I-Share Libraries, Primo VE, and Accessibility

April 1, 2026

CARLI has received some questions from I-Share Libraries about Primo VE and Accessibility.

In April 2024, the United States Department of Justice issued an update to the Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the requirement for governmental entities to comply with the ADA. These updates clarify the obligation to make all digital content readily usable by and accessible to individuals with disabilities. I-Share libraries should consult with their home institutions about requirements for library websites, including the Primo VE discovery interface.

Each I-Share library is responsible for identifying and correcting any accessibility issues in their individual Primo VE discovery interfaces that occur because the library has customized the look and feel using CSS or JavaScript via the Primo VE Customization Package. Common problems may include insufficient color contrast, missing aria-label attributes, or lack of alt-text on images on the homepage.

Your institution may have local resources that can help you evaluate your library websites, including your Primo VE, and may have licenses for accessibility scanning software tools. There are also both free and for-fee accessibility scanning websites that may help to identify problems in need of remediation.  The examples below are not an endorsement by CARLI for any product.

Some free tool examples:
AccessibilityChecker.org
WAVE - Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool
Vispero Colour Contrast Analyser
Google Lighthouse

Some for-fee tool examples:
Deque’s Axe Platform
Siteimprove

The Ex Libris Developer Network Accessibility and Local Customisation page provides an article on how to use the &noCustomization=true code in a Primo VE URL to strip local customizations from the View to help customers determine if identified accessibility issues are due to the library’s local customizations of Primo VE. This page also has some information on checking color contrast.

Note that there may exist accessibility issues within the core Ex Libris Primo VE software itself that an I-Share library cannot remediate.  Below is documentation provided by Ex Libris (and its parent company Clarivate) related to accessibility in Primo VE:
Clarivate Accessibility page
Primo VE Original UI Accessibility Statement
Primo Accessibility Roadmap
Clarivate Primo Accessibility Conformance Report – for Primo/Primo VE dated Dec. 1, 2024
Ex Libris Primo Accessibility Statement for NDE UI
Ex Libris Known Issues Portal - For Known Issues about Primo NDE UI, search for "NDE UI" in the search box at the top, then on the left side of the results list, choose "Refine by" > Article Record Type > Known Issues - Products

Primo VE "original UI" is being replaced by Primo VE "NDE UI." Ex Libris expects all customers to migrate to NDE UI by January 2028; however, I-Share libraries should not migrate to NDE UI until CARLI has announced that all consortial functionality is working correctly. See CARLI’s Primo VE NDE UI for I-Share page for more information.

Please contact CARLI Support with any questions.