Accessibility

Accessibility information for Hachette Learning (part of the Hachette UK group of companies)

Commitments & Charters

As part of our mission to make it easy for everyone, everywhere to discover new worlds of ideas, learning, entertainment and opportunity, we are committed to making our content and websites as accessible as possible for all readers, including neurodivergent people and those with disabilities. Hachette UK are signatories of both the Charter for Accessible Publishing (ABC Charter) and the Publishing Accessibility Action Group Charter, highlighting our commitment to improving the accessibility of our digital products.

eBooks

We are committed to ensuring all Hachette UK titles published across all our divisions are compliant with the requirements of the European Accessibility Act. Our commitment to accessibility includes ensuring our e-books:

• are produced in EPUB3;
• are validated against industry-standard accessibility validation criteria; and
• include descriptions for any non-text content where appropriate – please note Hachette Learning may be unable to apply alt-text functionality for a limited number of our images where it would fundamentally alter the content / change the learning outcome.

Hachette UK prioritises newly published titles and our most popular backlist titles across all our divisions for accessibility conformance. We also describe accessibility features of our frontlist e-books and our most popular backlist titles in metadata. This enhances our ability to ensure that our e-books can incorporate the latest technical accessibility features.

We continue to review and update our remaining backlist titles to make sure they meet industry standards by 2030.

Hachette UK Partners

We partner with several accessibility-first organisations to ensure that wherever possible our content is made available to their members in a format that meet their requirements, including:

• RNIB
• Benetech Bookshare

In addition to the above platforms, our audio titles are also shared with:

• Calibre
• Listening Books

Accessible Copy Requests

If you have a request for an accessible e-book version of one of our backlist titles that has not yet been made accessible and cannot be found via one of our accessibility partners listed above, please complete our Google form. We will review your enquiry and aim to provide an initial response within 3-5 working days with a timeframe on when this will be commercially available via our retail partners. Please be aware some products may take time to resolve, and your patience is appreciated.

Hachette Learning’s e-commerce website

We ensure the accessibility of the functionality on our site for identification, security and payment by making them perceivable, operable, understandable and robust in accordance with Directive (EU) 2019/882 (the European Accessibility Act). We are committed to making our website as accessible as possible to all users by improving the accessibility of our site to ensure that:

• our site is designed with responsiveness in mind to make sure the site can be used on different screen sizes and devices including mobile devices;
• it is compatible with assistive technologies such as recent versions of popular screen readers, speech recognition software and screen magnifiers;
• all components such as buttons have been designed for ease of keyboard navigation and use of a screen reader;
• the typeface, colours and layout of our sites have been designed to the standards of WCAG 2.2 AA; and
• the colours pass a contrast rating of AA.

Our site meets or exceeds an accessibility rating reflecting strong adherence to accessibility best practices including WCAG 2.2 AA standards. Any development work to the site will be subject to suitable accessibility testing to ensure an inclusive and user-friendly experience for all customers and to maintain accessibility to WCAG 2.2 AA standards. If any accessibility issues come to light, we will take steps to remedy such issues as soon as reasonably practicable.

Realising our accessibility objectives involves: 

• Following the born-accessible principle for all new feature and functionality releases and including accessibility requirements in all development phases, across user experience and design, development, and quality assurance. 
• Working with leaders in accessibility compliance to evaluate our products’ compliance.  
• Building our website to include key support features such as: 

1. Alternative text equivalents for images 
2. Headings and labels that indicate a topic purpose 
3. Keyboard operatable content that doesn’t rely on specific keystroke timings 
4. Content that adapts to different display orientations 
5. Consistent navigation 
6. No cognitive functions testing as part of user identification. 

• Continuously working to increase the accessibility and usability of our website and platforms. Accessibility is a journey, and our external developers continue to enhance features to ensure the website and platforms meet the latest accessibility standards.  
• Ensuring that all colleagues who interact with the website and platforms receive the ongoing accessibility training and documentation they require to be able to create compliant content. 

Information for visually-impaired users: 

• All page content and interactive elements can be accessed using screen readers. 
• Forms and input fields include labels that allow their purpose to be understood by screen-reader users. 
• Every page includes skip-navigation links, enabling users to bypass repeated navigation sections. 
• New features are tested with NVDA and the Google Chrome screen reader, and our VPAT assessment was completed using JAWS. 
• Images within article content include alternative text that reflects the captions shown on screen. 

Information for partially-sighted and low-vision users: 

• All pages are designed to meet the WCAG AA contrast requirement of a minimum 4.5:1 ratio between foreground and background colours. 
• Pages can be enlarged up to 400%, with the layout reflowing so that all content remains visible without horizontal scrolling. 
• Your browser may offer features or extensions that support your accessibility needs, such as modifying text size or colour, or applying system-level settings or apps that override site colours. 
• Adjusting your monitor’s brightness, contrast, or colour settings—or using physical coloured overlays—may also help improve your viewing experience. 
• Additional guidance on customising your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone for easier use is available through AbilityNet’s My Computer My Way resource. 

Information for keyboard-only users: 

• All site elements are designed to be accessible and operable using a keyboard. 
• Keyboard-operable elements show a visible focus indicator when selected. The site uses your browser’s default focus style—typically a solid outline in Chrome and a dotted outline in Firefox or Internet Explorer. 
• Dropdowns and expandable menus can be opened with the Enter key, after which the Tab key can be used to move through menu items. Checkboxes can be selected or cleared using the spacebar. 
• Skip-navigation links are included on every page to help users avoid tabbing through repeated elements each time a page loads. 

Text-to-speech compatibility: 

Some users may find it helpful to have text read aloud. Text-to-speech is readily available through: 

• The Edge browser’s native functionality 
• Chrome and Firefox plug-ins 
• Built-in accessibility tools on most modern devices, including PCs, Macs, tablets, and smartphones. 

Continuous improvements 

We make every effort to work with third-party providers who offer accessible software.  

If you encounter any accessibility issues, please let us know using the contact details provided below. 

Email: education@hachette.co.uk 

Telephone: +44 (0) 1235 827 720 

Customer support services

Our support services provide information on the accessibility of our services and its compatibility with assistive technologies, in accessible modes of communication. Contact accessibilityhelp@hachettelearning.com for help with accessibility issues.

Visually impaired and print-disabled students

Requests for electronic material for visually impaired and print-disabled students must be made via RNIB Bookshare (formerly Load2Learn). Assessment tests are the exception to this, for any assessment titles please contact us directly as below. Bookshare is a charity online database run by the Royal National Institute for the Blind that provides educational materials free of charge to VIP students in the UK. Please note that requests are accepted only from educational institutions on behalf of individual students.

Hachette Learning resources are supported by Bookshare outside of the UK. Using Bookshare students with dyslexia, blindness, cerebral palsy and other reading barriers can customise their experience to make reading easier for them. Find out more about Bookshare

If Bookshare are unable to fulfil your request, please contact vip@hodder.co.uk with the completed VIP permissions form attached. Email requests currently have a processing time of between four and six weeks, and there will be a charge to reflect the costs we incur in supplying files.

Please note that the file we provide is a standard PDF format. We do not produce Braille or large print copies, but we permit visually-impaired persons and affiliate organizations to create accessible copies of the text to suit individual needs.