Accessibility Torrossa

Our mission

At Casalini Libri our mission has always been to support and further the dissemination of culture. We have made significant progress through the years, providing increasingly advanced tools to facilitate access to academic research and cultural content for scholars from all over the world. Since the early 2000s our Digital Division and Torrossa web platform have offered libraries and institutions the possibility to consult academic texts in the Humanities and Social Sciences in digital format.
We consider it essential to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to use Torrossa for study and research and have made it our priority to make Torrossa accessible to blind, visually impaired and dyslexic users.

Our collaboration with the LIA Foundation

In 2021, in the context of the overall renewal of its technological infrastructure, the Casalini Libri-Erasmus-Houtschild-@Cult group has recently embarked on an important collaboration with the LIA Foundation for Accessible Italian Books. The considerable experience of LIA in this field will be instrumental in helping us to acquire the skills necessary to make our platform accessible to people with low vision or dyslexia, allowing us to respond promptly to new European regulations and to ensure full compliancy with the European Accessibility Act when it comes into force in 2025. The LIA Foundation was established in 2014 from the shared desire of the Italian Publishers Association and the Italian Blind and Visually Impaired Union to make digital content accessible to all potential readers. A member of W3C (World Wide Web Consortium), EDRLab (European Digital Reading Laboratory) and DAISY Consortium, LIA plays a leading role in accessibility at an international level, collaborating with EDItEUR for the definition of the accessibility standards of metadata and participating the principal international working groups dealing with research and development for standards and accessible reading solutions.

An accessible Torrossa Online Digital Bookstore

Our aim is to adapt the Torrossa platform to conform with accessibility standards, referring to internationally recognized requirements for rendering Web content and reading solutions as accessible as possible for people with disabilities, in particular:
  • the guidelines on accessibility published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), with the aim of a progressive alignment with the Guidelines on the accessibility of web content (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA
  • the most up-to-date web technologies (HTML, CSS and JavaScript) for the graphic interface, with particular attention to the guidelines on colour contrasts
  • the correct development of the web interface to allow for autonomous navigation of the site using assistive technologies (eg. Jaws, NVDA, TalkBack or VoiceOver)

Features of Torrossa

Torrossa is a web platform that provides access to a catalogue of digital publications; these can be read both with an online reading solution and with downloadable reading software from third parties, which have different levels of accessibility.
On the web platform, which has been made accessible, users are able to browse the catalogue of available titles, search for publications using bibliographic parameters, purchase a title (or a part thereof) in PDF format, download the file or read the content in their browser, add it to their workspace.
The graphic interface of the platform was developed based on state-of-the-art web technologies (HTML, CSS and JavaScript).
The content is available as: books, articles, chapters, e-books, issues, journals, conference proceedings and collected writings.
For each document on the platform, the available use options are indicated at the time of purchase:
  • download
  • download with time limit
  • copy/paste and print options
Some titles can be read online for free without the need to purchase them. Purchased titles can be viewed online and are available for download (with the exception of download limitations applied by some publishers on specific items). To view the texts and to download them, users will need to install the Adobe Reader software (XI and later versions) on their devices.

The Adobe Reader program is available for download at the following link: https://get.adobe.com/reader/.

The free text search allows users to search withing the catalogue by author, title, publisher and full text. The advanced search function offers numerous additional filters, including filters by LC Classification (Library of Congress Classification) and Dewey classification.
For each title in the search results and in the record detail sheet there is a "Cite" button, which allows users to extract and copy the bibliographic information necessary for the correct citation of the resource.
The following features have been designed so that they can be carried out in complete autonomy by all users:
  • Consult the catalogue
  • Enlarge content up to 200% while maintaining the correct display of the title on the screen
  • Refine searches through the advanced search function
  • Add titles to the cart and complete the purchase at the checkout
  • Create and manage lists of titles in a personal workspace
  • Access personal purchase archive and download the selected resources
Please note - Some pages contain references and links to other sites external to the Torrossa platform that may not be fully accessible. Torrossa relies on Banca Sella and PayPal for the purchase process. If you encounter any difficulties in filling in the forms for these operations, we invite you to contact Banca Sella or PayPal directly to receive support.

Consultation with browser and screen reader

The Torrossa Online Digital Bookstore platform is compatible with the most recent versions of the browsers and screen readers indicated below:
Browser
  • Chrome
  • Firefox
  • Edge
  • Safari
Screen reader (Windows)
  • NVDA
  • Jaws
Screen reader (iOS e MacOS)
  • Voice Over
Screen reader (Android)
  • Talk Back

Solutions for reading content

Currently, the content available on Torrossa can be read in the following ways:
  • Download the PDFs and read them with the Adobe Reader application, which is accessible
  • Read PDFs online using the reader made by Mozilla with EPUB.JS software; this mode, however, has some limitations with regards to accessibility
Casalini Libri is also working to implement a new content reader, based on an open-source solution of the Readium SDK, to ensure another accessible reading mode.

Accessibility of digital editions

As of December 2021, there are 600,000 digital editions in PDF format on Torrossa, published by over 410 publishers.
Given the variety and different complexity of the books present, and the large number of publishers distributed, the level of accessibility of the publications available may vary; this depends on the compliance with the requirements by each publisher. The goal is to progressively extend the level of accessibility of the publications distributed.
Beginning in 2022, we will work with the LIA Foundation to promote synergies with publishers, to work towards the native publication of new digital contents in an accessible way, according to the availability of each publisher’s catalogue.
When there are alternative descriptions of the images in the titles, these can be read in line with the text, using the screen-reader.

DRM 

Currently the DRM solution used to read PDF files offline is based on Adobe Management Forms technology, which is compatible with Adobe Reader. This technology does not interfere with access to content.
Casalini Libri is currently working to implement a DRM solution that does not interfere with accessibility, for both PDF and EPUB e-books.

Download, Copy/Paste and Print

The download, copy/paste and print permissions are usually active on the content distributed on Torrossa, except for titles for which the publishers or copyright holders impose restrictions on the use of specific content in the distribution contract.

Licensing

The terms of use of the content are displayed on the title card, in the final stage of purchase and in the order archive; licences for institutional use are defined with the institutions; access to the licensed content can be temporary or permanent and can include all or only some usage permissions, depending on the content. The permissions provided are always visible on the file in use.

Contacts

For clarification on how to access or browse Torrossa and its functions, please contact us by e-mail at accessibility@casalini.it.
Our team will reply to you within 5 working days of your request.
We will also be happy to receive your comments or suggestions on accessibility at the address accessibility@casalini.it.


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