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Using ZenFlip's Accessibility Features

How to add page descriptions, enable AI vision, and use the ImmersiveReader.

Using ZenFlip's Accessibility Features

ZenFlip provides built-in tools to make your publications accessible to readers with disabilities. This article covers the key features and how to use them.

Adding Page Descriptions

Page descriptions (alt text) are read aloud by screen readers to describe each page.

  1. Open your publication in the Editor

  2. Click the Settings tab in the left sidebar (gear icon)

  3. Find the Accessibility section

  4. Enter a description in the "Page Description" field for each page (placeholder text guides you to include key text, image descriptions, and data from charts - this is what's read aloud by screen readers and text-to-speech)

  5. Navigate through each page and add descriptions

  6. Descriptions save automatically when you leave the field

Tip: Focus on what the page communicates, not just what it looks like. Include key data points, headings, and the purpose of any images.

Adding Transcripts to Audio Hotspots

A transcript gives readers who are deaf or hard of hearing the words in an audio clip. WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.1 requires one for recorded audio, so add a transcript to every clip that contains speech.

  1. Open your publication in the Editor and click the Hotspots tab

  2. Select an Audio hotspot to open its properties panel

  3. In the Transcript box, type or paste everything said in the clip. Leave a blank line between paragraphs

  4. Or click Upload .txt, .vtt or .srt to fill the box from a file. Caption files (.vtt, .srt) are converted to plain text with their timings removed, so check the result and edit it if needed

  5. Click Save

Transcripts can be up to 30,000 characters, roughly half an hour of speech. Readers open the transcript with the Show transcript button in the audio player, and screen readers announce the hotspot as having a transcript available.

Captions

Captions show the words line by line as the clip plays.

  1. In the same Audio hotspot panel, under Captions (optional), click Upload .vtt or .srt

  2. Check the summary that appears (how many captions were read, and when the last one ends)

  3. Set the Language, for example en, es or pt-BR

  4. Click Save

Readers see the current line above the player's controls and can switch captions off with the Captions button, which the player remembers on that device. If a clip has captions but no written transcript, Show transcript lists every caption line with its time, and clicking a line plays the clip from that point. A written transcript is shown instead when there is one, which helps when you want to describe sounds as well as speech. Caption files can be up to 60,000 characters.

To replace captions, upload a new file. To take them off, click Remove.

Where readers find transcripts

  • In the audio player, with the Show transcript button

  • In Text view, the accessible text version of the publication. Each clip's transcript appears under its page's text as Audio transcript: (clip name). For clips that only have captions, the caption text is used

Finding clips without a transcript

In the Hotspots tab, audio hotspots with neither a transcript nor captions are marked No transcript in the page's hotspot list. A notice above the list counts every such clip in the publication and links to each one, so you can fix them without checking page by page.

Enabling AI Vision Processing

For publications with many images or charts, AI can generate descriptions automatically.

  1. Go to your publication's detail page (click the publication from your dashboard)

  2. Find the Accessibility & Content Processing card

  3. Set Vision Processing to:

- Smart — Processes only visual-heavy pages (recommended) - All Pages — Processes every page

  1. Click Save Accessibility Settings

AI vision generates descriptions of images, charts, and diagrams. Cost is approximately $0.05 per 100 pages.

ImmersiveReader

The ImmersiveReader provides a distraction-free reading experience with adjustable typography.

For readers: Press R or click the book icon in the toolbar.

Features include:

  • 4 colour themes — Light, Dark, Sepia, Green

  • Dyslexia-friendly font — OpenDyslexic option

  • Adjustable text size — 14px to 40px

  • Adjustable spacing — Line height, letter spacing, word spacing

  • Line focus mode — Highlights one sentence at a time

  • Text-to-speech — Reads content aloud with word highlighting

All preferences are saved to the reader's browser for next time.

For publishers: ImmersiveReader is enabled at the organisation level. Contact support if you don't see it in your viewer toolbar.

Text-to-Speech

Readers can have your publication read aloud:

  • Press T to toggle text-to-speech

  • Adjust speed from 0.5x to 2x

  • Words are highlighted as they are spoken

  • Automatically advances to the next page

Keyboard Navigation

Every viewer control works via keyboard. Readers can press ? to see all shortcuts:

  • Arrow keys for page navigation

  • F for fullscreen

  • S for sidebar/thumbnails

  • R for ImmersiveReader

  • Esc to close any overlay, pop-up or the AI chat panel — focus goes back to what opened it

  • Space presses the focused button (with nothing focused, it turns the page)

Automatic Reader Preferences

ZenFlip automatically respects one reader system setting: when a reader's browser or OS is set to prefer reduced motion, the viewer defaults to Scroll mode instead of the animated page-flip, so there's no page-turn animation to distract them. No configuration needed — this happens automatically.

Automatic Page Turning

If you set a publication to turn pages automatically, readers always get a Pause automatic page turning button in the toolbar (WCAG 2.2.2). Readers who prefer reduced motion get Scroll mode, where pages never turn on their own.

Further Reading

Using ZenFlip's Accessibility Features — Help Center | ZenFlip