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<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head><script type='text/javascript' src='//cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/yui/3.6.0/yui/yui-min.js'></script><script type='text/javascript' src='//ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.10.2/jquery.min.js'></script><script type='text/javascript' src='https://assets.adobedtm.com/4a848ae9611a/d0e96722185b/launch-d525bb0064d8.min.js'></script><script type='text/javascript' src=/assets/nr_browser_production.js></script>  <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width"> <title>ScholarWorks: Accessibility Statement</title>  <link rel="stylesheet" href="/ir-style.css" type="text/css" media="screen"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/ir-custom.css" type="text/css" media="screen"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/ir-local.css" type="text/css" media="screen"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/ir-print.css" type="text/css" media="print"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="Site Feed" href="/recent.rss"> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon"> <script type="text/javascript" src="/assets/jsUtilities.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/assets/footnoteLinks.js"></script>  <link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon">  <script type="text/javascript">var pageData = {"page":{"environment":"prod","productName":"bpdg","language":"en","name":"site:accessibility","businessUnit":"els:rp:st"},"visitor":{}};</script> </head> <body >  <script src="/assets/scripts/dc-mobile/dc-responsive-nav.js"></script> <header id="mobile-nav" class="nav-down device-fixed-height" style="visibility: hidden;"> <nav class="nav-collapse"> <ul> <li class="menu-item active device-fixed-width"><a href="https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu" title="Home" data-scroll >Home</a></li> <li class="menu-item device-fixed-width"><a href="https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/do/search/advanced/" title="Search" data-scroll ><i class="icon-search"></i> Search</a></li> <li class="menu-item device-fixed-width"><a href="https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/communities.html" title="Browse" data-scroll >Browse Collections</a></li> <li class="menu-item device-fixed-width"><a href="/cgi/myaccount.cgi?context=" title="My Account" data-scroll >My Account</a></li> <li class="menu-item device-fixed-width"><a href="https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/about.html" title="About" data-scroll >About</a></li> <li class="menu-item device-fixed-width"><a href="https://network.bepress.com" title="Digital Commons Network" data-scroll ><img width="16" height="16" alt="DC Network" style="vertical-align:top;" src="/assets/md5images/8e240588cf8cd3a028768d4294acd7d3.png"> Digital Commons Network™</a></li> </ul> </nav> </header> <script src="/assets/scripts/dc-mobile/dc-mobile-nav.js"></script>   <div id="waldenu"> <div id="container"> <a href="#main" class="skiplink" accesskey="2" >Skip to main content</a> <div id="navigation"> <div id="tabs" role="navigation" aria-label="Main"><ul><li id="tabone"><a href="https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/myaccount.cgi?context=" title="My Account" ><span>My Account</span></a></li><li id="tabtwo"><a href="https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/faq.html" title="FAQ" ><span>FAQ</span></a></li><li id="tabthree"><a href="https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/about.html" title="About" ><span>About</span></a></li><li id="tabfour"><a href="https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu" title="Home" ><span>Home</span></a></li></ul></div>  </div> <div id="header"> <a href="https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu" id="banner_link" title="ScholarWorks" > <img id="banner_image" alt="ScholarWorks" width='980' height='109' src="/assets/md5images/e659a57d65013ff448e0259ab803930a.png"> </a> <a href="https://www.waldenu.edu/" id="logo_link" title="Walden University" > <img id="logo_image" alt="Walden University" width='260' height='109' src="/assets/md5images/8c9ec26cc0e25146ceed0a16232d063f.png"> </a> </div> <div id="wrapper"> <div id="content"> <div id="main" class="text"> <div id="accessibility-statement"> <h2>Accessibility Statement</h2> <p>bepress is committed to web accessibility for all, regardless of ability or disability. We work continually to improve the accessibility and usability of Digital Commons, informed by web accessibility standards. Accessibility is an ideal and responsibility that we share with our scholarly community. We collaborate with the administrators at ScholarWorks to make this website and its contents as accessible as possible.