Zotero Accessibility

This page gathers the IT Subcommittee's resources and reviews of the accessibility of Google Forms. This page will be updated as new information is available or further reviews are conducted.

Accessibility Overview

Due to the complexity of use cases, we've split up the review by the Desktop App, the Browser version for PC and Mac, and the Web Plug-in/Zotero Connectors. In general, Zotero does not have a webpage dedicated to accessibility, but they have recently (2022) hired an accessibility specialist for their team. Any accessibility issues are reported through the Zotero Forums.

It is highly suggested that any university or library who relies on Zotero as a citation manager for their researchers should also purchase increased storage for their users. This money goes to supporting the open source software, and offers users more space to store their PDFs. The main accessibility reviewer for Zotero is at a university that supports Zotero through purchasing more space for its users.

The Zotero desktop app is not accessible. There are several unlabeled buttons, and it's impossible to reach the toolbar using just a keyboard. There are several operations that are only available to mouse users, and do not have a corresponding keyboard shortcut. However, the Zotero desktop app is required to use any web plug-ins/Zotero Connectors. Once the Zotero app is installed and set up, screen reader users and keyboard-only users can simply leave the software running in the background without interacting with it again. The deduplication folder and pulling metadata from a PDF are only available through the desktop app.

Using Zotero in the browser on Chrome or Firefox on a PC is generally accessible, with some issues. In order to use the web plug-ins to import articles to your Zotero library, you need to have the Desktop App installed and running; however, once it’s installed and configured, you do not have to actually use the desktop app and can rely on the browser for most workflows. With Chrome and Firefox, it seems that if you get lost/have problem/get stuck, you can return to the collection folder you were originally working in and open it again to reset the page and fix most issues.

Using Zotero in the browser on Chrome or Firefox on a Mac is generally accessible, with some issues. In order to use the web plug-ins to import articles to your Zotero library, you need to have the Desktop App installed and running; however, once it's installed and configured, you do not have to actually use the desktop app and can rely on the browser for most workflows. Issues with using the plug-ins with Safari are reportedly fixed by Zotero 6.

General Information

• Accessibility of Bibliography Software, Accessing Higher Ground presentation slides, 2017
• Zotero Forums, where current issues are brought up and discussed
  • How bugs should be reported
  • Keyboard shortcuts
  • Keyboard shortcuts settings in the app
• Zutilo, a third-party plug-in that allows you to set up more keyboard shortcuts. NOTE: We tried to test Zutilo, but setting it up using a keyboard and screen reader was difficult and frustrating.

Other Resources

• Back to main Digital Accessibility Group page.