UAMS Blackboard Accessibility Requirements
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has set a goal to achieve a minimum Course Accessibility Score of 70% for all Blackboard courses by the end of Spring 2026 and increase that score by 5% each year.
Why?
- A New Legal Standard: The Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a new rule under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This rule mandates that all digital content at public universities—including all websites, mobile apps, and digital course materials—must be accessible to people with disabilities.
- Improving Files for All Students: This is not just about compliance or accommodation for a few. Making course materials accessible improves learning experience for everyone.
- Captioned videos help students in noisy environments and are a valuable study tool for all.
- Well-structured documents (with headings) are easier for everyone to navigate.
- Proper use of color and font size ensures everyone can see the content, regardless of screen or device quality.
What are faculty’s obligations?
UAMS has established required milestones for increasing the Overall Accessibility Scores for every course. The table below shows the current milestones.
| Minimum Overall Course Accessibility Score | By end of each term |
| 70% | Spring 2026, Summer 2026, Fall 2026 |
| 75% | Spring 2027, Summer 2027, Fall 2027 |
| 80% | Spring 2028, Summer 2028, Fall 2028 |
| 85% | Spring 2029, Summer 2029, Fall 2029 |
During 2030: The accessibility plan and goals will be reviewed and revised for the future.
How can faculty accomplish this?
There are multiple things you can do. First, you can use Ally to see your current course accessibility score, identify issues, and remediate them. Second, you can utilize Accessibility Checkers in Microsoft Office Products and Adobe Acrobat Pro to ensure your documents are accessible.
Utilize Ally for Learn
UAMS provides all Blackboard courses with Ally for Learn, an accessibility checker tool that scans all course files and provides an Overall Course Accessibility Score. The tool also provides a list of all course files with accessibility issues and provides guidance for remediation. To learn more about Ally, see our information page with links to more information.
To Access your course report:
1. Access the course in Blackboard Learn that you want to check.
2. Click on “Books and Tools” on the right menu.
3. Click “Accessibility Report”
Utilize Accessibility Checkers in Microsoft Office & Adobe Acrobat Pro
Microsoft Office includes an accessibility checker for all their applications (e.g., Word, PowerPoint). This identifies most accessibility issues for your documents and enables you to quickly fix them. It’s also helpful to leave this tool on as you create new documents. Once you’ve improved your files, replace the old files with accessible ones.
To find the Accessibility Checker:
1. Access your Word or PowerPoint Document
2. Click the Review Tab
3. Click Check Accessibility
A licensed copy of Adobe Acrobat also includes accessibility features. However, we highly recommend fixing accessibility issues in the original format first, such as Microsoft Word. Please review Adobe’s Accessible PDFs page for more information or review our Micro-videos on Adobe Acrobat Accessibility.
Who can you contact?
If you’re stuck on an accessibility issue, would like to schedule group training, or have any other Blackboard related issue, please contact us at elearning@uams.edu.
Resources
We are committed to providing you with the resources you need to make your course content accessible. Please use the links below to get started.
General Information & Training
- UAMS Digital Accessibility Resource Page
- Register for Upcoming eLearning & Instructional Design Training Sessions
Using Ally in Blackboard
On Demand Video Training
- Creating Accessible Microsoft Word Documents
- Creating Accessible Microsoft PowerPoint Presentations
- Creating Accessible PDF Documents Micro Videos
- Using Ally to Identify and Remediate Accessibility Issues [In Progress]
Guidance
- General Accessibility for Microsoft Documents
- Microsoft Word Guidance
- Microsoft PowerPoint Guidance
- PDF Guidance
- The Case Against PDFs
Need Assistance?
If you have questions or would like to schedule group training for Ally, please reach out to eLearning@uams.edu