Definition

An access mode through which the intellectual content of a described resource or adaptation is communicated (i.e., the human sensory perceptual system or cognitive faculty through which a person may process or perceive information).

Examples

Example 1 — EPUB 3
<meta property="schema:accessMode">textual</meta>
<meta property="schema:accessMode">visual</meta>
Example 2 — EPUB 2
<meta name="schema:accessMode" content="textual"/>
<meta name="schema:accessMode" content="visual"/>
Example 3 — Audiobooks
"accessMode": ["textual", "visual"]
Example 4 — HTML with RDFa
<meta property="accessMode" content="textual"/>
<meta property="accessMode" content="visual"/>
Example 5 — HTML with microdata
<meta itemprop="accessMode" content="textual"/>
<meta itemprop="accessMode" content="visual"/>

Values

The access mode values identify the default nature of the content. Images and video are visual content, for example. Video clips also typically have audio, so have an auditory mode (as do audio clips). Text content is textual.

Adaptations are not identified using this property, as they are not the primary way that the content is consumed. If adaptations, such as extended descriptions, are provided for the primary content, they are used in determining the sufficient access modes.

Note

Unless the metadata format used supports lists (e.g., JSON-LD), use a separate property declaration for each access mode. Do not merge the values into a single property using spaces, commas, or other delimiters.

The following values are recommended for this property:

The following values are also often paired with a visual access mode to provide additional information about the type of content in visual form:

In addition the colorDependent value can be paired with either visual or textual access modes to indicate that color perception is necessary to understand part or all of the content.

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