Accessible Course Materials

Legal Requirements for Accessible Course Materials

Educational institutions across the EU face binding accessibility requirements for course materials. Public universities and colleges must comply with the Web Accessibility Directive (2016/2102), which mandates that all digital content—including PDFs published in learning management systems—conform to EN 301 549 and WCAG 2.1 AA.

Students have a legal right to accessible course materials. When a student with a disability enrolls in a course, the institution has an obligation to provide materials in formats they can use. This isn't just about compliance—it's about ensuring equal educational opportunity.

What's Covered? All course materials distributed digitally fall within scope: syllabi, lecture slides, reading lists, assignment instructions, study guides, examination papers, and supplementary readings. Whether materials are posted on Blackboard, Canvas, Moodle, or sent via email, accessibility requirements apply.

Faculty Responsibility While institutions bear legal responsibility, faculty are typically responsible for creating and distributing course materials. Many professors lack accessibility training and aren't aware their PowerPoint exports or scanned readings create barriers for students with disabilities.

Common Accessibility Issues in Course Materials

Educational materials present distinct accessibility challenges based on document type and creation method.

Lecture Slides (PowerPoint to PDF) PowerPoint exports to PDF often lose accessibility information or never had it. Common issues include: no reading order (slide content is announced in random sequence), images without alternative text, text as decorative elements rather than actual text, and heading structure based on visual size rather than semantic meaning.

Scanned Readings and Textbook Excerpts When faculty scan textbook chapters or journal articles, the resulting PDFs are images—completely inaccessible to screen readers. These need OCR (optical character recognition) with manual correction, proper tagging, and reading order correction for multi-column academic layouts.

Course Syllabi Syllabi created in Word often export with incorrect tag structure. Tables listing course schedules, grading criteria, or reading assignments frequently lack header markup. Heading structure may be based on font size rather than proper heading styles.

STEM Materials Mathematical equations, chemical formulas, and scientific notation present particular challenges. Equations rendered as images are inaccessible. Proper accessibility requires MathML markup or equivalent accessible representation. LaTeX-generated PDFs often have broken Unicode mapping making text extraction impossible.

Assignment Instructions and Forms Assignment submissions that include fillable forms need accessible form fields with proper labels. Many course materials include form elements students must complete—without proper accessibility, students using screen readers can't submit their work.

Course Material Remediation Services

We offer comprehensive remediation services tailored to higher education's unique needs.

Lecture Slide Remediation We remediate PowerPoint presentations and PDF exports to ensure proper reading order, add alternative text for all images and diagrams, establish semantic heading structure, and ensure text is actual searchable text. Slides are tested with screen readers to verify usability.

Scanned Document Conversion For scanned readings and textbook excerpts, we perform OCR with manual correction (automated OCR alone is insufficient for academic texts with technical terminology), add proper PDF tags and structure, correct reading order for multi-column layouts, and handle complex elements like footnotes and citations.

STEM Material Accessibility For mathematics, science, and technical materials, we can convert equations to accessible formats, add meaningful alternative text for diagrams and figures, handle complex tables common in scientific publications, and work with faculty to ensure technical accuracy.

Batch Remediation for Course Packs For institutions with large content libraries, we offer volume remediation services. We can prioritize by course enrollment, student accommodation requests, or program requirements. Volume pricing makes large-scale remediation economically viable.

Quality Assurance All remediated materials are validated against EN 301 549 Section 10 requirements and tested with screen readers. We provide compliance documentation suitable for institutional records and regulatory review.

Faculty Training and Sustainable Accessibility

Remediation addresses existing content, but sustainable accessibility requires faculty to create accessible materials from the start.

Faculty Training Programs We offer training tailored to higher education: creating accessible Word documents and proper PDF export, accessible PowerPoint design and export settings, alternative text writing for academic content (including charts, diagrams, and figures), accessible workflows for STEM faculty including LaTeX accessibility, and using built-in accessibility checkers effectively.

Accessible Templates We can develop accessible templates for your institution: syllabus templates with proper heading structure, assignment templates with accessible form fields, and slide templates that encourage accessible design. When faculty start from accessible templates, their materials are more likely to be accessible.

Integration with LMS We can advise on accessibility settings and workflows within your learning management system (Blackboard, Canvas, Moodle). Proper LMS configuration can catch accessibility issues before materials are published to students.

Ongoing Support Accessibility requirements and best practices evolve. We offer ongoing consultation services to keep your institution current with standards updates and emerging accessibility approaches for educational content.