</p> <h3>Standards Conformance</h3> <p>bepress endeavors to meet all guidelines and standards established by the World Wide Web Consortium's <a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/" >Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1</a> at level AA conformance, and <a href="https://www.access-board.gov/guidelines-and-standards/communications-and-it/about-the-section-508-standards" >Section 508 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act</a>. These guidelines define how to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities, and conformance to them improves the web's usability for all people.</p> <p>Digital Commons is partially compliant with WCAG 2.1 at level AA, and we make continual improvements with the aim of achieving full compliance. In certain areas, Digital Commons implements level AAA success criteria.</p> <p>For a detailed review of how Digital Commons conforms with WCAG 2.1 success criteria, please refer to our Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) document. This document was produced by the members of the Elsevier and bepress internal accessibility teams.</p> <p><a href="https://www.bepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Voluntary-Product-Accessibility-Template-VPAT.pdf" >Digital Commons <abbr title="Voluntary Product Accessibility Template">VPAT</abbr> (PDF)</a></p> <h3>Accessibility Measures at bepress</h3> <p>Accessibility is a product development priority at bepress, and full standards compliance is represented on our product roadmaps. We promote awareness of accessibility principles among our employees, providing opportunities and resources for them to further develop web accessibility expertise. We maintain a dedicated internal accessibility team to evaluate, support, and improve web accessibility on our platforms.</p> <p>Our Consulting Services team works together with the ScholarWorks administration to publish accessible pages and content on ScholarWorks. We strive for open communication with our community of repository administrators on our shared challenges and successes in promoting accessible scholarship on the web.</p> <h3>Accessibility Support and Feedback</h3> <p>If you have accessibility questions regarding Digital Commons, or to report accessibility issues, please contact bepress Consulting Services via email at <script type="text/javascript"> //<![CDATA[ document.write("<a href='mailto:" + "dc-support" + "@" + "elsevier.com" + "'>" + "dc-support" + "@" + "elsevier.com" + "<\/a>") //]]> </script> or by phone at <a href="tel:+1-510-665-1200" >+1 (510) 665-1200</a> ext. 2. We usually respond within 24 hours on weekdays.</p> <h3>Accessibility Features</h3> <h4>Portable Document Format (PDF) Files</h4> <p>Digital Commons records may include PDF files as downloadable primary full texts or supplementary content.</p> <p> ScholarWorks may choose to make tagged PDFs available for users of assistive technology. Document processing within Digital Commons preserves the tag structure of uploaded PDF files. Primary files may have a standard Digital Commons cover page (which contains appropriate tags) prepended to the document. </p> <p> ScholarWorks may choose to make PDFs with searchable text or Optical Character Recognition (OCR) available. </p> <h4>Structural Markup</h4> <p>Main navigation links are consistent across pages in ScholarWorks. Site structure is standardized, as all pages comprise 4 sections:</p> <ol> <li>A header bar that includes the main navigation</li> <li>A main content area</li> <li>A sidebar</li> <li>A footer</li> </ol> <p>When Cascading Styles Sheets (CSS) are disabled, or when using assistive technology, the 4 sections are read in the above order.</p> <p>Most content and features are operable using only the keyboard. Most of the content of static pages can be accessed with JavaScript disabled in the web browser.</p> <h4>Skip Navigation Link</h4> <p>Keyboard users may bypass repetitive elements at the top of each page by immediately tabbing to the first interactive item, which is a “Skip to Main Content” link. This allows users to jump to the main section of the current page context.</p> <h4>Visual Design and Mobile Display</h4> <p>All pages and content may be enlarged using standard browser controls or screen magnification software.</p> <p>A mobile-specific style sheet, with a smaller viewport, is applied for users loading pages on mobile devices. Pages are mostly usable when style sheets are disabled.</p> <p>Text has sufficient contrast (4.5:1 for small text; 3:1 for large text) with its corresponding background to be clearly legible in almost all areas of the site. Links are visually distinguished from text, and most interactive elements also have obvious visual hover and focus states.</p> <h4>Access Keys</h4> <p>Access keys allow users to jump to specific elements of a web page using keyboard shortcuts. To activate an access key, press the modifier key + the access key.</p> <p>Access key modifiers differ between the web browsers and operating system platforms:</p> <ul> <li>Chrome: <strong>Alt</strong> on Windows. <strong>Ctrl + ⌥ Opt</strong> on Mac.