How to Make Readings Accessible

A very common access need for students is to be able to convert text to speech or to alter the formatting of the text to enlarge the type or change to a more readable font. Linking to books and articles provided by libraries and publishers is likely the simplest way to provide accessible readings. If you only have access to a PDF file or paper copy of a document, make sure that the version you are sharing with students can be read accurately by a screen reader (see below for more details or visit Accessible Documents and PDFs on the IDEAS Accessibility site).

Summary of tips

1. Link to existing online documents through the Library or publisher sites when available.
2. If an online version is not available, check accessibility of existing PDF files with Adobe Acrobat Pro or Foxit. 
3. If an existing PDF is unreadable, rescan or regenerate the file from a clean paper or digital copy. 

Best Option: Link to an existing file in the library or elsewhere online

The easiest and most accessible way to provide access to readings is to link to materials that are already posted online. The Libraries are always happy to help facilitate access to materials for instruction so that students can get the materials they need as easily as possible.

Jennifer Friedman (jfriedman7 [at] umass [dot] edu (jfriedman7[at]umass[dot]edu)) is our dedicated Education Librarian. You can contact her with any questions about finding and using library resources. 

To find Education-related materials in the library, start with these pages:

• Education Research Guide
• Getting Started with Library Research
• EBooks at UMass Amherst Libraries

In Canvas, adding the Library Course Materials block makes it easy to add online resources to your course site.  Add the block to your Canvas course and use it to request materials. All you need is the bibliographic information and the Library’s Reserves department will find and add the materials to the block for you. If a book or article is not already in the library collection, they will look into options for purchasing or scanning the materials, and contact you and the Education Librarian if necessary to find alternatives.

• Instructions for adding the UMass Libraries Course Materials block to Canvas

If you are adding library links to a site yourself, UMass Global’s page How to Share Library Resources offers detailed instructions and more details about available options. 

Secondary Option: Create and share a readable file 

If you have checked the library and other online options, and you only have access to a PDF file or paper copy of a document, check to make sure it is readable and rescan it from a clean original if needed. 

How to check an existing PDF for readability 

Step One: Open the file, check the quality of the copy, and try selecting the text on the page. If the copy is bad (smudged, warped, or covered in marks) or the whole page is an image (the whole page will select, not just a few words), the PDF is inaccessible and needs to be replaced. If the text can be selected and copied into another document (and is not garbled), it can likely be read by a screen reader.    

Step Two: Once you confirm that the text of a PDF can be selected, open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat or Foxit and run an accessibility check. These programs can identify common issues with PDFs and fix most of them. If the PDF passes these checks, it will likely be accessible to most needs, and can be shared with students. 

• Creating Accessible PDFs (UMass Amherst IT) 

• Create and Verify PDF Accessibility in Acrobat Pro (Adobe)

• Create and Ensure Accessible PDFs in Foxit (Foxit)

How to generate a readable text from a digital file

If you created the file, or have access to a digital copy in Word, Google, or other program*, you can use the “Export PDF” option to save a PDF version. Avoid using “Print to PDF” as this process does not create accessible PDFs. Before exporting, make sure the document is set up to be accessible (with style headers and alt text). Then run it through an accessibility test with Adobe Acrobat Pro or Foxit. 

* In some cases, sharing the file in its original format will allow students to apply the built-in accessibility tools provided by these tools. Depending on the circumstances, this may be a better option than providing a PDF.   

• Creating Accessible PDFs (UMass Amherst IT) 

• PDF Best Practices (University of Michigan) 

• Documents Best Practices (University of Michigan) 

How to scan readable text from a paper original

If all you have is a physical book or paper copy, you can scan it using an book scanner or copier that is capable of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) which converts the image of the letters on the page into machine-readable text. A clean level copy of the original document will make the best scan. Pages that are angled, distorted, or have underlining and other marks in the text will not scan accurately. Extraneous elements such as parts of other pages or black spaces around the edges will also cause issues with the OCR. Check the scan for errors and run any scanned PDFs through an accessibility check in Adobe Acrobat Pro or Foxit. 

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Tutorial (Cornell University Libraries) 

If you would like assistance leaning to use OCR on a copier or book scanner in the college, contact EdTech (EdTech-ITHelp [at] umass [dot] edu).

Image If you have questions, or need any assistance reviewing or making your course content accessible, we are here to help! Contact us at DigitalLearning [at] umass [dot] edu (DigitalLearning[at]umass[dot]edu).