Knewton Alta’s Commitment to Accessibility

Updated: May 2024

Making learning accessible to all is one of Wiley’s biggest priorities, both as a company and as people who are passionate about education. Accessible products aim to ensure that all learners and educators have equal access to information, learning tools, and functionality regardless of age, ability, or situation. We are dedicated to implementing accessible features in Knewton Alta according to universal accessibility standards.  

How we support accessibility

Achieving our accessibility goals involves a multi-dimension approach which includes:  

• Following the born-accessible principle for all new feature/functionality releases and including accessibility requirements in all development phases — user experience and design, development, and quality assurance.  
• Partnering with leaders in accessibility consultancy to evaluate our product’s accessibility. A  summary of Knewton Alta’s level of compliance is detailed in our Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT).
• Committing to future accessibility work. Accessibility is a journey and development teams continue to develop features to ensure the platform meets the latest accessibility standards. This includes estimated timelines in our Accessibility Roadmap to address areas where the VPAT indicates the product doesn’t fully meet the criteria set against the current accessibility guidelines. 
• Providing colleagues with ongoing accessibility training and documentation to ensure that they have the knowledge and skills needed to produce quality products and services.   

Key accessibility features

Wiley measures accessibility according to the standards set by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 A/AA, Revised Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act, and EN 301 549.

Screen reader support

Knewton Alta is compatible with commonly used screen reader software, such as JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver, supporting those who are blind, who have partial sight, and those who have learning/cognitive disabilities. We do this by:

• Providing alternative text and long descriptions for all static images that serve a pedagogical purpose.
• Including descriptive video transcripts that capture the visual content in all instructional videos that serve a pedagogical purpose.
• Labeling most screen elements, such as buttons and links, with helpful text and/or descriptive names.
• Ensuring that the information, structure, and relationships conveyed through visual formatting for most elements are preserved when the presentation format changes.
• Including descriptive titles for all web pages so that users can find content and orient themselves within the product.

Screen magnification support

For those with visual or cognitive disabilities, Knewton Alta is compatible with built-in screen magnification platforms (e.g., Windows Magnifier and macOS Zoom) and third-party software (e.g., ZoomText) that can improve the visual readability of rendered text and images. We do this by ensuring that:

• Text can be resized without assistive technology up to 200% without loss of content.
• Most pages can be resized to a width of 320 pixels by a height of 256 pixels without loss of content or functionality, and without requiring scrolling in two dimensions.
• No loss of content or functionality occurs when changing text styles to the user’s required settings.

Speech recognition support

For users with physical and cognitive disabilities, Knewton Alta is compatible with commonly used third-party speech recognition software, such as Dragon, to support voiced keyboard and mouse commands. We do this by:

• Supporting keyboard-only usage to visit most links, buttons, and form controls
• Ensuring that most content does not "trap" keyboard focus

Closed captioning support

For users with no or limited hearing, Knewton Alta provides closed captioning on all instructional videos that serve a pedagogical purpose.

Color contrast support

For users who have visual or perceptual disabilities, Knewton Alta presents most applicable text and images of text at an appropriate ratio (e.g., 4.5:1 or more) to improve readability for people who have a color vision deficit. We also do not use color as the only visual means of conveying information, indicating an action, prompting a response, or distinguishing a visual element, for most platform components.

Make a request

We welcome the opportunity to meet with customers to discuss our accessibility initiatives, hear feedback from your own testing of Knewton Alta, address questions or concerns, and give you assurance that Wiley can meet your accessibility needs. We have a team of accessibility experts who are here to help you. 
 

Request a copy of our VPAT and Accessibility Roadmap

To request a copy of our VPAT and Accessibility Roadmap, please reach out to Knewton Alta Customer Support. Improvements are made throughout the year, and audits are conducted regularly to reflect Wiley’s commitment to accessibility. Corrections are prioritized to focus on the product components that are the most impactful for customers.  

Additional questions and requests

Should you require further help, we offer a number of answers to the most common accessibility questions through our Alta Accessibility FAQs. Learn about the standards and tools that we use for testing; supported assistive technologies; how to use your browser to change color settings, magnify content, change font size; and more.  

Wiley’s commitment to equality

Wiley is a knowledge company and a global leader in research, publishing, and knowledge solutions. Dedicated to the creation and application of knowledge, Wiley serves the world’s researchers, learners, innovators, and leaders, helping them achieve their goals and solve the world's most important challenges. For more than two centuries, Wiley has been delivering on its timeless mission to unlock human potential.  

Wiley is a member of the Association of American Publisher’s Critical Issues Task Force and the IMS Global Learning Consortium. Each initiative aims to streamline the delivery of accessible content to learners with disabilities. Wiley continues to invest in the future of accessible products and services through ongoing research, development, and training. By keeping pace with accessibility requirements, Wiley intends to continue to provide high-quality products for every type of learner.