EBSCO eBooks™ Named Top E-Book Platform Provider in 2020 ASPIRE Accessibility Audit
~ EBSCO eBooks™ Receives First-Ever Maximum Score for a Platform or Publisher ~

IPSWICH, Mass. — March 12, 2020 — For the second time, EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) has been ranked the number one e-book platform provider out of 46 e-book platforms assessed in the 2020 ASPIREverified Accessibility Audit with the first-ever perfect score of 100 percent. This honor recognizes an organization’s commitment to improving the content and communication of its accessibility statements in order to provide full transparency to customers and end-users.

ASPIREverified is the first verification service for accessibility statements in the publishing industry. This service helps create a transparent environment for content by reviewing, scoring, and verifying the accessibility statements of top publishers and vendors. Their efforts aim to promote accessibility by encouraging publishers and platform providers to supply clear communications to customers and to continue to improve transparency surrounding their products. In the 2019 ASPIREverified audit, EBSCO received a Gold score of 85 percent. EBSCO has proven its dedication to improving the user experience by not only increasing its score by 15 percentage points, but also by becoming the first platform or publisher to achieve a maximum.

EBSCO Information Services Director of Product Management for EBSCO eBooks™ Kara Kroes Li says this ranking reflects EBSCO’s continued commitment to improving the user experience of EBSCO products. “Being the first platform provider to receive a perfect score on the ASPIRElist shows our dedication to accessibility and to the inclusion of all users, regardless of ability. The ASPIRE project helped us understand the importance of clear and comprehensive accessibility documentation, which saves students’ time and improves their experience with our products. Inclusion in this audit also provides us insights that we can use to further improve the accessibility of EBSCO eBooks. We are grateful to our partners at ASPIRE for moving the industry forward through this valuable project.”

In addition to participating in the ASPIRE audit, EBSCO recently unveiled a series of enhancements, new capabilities and interface designs that will be delivered over the coming year and beyond that will improve the user experience. The roadmap highlights the efforts EBSCO is making to ensure products are not only usable but also accessible to every user, keeping their unique needs in mind. With the help of EBSCO’s partners, W3C and The Carroll Center for Blind, EBSCO has been able to conduct user research and perform on-site testing that ensures the advancement toward WCAG 2.1AA compliance.

EBSCO Information Services Senior Vice President of User Experience and Product Management Tim Lull says as EBSCO is working toward platform enhancements that have accessibility at their core, this designation is a sign that the company is moving in the right direction. “The ASPIREverified audit results are a great indicator that focusing on the user experience and factoring accessibility into all development projects is the way to go, and as the EBSCO platform evolves we expect even more improvements that will positively impact the experience of all users.”

EBSCO eBooks offers access to the world’s finest collection of e-book content and is fully integrated with EBSCOhost® and EBSCO Discovery Service™. In addition to thousands of DRM-free titles, EBSCO eBooks offers more than 1,500,000 high-quality e-books and 100,000 audiobooks from more than 1,500 major academic publishers and university presses from around the world.

For more information about EBSCO eBooks, please visit: https://www.ebscohost.com/ebooks.

About EBSCO Information Services
EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) is the leading discovery service provider for libraries worldwide with more than 11,000 discovery customers in over 100 countries. EBSCO Discovery Service™ (EDS) provides each institution with a comprehensive, single search box for its entire collection, offering unparalleled relevance ranking quality and extensive customization. EBSCO is also the preeminent provider of online research content for libraries, including hundreds of research databases, historical archives, and clinical decisions tools serving millions of end users at tens of thousands of institutions. EBSCO is the leading provider of electronic journals & books for libraries, with subscription management for more than 360,000 serials, including more than 57,000 e-journals, as well as online access to more than 1,500,000 e-books. For more information, visit the EBSCO website at: www.ebsco.com. EBSCO Information Services is a division of EBSCO Industries, Inc., a family owned company since 1944.

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For more information, please contact:
Kathleen McEvoy
Vice President of Communications
(800) 653-2726 ext. 2594
kmcevoy@ebsco.com