</li> <li>Firefox: <strong>Alt + ⇧ Shift</strong> on Windows. <strong>Ctrl + ⌥ Opt</strong> on Mac.</li> </ul> <p>All pages in ScholarWorks define the following numeric access keys:</p> <ul> <li>Access key 1: ScholarWorks Home (navigates away from current page context)</li> <li>Access key 2: Main Content Area (of the current page context)</li> <li>Access key 3: My Account Page (navigates away from current page context)</li> <li>Access key 4: Search (activates search input field)</li> <li>Access key 0: Accessibility Statement (navigates away from current page context)</li> </ul> <p>Additionally, search results pages may be navigated using the following alphabetical access keys:</p> <ul> <li>Access key f: First results page</li> <li>Access key n: Next results page</li> <li>Access key p: Previous results page</li> <li>Access key l: Last results page</li> </ul> <p>Rich text fields on submission forms have the following built-in keyboard shortcuts:</p> <ul> <li>Alt + 0 - Help</li> <li>Alt + F10 - Toolbar (also allows user to return to the previous field)</li> </ul> <h3>Accessibility Resources</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.elsevier.com/about/policies/accessibility" >Elsevier's Accessibility Policy</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.relx.com/~/media/Files/R/RELX-Group/documents/responsibility/policies/accessibility-policy-2022.pdf" >RELX Group's Accessibility Policy (PDF)</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/" >Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.access-board.gov/guidelines-and-standards/communications-and-it/about-the-section-508-standards" >Section 508 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.bepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Voluntary-Product-Accessibility-Template-VPAT.pdf" >Digital Commons Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) (PDF)</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div class="verticalalign"> </div> <div class="clear"> </div> </div> <div id="sidebar" role="complementary">    <h2>Search</h2> <form method='get' action='https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/do/search/' id="sidebar-search"> <label for="search" accesskey="4"> Enter search terms: </label> <div> <span class="border"> <input type="text" name='q' class="search" id="search"> </span> <input type="submit" value="Search" class="searchbutton" style="font-size:11px;"> </div> <label for="context" class="visually-hidden"> Select context to search: </label> <div> <span class="border"> <select name="fq" id="context"> <option value='virtual_ancestor_link:"https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu"'>in this repository</option> <option value='virtual_ancestor_link:"http:/"'>across all repositories</option> </select> </span> </div> </form> <p class="advanced"> <a href="https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/do/search/advanced/?fq=virtual_ancestor_link:%22https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu%22" > Advanced Search </a> </p>   <ul id="side-notify"> <li class="notify"> <a href="https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/announcements.html" title="Email or RSS Notifications" > Notify me via email or <acronym title="Really Simple Syndication">RSS</acronym> </a> </li> </ul>     <h2>Browse</h2> <ul id="side-browse"> <li class="collections"><a href="https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/communities.html" title="Browse by Collections" >Collections</a></li> <li><a href="https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/journals" title="Journals" >Journals</a></li> <li><a href="https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissanddoc" title="Dissertations" >Dissertations</a></li> <li class="author"><a href="https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/authors.html" title="Browse by Author" >Authors</a></li> <li class="discipline-browser"><a href="https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/do/discipline_browser/disciplines" title="Browse by Disciplines" >Disciplines</a></li> </ul>  <h2>Contribute</h2> <ul id="side-author"> <li class="faq"> <a href="https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/faq.html" title="Contributor FAQ" > Contributor FAQ </a> </li> <li class="submit"> <a href="https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/submit_research.html" title="Submit Work" > Submit Work </a> </li> </ul>            <div id="sb-custom-lowest"> <h2 class="sb-custom-title">Need Help?</h2> <ul class="sb-custom-ul"> <li class="sb-custom-li"> <a href="http://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/contact.html" >Contact Us</a> </li> </ul> </div>      <div class="verticalalign"> </div> </div> </div> <div id="footer"> <div id="bepress"> <a href="https://www.elsevier.com/solutions/digital-commons" title="Elsevier - 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