For instructors: Digital accessibility & Library materials for courses

This page covers two important requirements: course material should be digitally accessible (per ADA Title II) and reachable to your students.

Key takeaways: Link to material instead of using downloaded PDFs or files — vendor settings often strip accessibility features from downloads. Use EZproxy so your links are reachable from anywhere.

Find out more: What’s wrong with downloading PDFs?

Due to vendor setup, downloading a PDF of an article, chapter, etc., from the Library’s website usually strips the PDF of its accessibility tags, making the PDF unreadable by screen readers and other assistive technology. 

Instead, provide students with the EZproxy link to the online version. The online HTML version is almost always more accessible, and the EZproxy link will automatically prompt a Netbadge login (instead of saying 'access denied' or asking for a VPN), making it more reachable as well.

Help! The EZproxy sent me to a PDF anyway. What should I do?

Some UVA Library materials are from databases, journals, textbook companies that have not yet met digital accessibility standards; they may only have the material available as an inaccessible PDF. 

There are several steps you should take and document, for this situation:

First, consider whether an alternate reading would achieve the same learning goals. Select a more accessible article/chapter.

If this is not achievable:

  1. Take a proactive step now: In your syllabus, post the following statement:
    • Digital Accessibility: This course uses a variety of digital tools and content. If you have trouble reading, viewing, or interacting with any materials, please let me know right away so that we can work through this together.
  2. If a student contacts you about inaccessible readings: 
    • Your first response should be something like: “I'm happy to help!  Let’s talk about what might work for you. Would a paper copy work? If not, I will get us some help.” 
    • If you have received an SDAC Notification of Accommodation letter for this student related to accessible course materials, SDAC can help. Email sdacAT@virginia.edu and include the inaccessible file(s) with your message.
    • If you don’t know whether the student has SDAC accommodations, you can ask if they have an accommodation related to course materials. If they don’t:
      1. Email your Subject Liaison Librarian to ask them if they can help find a more digitally accessible version of the reading. Note if the request is time-sensitive.
      2. If the subject liaison is unable to locate an accessible copy, email lib-a11y@virginia.edu.
        • Ask your question,
        • mention that the subject area liaison was unable to find an accessible copy,
        • and note if the request is time-sensitive.
      3. While you wait, consider reaching out to the author of the material, especially if within your professional network. Briefly indicate challenges with digital accessibility and ask if they can provide a pre-print version (such as Word or non-PDF version).

START HERE: What kind of material do you need to make accessible?

I'm gathering new material for a course

I'll find this item online
  1. Find the permalink to the item. 
    • In Virgo: When viewing the item, copy the URL in your browser, or click "Permalink" in the “Actions” section.
    • In database platforms such as EBSCO, ProQuest, etc.: Look for icons labeled "Permalink", "Share", or "Copy Link" in the sidebar or upper-right corner. This may alternately be called "persistent link" or "durable URL" or "PURL".
  2. Copy the link, and paste it as the "un-proxied link" in the EZproxy generator. Click "Generate".
  3. The resulting link is ready to use. Copy the link, and use it in Canvas.
    • For example, create a Canvas page for the reading assignment.  On the Canvas page, create a digitally accessible descriptive link by typing the title of the reading. (Important: Avoid labeling readings with generic text such as “click here”.) Right-click on the title, select “insert link,” and insert the EZproxy link.

Note: There are some specialized Library materials that EZproxy links may not work for. You can contact your Subject Liaison Librarian for assistance: provide the permalinks for your course materials and ask your liaison to confirm that EZproxy will work with all of these materials.

I'd like to use a PDF or image scan of something I own

The best step to take is to search Virgo, the Library's catalog, to see if an electronic copy exists, and generate an EZproxy link to the Library’s electronic copy, instead of using the scan.

If you already have a scan (such as an image or PDF) and want to check it for accessibility, in Canvas you can run a “course scan” using UDOIT to check for accessibility errors.

If an electronic copy is not available, and any existing file is not accessible:

  • Do a quick search to see if the material is free online to read in HTML or e-book format. If you know the DOI number, this might make your search more efficient.
  • Or, use a scanner in the Library to make a new accessible version from your paper copy;  these Library scanners will add Optical Character Recognition (OCR) into the new scan, making it more accessible.
  • Consider reaching out to the author of the material, especially if within your professional network. Briefly indicate challenges with digital accessibility and ask if they can provide a pre-print version (such as Word or non-PDF version).

If you cannot make the file accessible, consider whether an alternate reading would achieve the same learning goals.

I'd like to use a PDF or image scan of something the Library owns

The Library can provide instructional scans for course materials you plan to post in Canvas: 

Can I request an item through ILL for my course?

Unfortunately U.S. Copyright Law stipulates that interlibrary loan is for individual research, scholarship, and personal study only.

If you need to provide course content not within the Library’s collection, work with Subject Liaison Librarian to explore appropriate alternatives.

I have material, I want to make sure it's accessible

I have a link to Library material that's not a PDF

Great! Most library vendors ensure that materials provided online meet digital accessibility requirements. 

Now we just need to make sure the link is reachable from off-Grounds. We do this using the EZproxy generator:

  1. Find the permalink to the item. 
    1. In Virgo: When viewing the item, copy the URL in your browser, or click "Permalink" in the “Actions” section.
    2. In database platforms such as EBSCO, ProQuest, etc.: Look for icons labeled "Permalink", "Share", or "Copy Link" in the sidebar or upper-right corner. This may alternately be called "persistent link" or "durable URL" or "PURL".
  2. Copy the link, and paste it as the "un-proxied link" in the EZproxy generator. Click "Generate".
  3. The resulting link is ready to use. Copy the link, and use it in Canvas.
    1. For example, create a Canvas page for the reading assignment.  On the Canvas page, create a digitally accessible descriptive link by typing the title of the reading. (Important: Avoid labeling readings with generic text such as “click here”.) Right-click on the title, select “insert link,” and insert the EZproxy link.
  4. Note: There are some specialized Library materials that EZproxy links may not work for. You can contact your Subject Liaison Librarian for assistance: provide the permalinks for your course materials and ask your liaison to confirm that EZproxy will work with all of these materials.
I have a PDF. How do I know if it's accessible?

To check for PDF accessibility:

  1. Run a “course scan” using UDOIT in Canvas to check for accessibility errors of the PDF.
  2. If the only error flagged by UDOIT is “File is missing a title element”, you can try to fix the file with UDOIT.
    • In the “Review Course Files” area of UDOIT, locate the file missing a Title element and select it, then download it. Open the document and add a Title in the metadata of the file (Guide: Specifying Doc Title in PDF by WCAG). Back in UDOIT, replace the original file with the updated one.

If the error is “Untagged file” or there are numerous errors that you aren’t able to fix with UDOIT, try to find a better version.

If UVA Library scanned the material for you, such as into an image or a PDF

You can request for the Library to make the file digitally accessible for you. Follow the guidelines for requesting PDF remediation from the Library's instructional scanning team.

I received this scanned PDF through interlibrary loan (ILL)

Unfortunately U.S. Copyright Law stipulates that interlibrary loan is for individual research, scholarship, and personal study only.

If you need to provide course content not within the Library’s collection, work with Subject Liaison Librarian to explore appropriate alternatives.

 

Learn more about digital accessibility from UVA's faculty/instructor introduction into digital accessibility. 

 

 

 

Accessibility services