Last updated: 20 January 2026
Welcome to the accessibility guide for Epigeum. We will be making improvements to make our site and content more accessible on an ongoing basis, so you may wish to bookmark this page and check back every now and then.
About Epigeum
Epigeum is dedicated to enhancing the accessibility of our platform and eLearning modules. We are currently undertaking an accessibility remediation project, actively updating our platform and programs to ensure they align with accessibility standards. We are committed to enhancing the accessibility of both new and existing programs. We are updating existing programs on a rolling basis alongside our content update cycle.
We are committed to continuous improvement, incorporating feedback and new information to optimize our platform and content. We encourage collaboration with our learners and experts in the field to continually refine and improve our products. Our commitment to accessibility and good learning design is an ongoing journey, and we are dedicated to making the learning experience enriching and accessible to all.
About this guide
This document is intended as a user guide to the site's accessibility features. If you would like to request specific information on WCAG AA conformance and compliance with accessibility directives (including VPAT requests), you can e-mail Sage's accessibility team at online.accessibility@sagepub.com. If you're interested in the accessibility of other Sage products and formats, or accessibility at Sage generally, see our global accessibility statement.
This document is also available as an accessible PDF. If you would like this document in an alternative format, or if you have any other questions about the accessibility of the Epigeum platform or Epigeum, contact us at online.accessibility@sagepub.com.
Epigeum content and alternative formats
The Epigeum platform allows learners to access eLearning programs available to them through their institution's subscriptions with us.
Our eLearning modules have been created using our in-house activity library as HTML content and can be accessed via a web browser. Learners can toggle any content screen to the 'text-only' version, which provides static non-interactive versions with larger text size. Learners can switch to the 'text version' of any screen using the 'text/print version' button. This button is fixed to the top of the content screen. For screenreader users, this button is directly below the module title heading in terms of reading order. The 'text version' also provides a basis for printing or generating a PDF of any given screen of content. To generate a PDF/Print version, select 'Print Page' from the content header.
Some of our institutional subscribers implement our eLearning programs via their institutional VLE(s). In this context, the navigation between content screens in a module is provided by the VLE or its SCORM player and may vary from VLE to VLE.
Our eLearning modules sometimes include additional downloadable resources in the form of PDF or .doc(x) files. All content provided through the platform is DRM-free and there are no technical limitations placed on downloading or printing, though you should ensure that your use of the content is reasonable and complies with our terms of use. These files may not be fully tagged for accessibility at present.
Learners accessing our content via our platform can download completion certificates in PDF format upon successful completion of a module. Course administrators can access completion reporting for their subscriptions, either as on-screen HTML reports or as downloadable CSV files.
If you have a question or need further information about accessing or downloading alternative formats for Epigeum content, please contact online.accessibility@sagepub.com. We reply to all inquiries promptly, typically within five working days. If we do not have a requested file in-house, we shall exercise reasonable efforts to have the file produced at no cost to the requestor. Please note this service may take 2-3 weeks. PDFs obtained from Sage directly are also DRM-free (no password protection or print/copy restrictions) and permit magnification by the rendering application. Please note that alternative copies are issued for use by qualified learners only, typically those covered by an institutional subscription.
Reading and viewing guidance – Epigeum interface
SPECIFIC GUIDANCE FOR KEYBOARD NAVIGATION
You can use a keyboard to navigate through the Epigeum platform and use its features. Use the tab key to move through the interactive elements of the page and the visible outline will indicate which element has focus. Most features on the platform have been designed not to rely on mouse-only interactions like hovering, though we highlight a few exceptions below.
Limitations and exceptions (platform): The Epigeum platform reporting area for administrators features date pickers that are not keyboard accessible. Their use is not critical for report generation.
Limitations and exceptions (content): Some activity types in our eLearning content, particularly older content updated before July 2023, are not yet keyboard accessible; for example, drag-and-drop classification activities. If you tab into an activity like this, a message appears highlighting this limitation. Learners can switch to the 'text version' of the screen using the 'text/print version' button at the top of each content screen. This provides a non-interactive version of the activity, enabling users to access the content in an alternative format.
