[Eril-l] Project MUSE is NOT moving to EPUBS only

Wed Mar 11 11:17:01 PDT 2026

Thank you all for your comments and questions regarding Project MUSE books! We'd like to first stress that, no, Project MUSE is not moving away from PDF. That assertion on the listserv post was not factual.

As many may know, Project MUSE is an aggregator. Which means we receive files from our university press and non-profit publishers in many different configurations. We work diligently and as quickly as we can to ensure that the EPUB and PDF are available for our end users to access. PDF files can be created from EPUBs if not provided alongside them.

In some instances, there may be a specific book that is not accessible in PDF - this is not intentional. In the process of working with the files that are sent to us, there can be file errors that prevent a PDF conversion. We do make the effort to fix those we find, and we're in the process of a more thorough search for these books on the platform.

Would also like to highlight our accessibility standard, which is included in all of our license agreements:
Project MUSE and Johns Hopkins University Press (JHUP) complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), by supporting assistive software or devices such as large print interfaces, text-to-speech output, voice-activated input, refreshable braille displays, and alternate keyboard or pointer interfaces, in a manner consistent with the Web Accessibility Initiative Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1 and 2.2) and EN 301 549 Accessibility Standard (V3.2.1), and follows the technical specifications of the Revised Section 508 Standards (published January 2017 and corrected January 2018). (http://www.w3.org/WAI/guid-tech.html).
JHUP maintains an Accessibility web page, including downloadable copies of current Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) documentation, at https://muse.jhu.edu/accessibility. JHUP shall ensure that product maintenance and upgrades are implemented in a manner that does not compromise product accessibility.

Our new VPAT will be live by May 1, which will immediately be posted on the link listed above.

We hope we've been able to clear up any miscommunication, and welcome additional questions.

Tricia Chareun
she/her/hers
Senior Manager, Sales & Library Relations
Project MUSE, Johns Hopkins University Press
Tmiller.muse at jhu.edu

I respectfully acknowledge that the land upon which I live and work, in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, is on the unceded, ancestral land of the Ho-Chunk Nation.

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Message: 4
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2026 15:10:32 -0400
From: Electronic Resources in Libraries discussion list
        <eril-l at lists.eril-l.org>
To: eril-l at lists.eril-l.org
Subject: [Eril-l] Project Muse moving to EPUBS only? Accessibility
        question
Message-ID:
        <mailman.2195.1773169996.388437.eril-l-eril-l.org at lists.eril-l.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

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
Schedule a meeting: https://libcal.binghamton.edu/appointments/sarah
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Message: 5
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2026 15:33:07 -0400
From: Electronic Resources in Libraries discussion list
        <eril-l at lists.eril-l.org>
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
Message-ID:
        <mailman.2196.1773171465.388437.eril-l-eril-l.org at lists.eril-l.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

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> wrote:

> [*Caution*: Email from External Sender. Do not click or open links or
> attachments unless you know this sender.]
>
> 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 Schedule a meeting:
> https://libc/
> al.binghamton.edu%2Fappointments%2Fsarah&data=05%7C02%7Ctmiller.muse%4
> 0jhu.edu%7C408fa8a367ce4169a32508de7ee5a320%7C9fa4f438b1e6473b803f86f8
> aedf0dec%7C0%7C0%7C639087721983318018%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0
> eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIl
> dUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Ddq1jI2j31oc1QTKVDD4AoJIPWXPyfmuKGgK
> XyXRuJI%3D&reserved=0 _______________________________________________
> Eril-l mailing list
> Eril-l at lists.eril-l.org
> http://lists/
> .eril-l.org%2Flistinfo.cgi%2Feril-l-eril-l.org&data=05%7C02%7Ctmiller.
> muse%40jhu.edu%7C408fa8a367ce4169a32508de7ee5a320%7C9fa4f438b1e6473b80
> 3f86f8aedf0dec%7C0%7C0%7C639087721983336716%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8ey
> JFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFp
> bCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=5GlUvfMd%2F5WsO1HKajW2NRq%2BE0
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Message: 6
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2026 15:33:07 -0400
From: Electronic Resources in Libraries discussion list
        <eril-l at lists.eril-l.org>
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
Message-ID:
        <mailman.2197.1773171608.388429.eril-l-eril-l.org at lists.eril-l.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

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> wrote:

> [*Caution*: Email from External Sender. Do not click or open links or
> attachments unless you know this sender.]
>
> 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 Schedule a meeting:
> https://libc/
> al.binghamton.edu%2Fappointments%2Fsarah&data=05%7C02%7Ctmiller.muse%4
> 0jhu.edu%7C408fa8a367ce4169a32508de7ee5a320%7C9fa4f438b1e6473b803f86f8
> aedf0dec%7C0%7C0%7C639087721983517107%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0
> eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIl
> dUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=a%2BhN%2BcH8fQeX6RtUjYuLNKxUyI%2Fi7f
> cIDNKt7fsYZzo%3D&reserved=0
> _______________________________________________
> Eril-l mailing list
> Eril-l at lists.eril-l.org
> http://lists/
> .eril-l.org%2Flistinfo.cgi%2Feril-l-eril-l.org&data=05%7C02%7Ctmiller.
> muse%40jhu.edu%7C408fa8a367ce4169a32508de7ee5a320%7C9fa4f438b1e6473b80
> 3f86f8aedf0dec%7C0%7C0%7C639087721983541079%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8ey
> JFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFp
> bCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=v%2Bd2QqFGAQewEEeOozYqYO3R58a%
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