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JSTOR is committed to ensuring digital accessibility for persons with disabilities. We apply WCAG and Section 508 standards to improve the user experience for everyone.
You can find a copy of our latest Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) and an overview of measures we have implemented to support accessibility on our Accessibility policies page.
Content formats
JSTOR Archival Collection and Books content is available as scanned images and as PDFs. A subset of Books content is available in EPUB format.
JSTOR does not have any form of Digital Rights Management (DRM) on the content on the platform. You have the ability to copy and print content without such controls using the functionality on the JSTOR platform. Details on the scope of rights, use, copying, and printing is available on the JSTOR Terms and Conditions of Use page. To open PDF files, you will need a PDF viewer such as Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (see Adobe’s Accessibility Compliance Site).
You have multiple reading options on the platform. Content can be read online by navigating through the item viewer, viewing the content in a full screen view window and zooming on any portion of the content. You can also download content in PDF format where your permissions provide the right to do so and view it using any features available in your preferred PDF viewer. When available and where your permissions provide the right to do so you can download Books content in EPUB format and view it using any features available in your preferred EPUB reader.
PDF accessibility
JSTOR offers an on-demand remediation tool that improves the accessibility of PDFs and images. These tools add structure, tagging, and other features to support use with current assistive technologies.
To use the on-demand remediation tool, select the downward arrow beside the Download button on the item page. If an accessible PDF has not yet been created, you will see the option to Request accessible PDF.
Once you select this option, the PDF remediation will begin. Depending on the size of the file, this process may take some time. You can remain on the page until the accessible version is ready, or request an email notification when the accessible version is ready. You can decide to request an email notification at any time while the accessible PDF is being prepared.
When the accessible PDF is available, you will have the option to select Download accessible PDF.
Once an accessible PDF has been created, it will remain on the platform and be available for all users. If there is already an existing accessible version of an item, the Download accessible PDF option will be available from the download menu of the item.
The accessible PDF you download includes a link on the cover page to a JSTOR Support form where you can report any accessibility issues with the document. This form goes directly to our Support team, who will evaluate the issue and work with our vendor partners to provide additional remediation for the document as needed.
Alternative text for images on JSTOR
JSTOR includes high-resolution images for education and research. All image items on JSTOR have alt text based on the item’s existing metadata. Descriptive alt text can be generated on-demand for JSTOR’s primary source images and Artstor collections.
To generate descriptive alt text for an image, select the ALT button on the image viewer. This will begin the alt text generation process.
When the alt text has been generated, it will be associated with the item viewer for screenreader users, and also visible in the bottom pane of the image viewer. Once alt text is generated for an image, it will remain available on the platform for all users.
The alt text also includes a link to a dedicated JSTOR Support form you can use to report issues with the alt text. This form goes directly to our Support team, who will work with our vendor partners to evaluate and correct the alt text as needed.
JSTOR Shared Collections
JSTOR Shared Collections are user-contributed collections that may be added at any time, and it is not possible for JSTOR to know what this content will be. We cannot guarantee the accessibility of this uncontrolled content.
If accessibility issues with Shared Collections content are reported, JSTOR Support will reach out directly to the contributor to alert them of the request. The contributor is responsible for supplying remediated content to the user.
All JSTOR Shared Collections content is identified as such under "Terms and Copyright" on the item page. If you have additional questions, please contact JSTOR Support.
JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services Participants
JSTOR is responsible for the accessibility of the platform and for licensed books and content. The accessibility of content shared on JSTOR by JSTOR Stewardship participants is the contributor’s responsibility.
The JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services Product and Payment terms define expectations if JSTOR receives a request for an accessible version of a JSTOR Stewardship item. The JSTOR Stewardship Support team will alert the contributor to the accessibility issue.
Our content accessibility recommendations for JSTOR Stewardship participants provides WCAG-aligned recommendations for increasing your content’s accessibility when publishing to JSTOR.
Support for accessibility
Please contact JSTOR Support if you need additional remediation assistance, or have an accessibility issue not covered above. You can do this via phone, chat, or email.
Phone: (888) 388-3574
Email: support@jstor.org
Chat: JSTOR Support homepage
Support Hours: Monday - Friday, 8:30AM - 5:00PM Eastern Time
We have a single point of contact on our platform, which helps us to increase speed and turnaround time with support requests from all our users. Accessibility tickets are prioritized in this system and put to the top of our workflow.