Accessibility Goals for Digital Content

The University of Iowa's goal is to have all digital content to meet the accessibility requirements before April 2026.  Below you will find some tips on how to prepare your content.

Click for a Quick Guide to Document Accessibility

Before Publishing your ICON Course

Stop Sign

All visible classroom content in ICON must be accessible by April 24, 2026. Even if content is not visible to students, instructors should remove old or unused content from ICON courses.

The University’s “3Rs” framework — Remove, Revise, Right-First — provides a clear approach to achieving compliance:

  • Remove outdated or unnecessary content,
  • Revise materials that need updates or fixes, and
  • Create new content Right-First with accessibility built in.

If content is visible online, it must be remediated. PDFs are allowed only if they meet full accessibility standards.

Great Checklist provided by the College of Education 

TidyUp Icon

Remove Unused Materials

  • Run the "TidyUp" tool in ICON (left-side menu) ) to remove any unused course materials. It will provide you with the option to select what to keep or delete.
  • If you have unused course materials that you would like to keep, store them in OneDrive or create an unlisted Non-Registrar ICON course as a backup/template for your future courses.
Course Accessibility Icon

Revise - Run Ally Accessibility Checker

  • You can see an Ally Accessibility Checker meter next to each file on your ICON page to find specific resources that need to be remediated, but it is best to run the “Ally Course Accessibility Report,” which will provide you with a course overview and an itemized list of materials to fix.
  • Click on the “Content” tab to view your itemized list:
  • In some cases, you will be given options to remediate the resource in Ally. You can try to address as many issues this way as you can by clicking on the document in the list and following the instructions.
  • In other cases, Ally will simply report “This PDF is scanned.” This means that you will not be able to address this document in Ally. Move on to the next step.
Checklist

Right-First - Create New Content with Accessibility Built In

If you plan to make or recreate your own resources, it is best to use templates that have already been formatted for accessibility. For example, the university-branded templates all meet the new requirements.

If you prefer to create your own materials or remediate them on your own, please proceed to the next section.

We also have some step-by-step instructions with screen shots that the College of Education has shared.  Click here for instructions on how to create accessible Word documents.

PDF Files

  • Start with an accessible source file (Word or PowerPoint) rather than fixing scanned PDFs.
  • In Acrobat Pro, use Prepare for Accessibility / Full Check to locate and fix issues.
  • Ensure your PDF has:
    • Correct tag structure (headings, lists, tables)
    • Alt text for all images and charts
    • Accurate reading order and bookmarks
    • Defined document language
  • Avoid scanned text unless converted through OCR and properly tagged.
  • If a PDF cannot be made accessible, replace it with a more accessible file format (Word, HTML, etc.).

 

What usually does not work - Common accessibility issues include:

  • Scanned PDFs that are not OCR’d (text can’t be read by screen readers)
  • Images or charts without alt text
  • Videos without captions
  • PowerPoint slides without reading order or titles
  • Tables created without proper header rows