Skipping repetitive content
The Epigeum platform contains a 'Skip to content' link on each page, which becomes visible when it receives focus. This link always appears as the first link on the page, so you can navigate to it by tabbing down once when the page loads, or tabbing back up to the top of the page at any time. For most platform pages, following this link will bypass the site's navigation menus and move focus to the page's main region. Within a module, focus will be set to the content iFrame.
SPECIFIC GUIDANCE FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED USERS
Reading order
Reading order predominantly follows the visual order of the content and uses a left-to-right, top-to-bottom convention.
Limitations and exceptions (content): The content toolbar within module content does not follow this pattern. Within the content frame, the buttons to enable access to our “Technical Support” information modal and to switch between text and interactive modes are consistently the first interactive items and first in the tabbing order, but they may appear above or below the module and screen titles in terms of the visual order. The pattern will be consistent within a given publication but may vary between programs with different publication dates.
Navigating by page section
Each page on the Epigeum platform is divided into landmarks so that the layout of the page can be perceived by assistive technologies. As well as using the skip link on each page to bypass repetitive elements, if you use a screen reader you can use these landmarks to scan and navigate the platform page. Useful landmarks include:
- Banner: The site's global header containing a link to the homepage, a notification menu, and a login and dashboard navigation menu.
- Navigation: Navigation elements.
- All platform pages contain a navigation landmark in the top banner.
- Most pages contain an additional breadcrumb navigation landmark, indicating location within the platform.
- Within a content module, navigation landmarks enable navigation between module screens.
- In the reporting admin area, a navigation landmark enables navigation between different reports.
- Main: The main content of the page. Structurally, this is always the first landmark after the banner landmark.
- Contentinfo: The site's footer containing useful site-wide information such as policies.
Navigating by heading
Our heading structures (i.e., its h1 to h6 tags) are consistently nested across all platform pages, with some exceptions in our eLearning content itself.
Limitations and exceptions (content): The heading structure within Epigeum module content is not appropriately nested at present. H1 and H2 consistently reflect the module title and screen title respectively, though nesting at lower levels is inconsistent and may feature skipped heading levels.
Color contrast
All text on the platform meets minimum recommended contrast ratios against the background. This is 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text. If you still have trouble reading text on the site, the next section contains information about changing the text size. Alternatively, you may find it helpful to use a browser extension to specify your own color combinations, such as Change Colors for Chrome.
Limitations and exceptions (content):
- Some text and icons in our eLearning content does not meet minimum recommended contrast ratios, particularly in content published prior to July 2023.
- Some content may contain figures and graphics (including images of text) that do not use sufficient color contrast or use color as the only means of conveying information. If you find any graphics to be illegible, contact online.accessibility@sagepub.com and we will endeavor to update them.
Text size and magnification
You can change the text size of content and style of text by altering the default font settings in your browser, or you can alternatively use your browser's zoom functionality, up to 400%. The Epigeum platform uses responsive design, so changing the zoom level in your browser will reflow the layout of the page: as you zoom in or out, the page will rearrange itself to use your screen space in the best way. All new and updated publications since July 2023 feature a greater degree of responsivity on large screens.
Limitations and exceptions (content): On narrow screen widths and/or higher zoom levels, interactive activities may be swapped out for static text-only activities.
Text alternatives for visual content
Navigational images and icons, as well as many images in the content itself, contain useful alternative text. When alt text is available in the content, this is rendered in the interface. If you encounter an image that does not have a text alternative, and you need one, you can request alternative text for specific images by contacting
Images that are decorative or incidental are given a 'null' alt attribute, so they are properly ignored by screen readers.
Limitations and exceptions (platform): A limited set of program icons display images-as-text providing additional information on relationships between programmes that is not fully reflected in text or screenreader-accessible format.
Limitations and exceptions (content): In some older content, you may still encounter decorative images lacking empty alt attributes. These is being addressed as part of our ongoing update cycle.
