This document provides a step-by-step remediation workflow for faculty and staff managing PDF content in Blackboard.
Locate the accessibility gauge next to your uploaded PDF in Blackboard.
If Dark Green: No action is required. The document meets accessibility standards.
If Light Green, Orange, or Red: Action is required. Please continue to Step 2 to triage the file.
Support for interpreting the report is available on the Ally for Faculty page in this knowledge base and the video at right.
Identify the origin and copyright status of the PDF.
Internal or Non-Copyrighted: This includes documents you created yourself or materials created by your department/institution using tools like Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, or Google Docs. (Proceed to Path A).
External Document: This includes published journal articles, professional reports, or scanned book chapters created by third parties. (Proceed to Path B).
If the document was created by faculty or staff, or is otherwise available to you in an editable format, follow the appropriate remediation path below based on the file type.
Microsoft Word Documents
If you have the source file: Use the built-in Microsoft Word Accessibility Checker to identify and remediate content directly within the document.
If you only have a PDF: Refer to the Video Tutorial: PDF to Word Conversion to convert the document back to an editable, responsive structure before fixing.
Guidance: Comprehensive written and video directions are available on the Accessible Word Documents with Slide page.
PowerPoint Slide Decks
If you have the source file: Use the Microsoft PowerPoint Accessibility Checker to remediate the presentation, focusing on reading order and alternative text.
If the source file is unavailable, Remediate the PDF directly using the accessibility tools in Adobe Acrobat Pro to repair tagging and structural barriers.
Video Support: Follow the Video Tutorial: Adobe Acrobat Pro Remediation for a step-by-step walkthrough of the repair process.
Guidance: Detailed instructions can be found on the Accessible PowerPoint Documents with Slide and Remediate PDF's with Adobe Acrobat .
When finalizing your remediation, choose the most accessible delivery method for students:
Option A (Recommended): Course Page. If a download is not required, copy the content into a Blackboard Ultra Document. This ensures it is natively responsive and accessible.
Option B: Source File. Provide the original Word or PowerPoint file if students need to manipulate text size, spacing, or fonts for their specific needs.
Option C: Tagged PDF. If a fixed layout is required, export a new Tagged PDF from your fixed source file following accessibility best practices.
Follow these instructions for third-party materials.
Before beginning manual remediation for Orange or Red items, attempt to locate an existing accessible version:
IDEA Team Content Library: For courses taught in multiple sections, access the SSW Accessible Content Folder to see if the item has already been remediated by another instructor
Library Search: If your resources is older than two years there may already be a more accessible version availalble Check the HSHSL for a more recent, accessible digital version of the document.
Orange Indicator
Evaluation: If a newer version is unavailable or is still inaccessible you will need to remediate this document using the following support pages. Most orange items can be remediated within 10 or 20 minutes, depending on the length of the document. Documents with tables and extensive images may take longer.
Tool Selection:
Remediate PDF's with Equidox. We recommend using Equidox for textbooks and items containing a large number of tables.
Remediate PDF's with Adobe Acrobat: For documents with a more simple, predictable format, we recommend using Adobe Acrobat Pro.
Note that Ally is projected to develop a tagging tool that can be used in blackboard before Fall of 2026. That tagging tool is likely to produce accessible documents from organge indicator items.
Red Indicator
Pedagogical Assessment: Determine if the document is still necessary for the course.
If the Document is Necessary If no updated version was found take the following actions:
Library Consultation: Contact the University Library to locate an existing digital version.
Digital Scan Request: Request a high-quality, OCR-ready scan via Interlibrary Loan (ILL) and contact the library or IDEATeam for support in remediation.
If the Document is Not Necessary
Course Cleanup: Remove the document from the course to eliminate the accessibility barrier for all students.
Remediation Recommendation: We recommend remediating publisher-created academic articles, as they can generally be tagged rapidly using automated tagging. We do not recommend OCRing (Optical Character Recognition) and tagging photocopied items unless no other similar course item can be found, as these documents require an estimated 10–20+ minutes per page. Example: A 10-page article may take 2–3+ hours.
Light Green Indicator
Immediate Actions: Follow all available remediation steps directly within the Ally report interface.
Resource Linking: Provide a library permalink whenever possible to ensure students can access the original, formatted version of record.
Priority Status: Deprioritize full remediation for these items, as they are generally functional for most student use.
Accommodations Note: These items may not fully support students with text-based disabilities or those requiring screen readers; therefore, these documents must be remediated immediately upon receipt of an official accommodation notice.
Note on Accessibility: The following interactive flowchart is a visual representation of the Blackboard Ally PDF Decision Tree. All information and decision paths contained in this graphic are also available in the structured, text-based version provided below.