Referencing accessible formats

If you have a disability, you may find that the format or software you use for studying means you are unable to exactly follow a given referencing style such as Cite Them Right (CTR) Harvard required by your module. For example, it can be very difficult to locate page numbers in a PDF using a screen reader.

It is important to have an early conversation with your tutor, about what referencing adjustments need to be made to ensure that they work for both of you. If you have already agreed adjustments on a previous module, let your tutor know this at the start of your studies.

This page provides some examples using CTR Harvard style for different formats. See Quick guide for Harvard referencing for an overview of CTR.

However, because each circumstance is different, including subject specific differences, this information has been given to provide a basis for discussion between yourself and your tutor. It may be decided that an alternative way of formatting references is more appropriate for your circumstances. 

Material converted by yourself

Reference the original material and then add details of the format converted to at the end of the reference, e.g. add [converted to MP3].

Example for material converted by SensusAccess

Miller, E. and Pole, A. (2010) ‘Diagnosis blog: checking up on health blogs in the blogosphere’, American Journal of Public Health, vol. 100, no. 8, pp. 1514–1519 [Online]. DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2009.175125 (Accessed 26 June 2017) [Converted to MP3].

This guidance is also provided on the Convert a file with SensusAccess page. 

Material printed by The Open University

Print copies of online modules

Follow the guidance for online module material, but do not include [Online], ‘Available at’ or ‘Accessed’. Insert [Print] at the end of the reference.

In-text citation:
(The Open University, 2018)

Reference
The Open University (2018) ‘3.2 Spaces of engagement’, D837 Week 4 Study Guide: Making things public: mobilising around urban issues [Print]

Print copies of online Library resources, newspapers articles etc

Follow the guidance for the online version of the material, but do not include [Online], ‘Available at’ or ‘Accessed’. Insert [Print] at the end of the reference.

In-text citation:
(Thompson, 2003)

Reference
Thompson, K. (2003) ‘Fantasy, franchises, and Frodo Baggins: The Lord of the Rings and modern Hollywood’, The Velvet Light Trap, 52(3), pp. 45–63 [Print].
 

Page numbers

Where page numbers are unavailable or difficult to locate

Some module material provided in different formats does not have page numbers, for example DAISY. Section details or a heading could be provided instead. It may be decided by your tutor that this is not required, for example when quoting directly from a peer reviewed paper.

This method can also be used for PDFs where page numbers can be difficult to locate.

 1. Using section headings

In the example below, ‘Sources of evidence’ is the title of the section containing the information you want to refer to.

In-text citation using section heading 'Sources of evidence':

Newman (2016, Sources of evidence) states that..

Reference does not mention section heading:

Newman, E. (2016) A332 Chapter 1: Jesus in history: scholarly interpretation and controversy, Milton Keynes, The Open University.

2. Using a time stamp

For audio material such as MP3 a timestamp could be used to reference text that has been converted to speech.

In-text citation using time stamp:
Newman (2016, 10.12) states that..

Reference:
Newman, E. (2016) A332 Chapter 1: Jesus in history: scholarly interpretation and controversy, Milton Keynes, The Open University [MP3].
 

Pages numbers in converted module material

If you refer to page numbers, they may be different in the converted format from the original. As mentioned above, details of the format converted to could be provided at the end of the reference to.

In-text citation:

Newman (2016, p. 15) states that..

Reference:

Newman, E. (2016) A332 Chapter 1: Jesus in history: scholarly interpretation and controversy, Milton Keynes, The Open University [Converted to Word].