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Recent accessibility updates on ScienceDirect

Last updated on October 29, 2026

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We are continuously working to ensure ScienceDirect is accessible to all users. The latest accessibility improvements we have made are listed below.

This page is updated regularly and intended to complement the information provided in our accessibility conformance report, which is updated yearly and can be found on the Accessibility Statement page

Accessibility support and feedback

To report any accessibility issue or for accessibility support, please contact [email protected].
If you require electronic files for a student or staff member with a disability, you may use the AccessText Networkopens in new tab/window or the Elsevier Disability Request Formopens in new tab/window to request a file. Most requests are fulfilled same day.

Accessibility updates September – December 2026

Accessible Format Request for articles. Journal article pages now include an Accessible Format Request link. It leads to the Journals Accessible Format Request Service, where entitled users can request an accessible version of the article. Requests are reviewed by a dedicated team, and once an accessible version is produced it is made available on ScienceDirect for all entitled users. The link is shown on articles for which accessibility metadata has not yet been received.

ADA Title II requirement
Accessibility metadata on article pages. Article pages now include a “View accessibility information” link, which opens a side panel with the accessibility metadata supplied for the PDF and HTML versions of the article, so users know the accessibility status of the content before they use it. Where no metadata has been received, the panel states that the accessibility status is currently unknown.

ADA Title II requirement
Captions and audio descriptions on article pages. The media player on article pages can now play closed captions for videos and audio files, and audio descriptions for videos. Captions and audio descriptions are being introduced progressively, starting with a pilot group of journals. Closed captions and transcripts are already available for all Science Talks articles. The same support already existed for book chapters published after June 2025.
WCAG 1.2.1 – Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded)
WCAG 1.2.2 – Captions (Prerecorded)

Previous updates

2026

2025

2024

Duplicated link text was removed by eliminating section heading links on the ScienceDirect homepage and we introduced a consolidated "Browse all titles in…" link at the top of the domain navigation. This update helps guiding users to related content more efficiently. WCAG Criterion: 2.4.9 - Link Purpose

The simplified structure of the homepage
We improved hyperlink visibility on the article search page by ensuring a minimum of 3:1 colour contrast ratio for the "More registration benefits", "Stored locally" and "Sign in" links, enhancing accessibility for users with low vision. WCAG Criterion: 1.4.3 – Contrast.
Highlighted link showing the improved contrast ratio
The visible focus is not obscured anymore by the sticky header on the article pages and open access option of journal pages. WCAG Criterion: 2.4.7 - Focus Visible
Link in focus on a journal page
References in the Reading Assistant are now tabbable, so that that users can navigate to the corresponding paragraphs easily. WCAG Criterion: 2.4.3 - Focus Order
Keyboard navigation issues for sub-subject categories on the main subject area were fixed. Tab navigation now correctly focuses on "Browse all titles in Life Science" after selecting "Life Science," improving usability for keyboard users. WCAG Criterion: 2.4.3 - Focus Order
Keyboard users can now access the CiteScore information in the tooltip on the Call for Papers and Special Issue pages without relying on a mouse. WCAG Criterion: 2.1.1 – Keyboard
Tooltip made accessible for keyboard users
We've improved modal dialog accessibility on the ScienceDirect Books page. Screen readers only access content within the open modal, preventing users from navigating outside the dialog until it is closed. WCAG Criterion: 3.2.2 - On focus
Download modal on Books page
We ensured proper reflow of content on the Journal pages and Special Issue Call for Papers page when zoomed in at 400%, so that only vertical scrolling is required.WCAG 2.1 Criterion: 1.4.10 - Reflow
We made Reading Assistant components accessible at zoom 400%.WCAG 2.1 Criterion: 1.4.10 – Reflow

Reading Assistant zoomed in to 400%
Tagged Article page headings directly below Article Metrics (e.g., Citations, Captures, Mentions) as H3 and sub-categories as tagged as list items and ordered alphabetically for better navigation and content structure for screen reader users. WCAG 2.1 Criterion: 1.3.1 - Info and Relationships
Article Metrics headings tagged as h3
We improved the contrast of orange bullets on the Journals Aims and Scope page by ensuring a minimum contrast ratio of 3:1 against the background, enhancing readability and accessibility for users with visual impairments. WCAG 2.1 Criterion: 1.4.11 - Non-text Contrast

