Embedding accessibility in our publishing
At the University of London Press, our mission is to open up humanities research. This commitment to openness is more than a publishing model – it’s a guiding principle that shapes our approach. Ensuring the widest possible audience for the research we publish has been at the core of our efforts in recent years to improve the accessibility of our publications, the way we share information on the accessibility of our books with readers, and our communication channels.
As a university press, we recognise that scholarly communication must be equitable and inclusive if it is to be truly open. While we are proud that the majority of our titles are published as open access editions now, we believe access should go beyond removing paywalls. Accessibility means ensuring that our content can be discovered, navigated, and used effectively by the widest possible range of readers including those with print disabilities.
To that end, we have been working hard to actively embed accessibility into all aspects of our publishing work: from editorial and production workflows to our digital platforms, metadata standards, author guidance, communications, and the training and support we provide. All of our new titles are ‘born-accessible’; they are published with an EPUB edition, produced in line with current accessibility standards, as well as accessible HTML and PDF editions for our open access books. This includes the use of alt text for images. We are also currently working to remediate our older published books in phases. Our aim is to ensure that accessibility is not a box-ticking exercise but an integral part of our scholarly publishing ecosystem.
We are delighted to announce that these efforts have now been recognised through our 100% ASPIRE gold-rated score for the quality of our accessibility statement – independently assessed by the ASPIRE verification service. This reflects our commitment to clarity, transparency, and meaningful action in providing users with the information they need to access our publications.
‘The accessibility information provided by the University of London Press is a superb reflection of their commitment to accessible publishing. The statement is informative, jargon-free, and most importantly, user-focused. It clearly illustrates how the Press has embedded accessible practices throughout their publishing workflows and has positioned the user experience of their readers at the heart of their business. It is a rare occurrence to achieve a gold rated, 100% ASPIRE score at the first attempt and we are delighted to award University of London Press this distinction. Many congratulations for your excellent work and commitment to making your content accessible for all.’ — Huw Alexander, ASPIRE
We are also very proud to be a signatory to the Publishing Accessibility Action Group UK (PAAG) Accessible Publishing Charter, which brings together publishers and allies who share a commitment to best practices in inclusive publishing.
Accessibility is a shared responsibility across the research and publishing community. We recognise that we still have more work to do and will continue to collaborate as a publishing team and with authors, editors, and partner organisations to develop workflows, resources, and publications that reflect these values. We welcome dialogue on these issues and are committed to transparency as we continue to learn, adapt, and improve.
For further details on our accessibility policies and practices, please see our Commitment to Accessibility statement, or get in touch with us directly.