Accessible content
Our mission is to help people in their lives through learning, regardless of disability. This is reflected in our work to make our products accessible to all learners and customers.
Accessibility
Pearson is proud to work with a range of stakeholders, including learners, libraries, charities, and policy-makers to create common standards and improve on our provision of accessible services. We will only be successful when our educational materials are accessible to all users. We are committed to ensuring that our products adhere to local and international laws, and we consistently strive to create content and services that are born accessible for our learners.
Our involvement in the accessibility community
Pearson works closely with key members of the disability and advocacy community who are committed to accessible instructional materials. These include the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and W3C World Wide Web Consortium.
Pearson staff contribute time, expertise and creativity to moving accessibility forward. We conduct a variety of research and usability studies on important topics, such as assistive technology use, and on product prototypes. We frequently collaborate with advocacy groups and we share advances and insights through conference presentations.
Our approach
Below you will find information to help you understand our approach to offering accessible files in the UK.
We work to provide as convenient and efficient a service as possible to those requiring accessible materials.
Our licences enable authorised intermediaries and learners who have lawful access to our content to modify, reproduce and share that content. We will use technology to protect our Intellectual Property by way of encryption/unique identifiers in conjunction with tools to track, trace and record our content on the web.
Please note that not all file formats, reading or content consuming devices support accessibility with equal levels of support. You may find that a richer user experience is available through alternative formats and reading devices.
We strive to provide accessible content on equal terms for all learners. To achieve this goal, we’ve created our own Accessibility Guidelines and Content Frameworks to provide our developers with standards for creating the most effective educational content.
We gratefully acknowledge and endorse the work of the Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web consortium on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1AA.
Requesting alternative formats
Below you will find contact details and options for requesting accessible content.
UK learners & institutions
Pearson is proud to partner with the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) to make its UK Higher Education and Schools titles available to print disabled learners through Bookshare.
Bookshare is a platform operated by RNIB through which learners can request titles in a variety of accessible formats. In accordance with UK copyright legislation, eligible print disabled learners may download materials directly themselves.
Alternatively, representatives may acquire files on their behalf, as required for the curriculum, via the RNIB Bookshare platform. Patrons of RNIB Bookshare can then read the material using adaptive technology or Braille access devices, such as refreshable Braille displays. Bookshare is available free to schools and colleges in the UK.
For further information, please go to to the RNIB Bookshare website
Non UK learners & institutions
For overseas learners and institutions requiring access to Pearson UK Higher Education and Schools education collections, please contact our Global Permissions Granting team: ukgranting@pearson.com. They will respond to your request as soon as possible.
Alternatively, RNIB Bookshare service is available for overseas learners and institutions to access Pearson UK Higher Education & Schools education collections. RNIB membership is required and a membership fee is due on application.
Submitting Accessibility Requests
Please use our form to submit an accessibility request
Queries
If you have any queries or if you experience any issues with the above options, please contact our Global Permissions Granting team at gpg.queries@pearson.com