Journal pages

Added aria-labels to “Learn more” links on open access and Supports open access on the Journal Pages to provide descriptive text for screen readers.
- WCAG 2.1 - 2.4.4 Link Purpose
Enhanced the focus indicator contrast for elements in the journal page header and editors banner. This allows keyboard users to easily identify the focused element, meeting the required contrast ratio.
- WCAG 2.1 - 1.4.11 Non-text Contrast
Added descriptive aria-label to "Supports open access" link for transformative journals ensuring better navigation for screen reader users.
- WCAG 2.1 - 2.4.4 Link Purpose
Adjusted auto-suggest headers in 'In this journal or book title' search box so that they are announced by the screen reader giving the user a better understanding of the auto-suggest list structure.
- WCAG 2.1 - 1.3.1 Info and Relationships
Resolved text overlap on the journal home page by allowing users to override text spacing styles and adjusting container dimensions for improved readability.
- WCAG 2.1 - 1.4.12 Text Spacing

Article page

Fixed the “view PDF” link under each non-English article title in the Recommended article section to prevent it from inheriting the language attribute from the parent, ensuring that it is announced with an English accent.
Fixed the “Show abstract”/”Hide abstract” link under each non-English article title in the Cited by section to prevent it from inheriting the language attribute from the parent, ensuring that it is announced with an English accent

Browse journals and books page

Added aria-label ”Filter publication by letter” to the letter links on the Browse Journals and Books page. This ensures users understand the function and purpose of this section improving overall navigation.
- WCAG 2.1 - 2.4.4 Link Purpose
Renamed the buttons that open the Refine Publication panel to "Select domain" and "Select subdomain" instead of "Domain" and "Subdomain." This ensures screen readers accurately convey the purpose of these buttons.
- WCAG 2.1 - 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value

General updates

Fixed the accessibility errors reported in the automated Wave test, enhancing usability for assistive technologies “missing form label”.
- WCAG 2.1 - 1.3.1 Info and Relationships
Fixed a WebAIM alert caused by redundancy in the Global Header with user and account information where tooltips duplicated visible label text.
- WCAG 2.1 - 3.1.2 Language of Parts

2023

2022

Closed captions - WCAG 2.1 criterion 1.2.2 Captions (A)

A new open access video journal, Science Talksopens in new tab/window, was launched in March. Closed captions and rolling transcripts are available for all video articles published in this journal and rendered in a fully accessible media player.

Users who choose to display closed captions can customise the appearance of the text (position, font, size, colour, opacity and background). A video transcript can also be displayed to the side of the article. This transcript will auto-scroll as the video is played, but it is also possible to read through it independently of the video playing, or even click on a sentence to get the video to play from that precise location.

Following up on this successful pilot, we are working on making closed captions and transcripts available for the other video journals on ScienceDirect.

Screenshot of a video article rendered in the Elsevier media player. A slide about vertical farming is displayed, with two rows of closed captions underneath it. A rolling transcript is displayed to the right of the video, with a highlight on the part of the transcript that is being read out

Tagged PDFs - WCAG 2.1 criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A)

We have started enhancing the accessibility of our PDFs with a new feature for people using assistive technology. By adding a set of tags to identify elements such as headings, paragraphs, figures and links, we provide assistive technology tools with a detailed representation of the article structure, which translates into a superior navigation and reading experience for screen reader users. This feature is currently available for all new articles published in a selection of 51 journals, e.g. Scientific Africanopens in new tab/window and Cognitive Robotics, and will progressively be rolled out to more journals over the coming months.

Elsevier article from the journal Information Sciences, viewed in Acrobat Pro. To the left of the PDF a Tags panel is open and shows the article tagging (headings, paragraphs, figures, links)

Other improvements

WCAG 2.1 criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A): Landmarks have been restructured on search results pages to ensure all page content is contained by a landmark, and that no landmarks are empty.

WCAG 2.1 criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (AA):

The open access label has been changed on article & chapter pages as the previous version (orange text on white background) did not offer enough colour contrast. It has been replaced by a dark grey label preceded by a green dot, which was already in use on issue table of contents and search results pages.
The colour of the “Brought to you by” label on search results pages has been changed to meet contrast requirements.

WCAG 2.1 criterion 1.4.11 Non-Text Contrast (AA): On the Search history and Reading history pages, colour contrast issues have been resolved in the dialog window that appears on toggle.

