[Eril-l] [EXTERNAL] Project Muse moving to EPUBS only? Accessibility question

[Electronic Resources in Libraries discussion list]

Hi Sarah,
EBSCO is moving to a new ebook reader called Thorium Reader and away from ADE – I remembered via the EBSCO demo that they also mentioned the ability to use Thorium for any epub files you have – not just EBSCO books.  I did just test a Project Muse Epub file in Thorium and it seemed to work well there.  Thorium allows for a lot of different accessibility options (which I believe was one of the reasons for EBSCO to make their move).  It is another program that would need to be made accessible on your campus machines unfortunately, but it may have less barriers than ADE.

Best,
Stacy

Stacy Maubourquette  (she/her)
--------------------------------------
Resources & Licensing Manager
Northeastern University Library
360 Huntington Ave. – 260 Snell Library
Boston MA 02115
617-373-4974 (phone)
s.maubourquette at northeastern.edu<mailto:s.maubourquette at northeastern.edu>
From: Eril-l <eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org> On Behalf Of Electronic Resources in Libraries discussion list via Eril-l
Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2026 3:33 PM
To: Electronic Resources in Libraries discussion list <eril-l at lists.eril-l.org>
Subject: Re: [Eril-l] [EXTERNAL] Project Muse moving to EPUBS only? Accessibility question

Hi Sarah,

This is something my institution noticed a couple of weeks ago and we quickly contacted our Vendor Rep about it. I emphasized how problematic it is for only EPUBs to be available for the same reasons you've pointed out.
From what was shared with me, this (i.e. eBooks only providing EPUB access and not PDFs) is a technical issue that they weren't aware of.

I would highly recommend contacting Support or your Vendor Rep about it to make them aware of it as well.

Erika Boardman, UNC Charlotte

On Tue, Mar 10, 2026, 3:20 PM Electronic Resources in Libraries discussion list via Eril-l <eril-l at lists.eril-l.org<mailto:eril-l at lists.eril-l.org>> wrote:
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Hi all
So today we ran into our first Project Muse ebook that was only available to be read as an EPUB - it can't be read at all without using ADE.    This poses a huge problem for us, as ADE is not available on our campus computers and frankly, our university patrons by and large have found the use of ADE on personal devices to be more hoops to jump through and complicated then they wish to deal with.

Looking at the Project MUSE FAQs, it appears that they are moving towards EPUB over PDF format and do not have an in-brower reader available.   So, this leaves their collections potentially off the table for us, as we would not want to purchase books that are not able to be read on campus machines.

I also have concerns about the Accessibility of EPUB files going forward and the April 26th requirements;  as Project Muse does not provide accessibility information by title  (the title I am looking at is a 2026 published title) .

Has anyone addressed any of these concerns with PM -- the move to EPUBs  (without a readable version, even by chapter, on screen) and / or the accessibility issues with EPUBs?


Sarah Maximiek (her/she)
Assistant Director of Acquisitions and Contracts
Subject Librarian for Human Development, Public Administration and Social Work
Binghamton University Libraries
607.777.3941 / maximiek at binghamton.edu<mailto:maximiek at binghamton.edu>
Schedule a meeting: https://libcal.binghamton.edu/appointments/sarah
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