A paywall is a system that prevents Internet users from accessing webpage content without a paid subscription. There are both "hard" and "soft" paywalls in use. "Hard" paywalls allow minimal to no access to content without subscription, while "soft" paywalls allow more flexibility in what users can view without subscribing, such as selective free content and/or a limited number of articles per month, or the sampling of several pages of a book or paragraphs of an article. Then there are "combination" paywall systems, such as the one the UCF's CommonControlsHub utilizes. A "softer" paywall strategy includes allowing free access to select content, while keeping premium content behind a paywall.
How do you know if the content is behind a pay wall or membership wall?
If the web page requires you to pay any amount to download or access the document, it is behind a wall. If the web page requires a direct "sign in" form to be filled out to download or access the document, it is behind a wall. If you click the download or access button and the website checks to see if you are signed in, it is behind a wall. Get it? Great.
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Yes |
No |
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If the web page requires you to pay any amount to download or access the document, answer Yes. |
If the web page does not require any sort of payment or sign in, answer No. |
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If the web page requires a direct "sign in" form to be filled out to download or access the document, answer Yes. |
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If you click the download or access button and the website checks to see if you are signed in, answer Yes. |
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Note: If you answered "Yes", the task will be placed on hold because this is a licensed document and the request must be kicked all the way up to the highest mapping levels of the UCF.
Examples of ADs behind a wall
Both of these documents are behind walls. The document on left is behind a purchase wall, and the document on the right is behind a membership wall.
Example of an AD that looks like, but isn’t behind a wall
Notice that this web page is a bit conflicting. It starts off asking for all sorts of information about you and your organization. But at the bottom of the form is a download button! Some pages require you to give information prior to downloading the document and yet they are not behind a firewall. The biggest clue is can you download the document without having to give a form of payment?
So before you say that it is behind a firewall, look around the form they are asking you to fill out and see if you can download the document. If you don’t have to pay for it or some up for some type of membership, it is not behind a wall.