What is ClinicalKey's Accessibility support?

Last updated on September 05, 2025

ClinicalKey aspires to meet all accessibility guidelines established by the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 AA and the U.S. Section 508 Standards of the Federal Rehabilitation Act, as well as similar standards enacted by countries around the globe. Customers may download the WCAG 2.0 compliance statement(Opens in a new tab or window) or VPAT(Opens in a new tab or window) to see compliance with specific guidelines.

Web Accessibility and Usability Features

ClinicalKey offers features that benefit everyone, including full-text search, browse and filter by content type or specialty, and bookmark-friendly content. ClinicalKey features a simple, flexible, and consistent user interface design. We provide content in a number of different formats, including HTML and PDF.

Screen-Reader Friendly

  • The user interface and all content are available in HTML, which is compatible with screen readers such as JAWS(Opens in a new tab or window), NVDA(Opens in a new tab or window), and Apple's VoiceOver(Opens in a new tab or window).
  • Pages are well structured with headings, landmarks, and lists, which allow users of assistive technology to easily jump around pages and understand content.
  • Math content is available in MathML(Opens in a new tab or window), which can be spoken by text-to-speech engines or converted to Braille and pasted into math equation editors or Microsoft Office documents.
  • Pages employ ARIA(Opens in a new tab or window) (Accessibility for Rich Internet Applications) to enhance navigation, orientation, and labeling for users of screen readers and other assistive technology.
  • User interface images have alternative text descriptions to convey the meaning of an image to screen readers.
  • All Books and Journals are available as PDFs with searchable text.

Keyboard Friendly

  • Pages include a visible "Skip Navigation" link to skip repetitive elements.
  • Controls and features are operable using keyboard and do not require a mouse.
  • Pages provide logical tab order.
  • When opening dialog windows and panes, the system places the cursor in logical places.
  • The outline feature allows skipping straight to article sections. This is available in Journals, Books and in many other content types.
  • Icon controls provide a visible tooltip for tasks like save, email, and print.

Flexible Display

  • Pages are responsive, which provides an information display optimal for the user's computer screen size or mobile device.
  • Pages use separate cascading style sheets (CSS), allowing users to more easily customize the display and contrast.
  • Pages are usable when style sheets are disabled.
  • Users can enlarge pages and text with either browser controls or screen magnification software such as GW Micro's Windows-Eyes(Opens in a new tab or window) or AI Squared's ZoomText(Opens in a new tab or window).
  • All content can be viewed in HTML, with all Books and Journals also available in PDF.

Clear Navigation

  • Links are well labelled and include necessary information about the link.
  • Global navigation links are consistent across pages and enable users to quickly and easily understand the layout of the site.
  • Pages have unique and descriptive page titles, which help with orientation, tabbed browsing, and bookmarking.
  • User can bookmark or copy and paste links to specific sections within a Book chapter, Patient Education sheet, Drug Monographs.

Summary of ClinicalKey Accessibility Features by Disability Persona

 

 Blindness/

Screen Reader

 Low Vision

 Hearing Impaired

 Mobility/

Keyboard Only

 Cognitive

(Dyslexia, Non-native English)

 Feature

 Blindness Screen Reader

 Low Vision

 Hearing

 Mobility Keyboard Only

 Cognitive

Controls and features are operable using keyboard only

 

 X

 

 

 X

 

Pages include a visible Skip Navigation link to help skip repetitive elements

 

 X

 

 

 X

 

Links and controls visually indicate keyboard focus

 

 

 

 X

 X

Users can jump directly to a main section in a Journal article or Book using the table of contents on the left

 

 X

 X

 

 X

Content is available in HTML, which can be resized or read using assistive technology such as JAWS screen reader

 

 X

 

 

 X

Pages are responsive to various screen sizes and viewing devices

 

 

 

 

Users can print Patient Education content to a PDF using small, medium, or large type

 

 

 

 

 

Math equations are available in MathML

 

 X

 X

 

 

 X

Pages employ ARIA (Accessibility for Rich Internet Applications) to enhance navigation, labeling, and messaging for users of screen readers and other assistive technology

 

 X

 X

 

 X

 

All graphical elements and color-coded items have meaningful text equivalents

 

 X

 

 

 X

Forms are marked up using labels that are read correctly by screen readers and allow for easier manual selection

 

 X

 X

 

 X

 X

Error messages are clearly identified using headings and iconography

 

 X

 X

 

 

 X

Pages are uniquely and descriptively titled

 

 X

 

 

 

Global navigation links are consistent across pages and enable users to quickly and easily understand the layout of the site

 

 X

 

 

 X

Tutorials are available in HTML overviews

 

 X

 X

 X

 X

Patient Education handouts are available in a variety of languages

 

 

 

 

 

 X

Accessibility Customer Support is available by through email or through [email protected]

 

 X

 X

 X

 X

 X

Tips for Users of Assistive Technology

The HTML format for Journal articles and Book chapters is the most compatible with screen readers, such as JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver. From Search results, navigate by headings to select an article title or Book chapter to be taken to the HTML version of the content. Once in an HTML article or chapter, users with screen readers can easily bring up a list of functional regions or landmarks on the page as follows:

  • In JAWS, use INSERT + CONTROL + SEMICOLON.
  • In NVDA, use NVDA + F7.
  • In VoiceOver, choose "Landmarks" in the "Web Rotor." Then finger-flick up or down to move to the next or previous landmark.
  • The outline of a particular article can be found by navigating to the complimentary information region.
  • The start of a full-text article can be found by navigating to the main region.

Math Content

Math content works best for screen-reader users with Internet Explorer. Users should download the MathPlayer(Opens in a new tab or window) browser plug-in for Internet Explorer, which allows persons with assistive technology to make better use of the MathML (math equation content) within HTML article pages.

Users with low vision or those who wish to enlarge math equations can right-click on an equation and select "Math Settings" to modify the zoom trigger and zoom factor.

Elsevier Accessibility

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