WCAG 2.1 criterion 2.1.1 Keyboard (A): On the Search history and Reading history pages, keyboard access has been improved to avoid focus getting lost behind the dialog window that appears on toggle.

WCAG 2.1 criterion 2.4.7 Focus Visible (AA): Focus rings have been improved on book pages to ensure they are visible on all 4 sides instead of only 3 previously.

WCAG 2.1 criterion 3.1.2 Language of parts (AA): A language tag was added in the site header, to indicate the language of the Japanese and Chinese language links.

WCAG 2.1 criterion 4.1.1 Parsing (A): Resolved duplicate identifier issues on Search results pages (search tips and sorting options).

WCAG 2.1 criterion 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (A): An accessible name was added to the button that closes the dialog window that appears on toggle on the Recommendations, Search history and Reading history pages.

WCAG 2.1 criterion 4.1.3 Status Messages (AA): When the toggle on the Search history page is switched on or off, the green "Saved" message can now be read out by screen readers.

2021

Colour contrast improvements: links and buttons

All links and buttons on the ScienceDirect homepage have been redesigned to offer better colour contrast in hover state.

Links on hover previously appeared with orange text and underline, and now appear in black text with an orange underline:
Links in focus previously appeared with orange text and black focus ring, and now appear in blue text with an orange focus ring:
Buttons on hover previously appeared in white symbol on orange background and now appear in black on white, with an orange outline:
Buttons in focus previously appeared in white symbol on orange background with a black outline and now appear in white symbol on blue background, with an orange outline:

Similar changes have also been made to the tabs on the book page, replacing orange text on focus/hover by black text with an orange underline on focus and an orange outline on focus.
screenshot tabs on book pages in focus

Search and search results page improvements

Keyboard access:

The ellipsis in search results entries is now keyboard accessible. Activating it displays the volume and issue information and pagination.

Screen reader support:

Alternative text is now available on all cover images in the Suggested Publications section. An outline has also been added on focus, to ensure focus is always visible.
All expand/collapse buttons on the search results page now have aria-expanded attributes to signal their current state to screen readers. This includes the “Abstract”, “Extracts” and “Export” buttons under each search result, as well as the “Show more” / “Show less” buttons in the search facets.
The confirmation message that appears after saving a search alert no longer disappears automatically after a few seconds. It now remains displayed until closed by the user and can be read out by screen readers. The same change was applied to the message that appears when downloading multiple articles at once.
The checkbox to select/unselect all articles displayed in search results is now accessible to assistive technology users (role = checkbox, aria-label & aria-checked):
The number of suggestions that are returned in the journal/book title search box auto-suggest is now announced to screen readers:

Search box redesign

The Advanced Searchopens in new tab/window form has been redesigned to make it easier to perceive and understand:

The main change is that search input fields now have a complete rectangular outline instead of a simple horizontal line. The outline makes these elements easier to recognize as search boxes and easier to perceive against the white background of the page. It also makes it easier to understand which label matches which input field.
Focus on the input fields has also been improved: an orange outline is added when a given input field is in focus.
These improvements have also been made to the search input on the search results pageopens in new tab/window:

Aria descriptions for article reference links

Article reference lists are enriched with links allowing readers to locate a given reference on ScienceDirect, Scopus, Google Scholar, or using CrossRef (view an exampleopens in new tab/window). As these textual links are repeated from reference to reference, we apply aria labels so that assistive technology users can determine which reference a given link applies to.
We have fixed a bug that was causing the aria-describedby on these links to reference an identifier that could not be matched. The aria-describedby now always references the identifier associated with that reference’s title.

Page structure & navigability

The heading structure of the Browse Topicsopens in new tab/window page has been revised to better reflect the page hierarchy. The ‘Related results’ section heading is now an H2 heading instead of H3 previously.
The “skip navigation” link on the advanced search page has been fixed, ensuring users can skip the site header and tab straight to the search form.
We have simplified the skip link logic on Journal pages (view an exampleopens in new tab/window) by replacing the old double skip link structure by a single link, so it is more consistent with the rest of the site and faster to operate.

Keyboard Focus

An improvement was made to the Reading Historyopens in new tab/window page in order to improve keyboard experience. When deleting a publication from the reading history, focus would previously be lost. With this latest fix, focus is now moved to the title of the next item on the list, and visible.