Screen reader compatibility
Our site is designed to follow a logical reading order and semantic structure rather than work with any specific screen reader. However, we test our site with the following combinations:
- JAWS and Chrome
- VoiceOver and Safari
On occasion, we have seen different behavior between different combinations of device and assistive technologies. In these cases, we have discussed the best course forward. If you experience a challenge when interacting with our product, please reach out to us and we will attempt to reproduce the experience and see if we can advise on alternative solutions.
Limitations and exceptions (platform): Some platform buttons can only be activated with the Enter key where conventionally a screen reader user might expect to use the spacebar key. Screenreader users may also find focus is not placed on the menu immediately when opening the login/account menu.
SPECIFIC GUIDANCE FOR HEARING IMPAIRED USERS
Video Captions
All videos in Epigeum modules published since 2018 feature both synchronized closed captions and an interactive scrolling transcript.
SPECIFIC GUIDANCE FOR COMPREHENSION, MEMORY, PROBLEM-SOLVING OR ATTENTION
Text-to-speech tools
All content on the Epigeum platform can be copied and pasted into a text-to-speech tool with no barriers. Many browsers have in-built text-to-speech tools, such as the read aloud function in Microsoft Edge.
Limitations and exceptions (platform): Text-to-speech tools may be unable to directly read our eLearning module content on the platform, e.g. the MS Edge Readaloud tool does not seem to be able to read inside the content iFrame.
Reading guidance – PDF
After passing a module on our platform, learners can download completion certificates in PDF format. The certificate PDFs are not currently tagged for accessibility and are not accessible for screenreader. This is a current area of investigation.
Some of our eLearning modules feature supplementary downloadable resources in either Word or PDF format, for example the glossary document.
Some activities in our eLearning content feature activity summaries that can be saved/printed as PDF – these PDFs are mostly tagged for accessibility but currently feature skipped heading levels. This is the expected experience for content generated in Chrome; your experience may vary in other browsers.
PDFs are otherwise not explicitly tagged to be accessible to a keyboard and screen reader. Some PDFs may present barriers to full comprehension, such as inconsistent alternative text or heading structures.
If you do not have a PDF reader installed on your computer, you can download Adobe Acrobat Reader DC from Adobe.
Evaluation and testing methods
The information in this accessibility guide is based on a combination of an external WCAG 2.1 evaluation conducted by Tech For All in October 2023 covering the Epigeum platform and a representative sample of content and our subsequent remediation project. As part of a platform remediation project, the platform was retested in January-February 2024 by Lorna Notsch, Senior Digital Accessibility Specialist II at Sage Publishing, IAAP Certified and a Trusted Tester through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Lorenzo Milani, Associate User Experience Specialist at Sage Publishing. This review informed and validated our remediation work.
Lorna worked through the web application on a Windows 11 environment using the most up-to-date version of the JAWS 2024 screen reader with the Chrome browser (Version 106). Lorenzo conducted testing on the most up-to-date versions of Safari and Voice Over available in Mac OS 12 Monterey.
Alongside these evaluations, the Epigeum product and content teams met with Lorna to itemize any outstanding accessibility barriers, the most relevant issues from which are noted in this guide. We are currently focusing on addressing outstanding issues relating to our content.
Full testing and evaluation criteria are available on the site's VPAT, which is available on request from online.accessibility@sagepub.com.
Ongoing support for accessibility
The Epigeum team considers accessibility as one of its core design principles and we are improving our team processes and understanding on an ongoing basis. Currently, this means we:
- will explicitly build accessibility standards into platform development requirements to maintain WCAG 2.1 AA standards in existing and future features.
- undertake knowledge-sharing and collaboration with accessibility specialists within Sage.
- commission a third-party evaluation after major redesigns.
- are increasingly introducing automated accessibility testing to identify obvious accessibility bugs before release or publication.
How to contact us
If you have any comments, questions, or feedback about the accessibility of the Epigeum platform or content, Sage's accessibility team would love to hear from you. You can contact us at online.accessibility@sagepub.com.