB Bookshare users at Cambridge and other institutions.
The Accessibility Services team at Cambridge University Libraries can advise on aspects of using Bookshare and is able to provide Cambridge librarians with access to the service.
The Internet Archive can be a good source for older reading material. At the time of writing the Archive holds close to 2 million texts. The University of Cambridge is a qualifying authority which means that the source texts can usually be made available to students registered with the Accessibility and Disability Resource Centre (ADRC). This is a mediated service, via the Libraries Accessibility Service.
Source files of the 17+ million digitized items from academic and research libraries contained in the Hathi Trust Digital Library can be made available to disabled students. This is a mediated service, via the Libraries Accessibility Service.
Access The Hathi Trust Digital Library and search the catalogue
Many publishers are able to provide PDF (and occasionally Word) files for books published since 2000, for the personal use of disabled students.
If it is not possible to acquire electronic files from the sources above, librarians can scan whole books or chapters as needed for individual print-disabled students. You can do this yourself or you can request a scan by emailing disability@lib.cam.ac.uk.
Many disabled students will need OCR (Optical Character Recognition) applied to the PDF so that it can be read out by their screen reader. When scanning for disabled students who need OCR:
If using Adobe Acrobat DC:
1. Open the PDF file containing the scan in Acrobat.
2. Click on Tools in the top left-hand corner and select Edit PDF.
3. Acrobat will then apply OCR to your document and convert it to a fully editable copy of your PDF.
4. Save and send the editable version to the student.
In some circumstances the Accessibility and Disability Resource Centre is able to pay Non-Medical Helpers (NMHs) to scan materials for print-disabled students. More information can be found at Non-Medical Helpers. Please check with the Libraries Accessibility Service before exploring this option.
The Accessibility and Disability Resource Centre has created a dedicated web page advising on accessible materials. As well as guidance on creating accessible documents for use in situations such as teaching, the page contains instructions on how to convert inaccessible pdf documents, and how specific technologies interact with document formats.
Access the Accessibility and Disability Resource Centre Accessible Materials webpage.
Electronic resources received by Cambridge University Libraries through the Legal Deposit Act must be consulted on dedicated PC terminals within the University Libraries. This is due to legislation restricting the way these resources are accessed.
The implications of this for accessibility are less than ideal. Students who are eligible for alternate formats may look for a more accessible alternative on RNIB Bookshare or contact the Libraries Accessibility Service for help.
Section 31 of the UK's Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (1988) details exceptions to copyright for the benefit of disabled persons. This enables you to make an accessible copy of a work available to a disabled person if:
a) the disabled person has lawful access to a copy of the whole or part of the work; and
b) the person's disability prevents the person from enjoying the work to the same degree as a person who does not have that disability
For full details of this section of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act please click on the link below:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/48/chapter/I/chapter/III/crossheading/visual-impairment
The Marrakesh Treaty is an international legal instrument which aims to make published content more accessible to people with disabilities. Prior to the Treaty, copyright exceptions only applied to situations where accessible copies could not be obtained under reasonable commercial terms. Following a change to UK legislation in October 2018, when the Treaty came into force, accessible copies can now be made regardless of whether a work is commercially available in an accessible form.
Copies should made available for the exclusive use of a disabled person (or person acting on behalf of the disabled person), and should not be copied again. Any copy produced should include a statement to this effect, i.e. that is only for the use of the disabled person.
The UK Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) Higher Education license terms and conditions will be updated in August 2019 to mirror these changes in legislation.
Accessible digital copies made available for the exclusive use of disabled persons do not need to be included on the digital copies report submitted to the CLA.