Special Collections Digital Repositories Accessibility Statement
Special Collections Digital Repositories at Minnesota State University, Mankato consist of two repositories known as Arch and Cornerstone. Together these repositories present a scholarly, historical, and cultural record of the university and region. Both repositories are considered archival in nature and meet the four exceptions in Title II of the ADA Law. The Special Collections team is, however, working to ensure that our digital content is accessible to all patrons by taking steps to ensure that content in the repositories is accessible as it is added to the repositories.
Arch
Arch utilizes an open-source software called Islandora that is hosted and managed by a third-party, PALS.
Islandora is an open-source framework that uses Drupal as a fully-functional Digital Assets Management System to manage and deliver digital collections; PALS provides managed hosting, system configuration, theming, upgrade and maintenance services, as well as technical support for client repositories. An April 8, 2026 Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) issued by PALS reflects a typical PALS-hosted Islandora 2 deployment using Drupal 10 with an accessible theme supported (Bootstrap 5) and standard modules.
The ACR shows that PALS supports Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 at Level A and Level AA, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at Level A and Level AA, and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at Level A and Level AA. The ACR is available upon request. For questions on the ACR, contact Johnna Horton, Executive Director of PALS.
Content within Arch is uploaded by members of the University Archives’ Special Collections Team and Archives student workers. Measures are in place to run content through Accessibility Checkers found in Microsoft Office 365 products, Adobe Acrobat, and/or YuJa before final versions are posted to the repository. For accessibility requests, we encourage patrons to complete the Arch Accessibility Request form. Members of the Special Collections Team will respond to requests as soon as we can.
Cornerstone
Cornerstone utilizes proprietary software that is hosted and managed by a third-party, Digital Commons and its parent company, Elsevier.
“Digital Commons endeavors to meet all guidelines and standards established by the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at level AA conformance, and Section 508 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act. These guidelines define how to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities, and conformance to them improves the web's usability for all people. Digital Commons is partially compliant with WCAG 2.1 at level AA, and we make continual improvements with the aim of achieving full compliance. In certain areas, Digital Commons implements level AAA success criteria. For a detailed review of how Digital Commons conforms with WCAG 2.1 success criteria, please refer to our Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) document. This document was produced by the members of the Elsevier and Digital Commons internal accessibility teams. Accessibility is a product development priority at Digital Commons, and full standards compliance is represented on our product roadmaps. For the latest accessibility enhancements, visit Digital Commons Accessibility Updates.” (Source: Digital Commons Accessibility Statement).
Content within Cornerstone is uploaded by members of the Special Collections Team. Measures are in place to run content through Accessibility Checkers found in Microsoft Office 365 products, Adobe Acrobat, and/or YuJa before final versions are posted to the repository. We are currently working to review and update materials already posted to Cornerstone and to remediate any accessibility issues. For accessibility requests, we encourage patrons to complete the Cornerstone Accessibility Request Form. Members of the Special Collections Team will respond to requests as soon as we can.
Accessibility Checking Tools
Members of the Special Collections Team run digital content through accessibility checkers found in Microsoft Office 365 products, Adobe Acrobat, and/or YuJa Panorama before final versions are posted to the repositories. Additionally, Kaltura Media Space is utilized to generate captions and transcripts, which are edited for accuracy.
Contact Us
Please email the Special Collections Team with questions or concerns.
Statement approved by the Special Collections Team on 2026-04-21.
