How Do I Make a Blackboard Course Accessible?

Updated March 22, 2026

To make a Blackboard course accessible, you need to structure your content with proper headings, add alt text to images, upload remediated documents, and use Blackboard's built-in accessibility tools to identify and fix barriers. Whether you are on Blackboard Ultra or Learn Original, accessibility starts with how you create and organize content inside the course — not just the platform's features alone.

This guide walks through the practical steps faculty can take right now to improve accessibility in Blackboard, what the platform handles for you, and where the gaps are.

Blackboard Ultra vs. Learn Original: What You Need to Know

Blackboard has two interfaces in active use across higher education: Learn Original and Ultra. The accessibility workflow differs between them, and knowing which one your institution runs matters.

Blackboard Ultra was built with accessibility as a design priority. It uses a cleaner content editor, supports better keyboard navigation, and integrates accessibility indicators directly into the content creation workflow. If your institution has migrated to Ultra, you will find that many structural elements — like heading hierarchy and list formatting — are easier to apply correctly.

Learn Original is still widely deployed. Its content editor is more dated and requires more deliberate effort to produce accessible output. You may need to switch to the HTML source view to fix heading levels or clean up formatting that the WYSIWYG editor introduces.

Regardless of version, the principles are the same. The difference is how much the interface helps or hinders you.

What Blackboard Ally Does (and Does Not Do)

Many institutions license Blackboard Ally, which automatically scans course files and provides accessibility scores. Ally is useful. It generates alternative formats (HTML, ePub, audio, electronic braille) for uploaded documents and flags issues like missing alt text or poor heading structure in PDFs and Word files.

However, Ally has real limitations:

• It scores documents and now offers basic PDF fixes (title, language, OCR) and AI-generated alt text, but deep structural remediation is still on you. Table structure, heading hierarchy, reading order, and LaTeX remain untouched.
• It does not evaluate content you build inside Blackboard's editor. Inline text, embedded images, and content items created directly in the course are outside Ally's scope.
• It does not catch all WCAG issues. Ally focuses on document-level problems. Color contrast in your slides, complex table structures, and video captions require separate attention.

Think of Ally as a diagnostic tool with some useful quick fixes, not a full solution. You still need to fix structural issues it flags and address what it cannot see.

Using the Content Editor Accessibly

The content editor is where most accessibility problems originate. Here are the fundamentals.

Headings

Use heading levels (H2, H3, H4) to create a logical structure. Screen reader users navigate by headings the way sighted users scan bold text. Never use bold text as a substitute for a heading — it looks the same visually but is invisible to assistive technology.

Start with H2 inside content items (H1 is typically reserved for the page title) and do not skip levels. H2 followed by H4 breaks the hierarchy.

Alt Text for Images

Every image needs alt text that conveys its meaning in context. A photo of a microscope slide in a biology course needs different alt text than the same photo on a stock image site. Describe what the student needs to learn from the image.

For detailed guidance on writing effective descriptions for charts, diagrams, and photographs, see our guide on how to write alt text for educational images.

Lists and Tables

Use the editor's built-in list tools rather than manually typing dashes or numbers. Proper list markup lets screen readers announce "list of 5 items" and navigate between them.

For tables, keep them simple. Use header rows. Avoid merged cells when possible. If you need a complex data table, consider whether a different format would communicate the information more clearly.

Links

Write descriptive link text. "Click here" and "read more" are meaningless out of context. A screen reader user tabbing through links hears only the link text — "Download the Week 3 reading (PDF)" is far more useful than "click here."

Uploading Accessible Files

Documents you upload to Blackboard carry their own accessibility. A poorly tagged PDF remains inaccessible regardless of how well your course is structured.

PDFs are the most common problem. Scanned PDFs without OCR are completely invisible to screen readers. Even digitally created PDFs may lack proper tags, reading order, or alt text. If your institution uses Blackboard Ally, check the accessibility score it assigns to each file. Anything below 80% likely needs attention.

For a deeper look at PDF accessibility requirements and remediation options, see our PDF accessibility documentation.

PowerPoint and Word files are generally easier to fix. Use built-in accessibility checkers in Microsoft Office or Google Workspace before uploading. Apply slide layouts rather than free-form text boxes. Use Word's Styles panel for headings instead of manually formatting text.

Video content requires captions. Auto-generated captions from platforms like Kaltura or YouTube are a starting point, but they need review — especially for technical terminology, proper nouns, and discipline-specific vocabulary.

Blackboard's Built-In Accessibility Checker

Both Ultra and Learn Original include a basic accessibility checker in the content editor. In Ultra, look for the accessibility indicator when editing content items. In Learn Original, check the editor toolbar for an accessibility audit option.

These checkers catch common issues like missing alt text and empty headings. They will not catch everything — reading order problems, insufficient color contrast, and cognitive accessibility concerns require manual review. But running the checker before publishing each content item is a low-effort habit that prevents the most frequent mistakes.

Course Design Best Practices

Beyond individual content items, the overall structure of your course affects accessibility.

• Consistent navigation. Use a predictable folder structure across modules. Students using assistive technology benefit from knowing where to find materials without re-learning the layout each week.
• Clear naming conventions. "Module 3: Cell Division - Lecture Slides" is navigable. "Slides3final_v2" is not.
• Multiple formats. When possible, provide content in more than one format. A lecture recording with captions, a transcript, and slides gives students options that accommodate different needs.
• Manageable content density. Long, unbroken pages of content are difficult for everyone. Break content into logical chunks with clear headings.

If you are also teaching on Canvas, many of these principles transfer directly. Our guide on making Canvas courses accessible covers the Canvas-specific workflow.

Common Blackboard Accessibility Pitfalls

These are the issues we see most frequently:

1. Pasting from Word without cleaning up formatting. This introduces hidden markup that breaks heading structure and reading order. Use "Paste as Plain Text" or clean up in the HTML view.
2. Using images of text instead of actual text. Flyers, announcements, and infographics made as flat images exclude screen reader users entirely. Provide the text content alongside the image.
3. Ignoring Ally scores. Ally flags are easy to dismiss when you are focused on content delivery. Set a target — 80% or higher for every file — and address flags before the semester starts.
4. Forgetting about third-party tools. Publisher platforms, embedded widgets, and external links may not meet accessibility standards. Test them with keyboard navigation at minimum.
5. Assuming "no one in my class needs this." Accessibility needs are not always disclosed. Designing accessibly from the start is faster than retrofitting after a student requests accommodations.

Getting Started

Accessibility in Blackboard is not a single task — it is a set of habits applied consistently as you build and update your course. Start with the highest-impact changes: fix your document files, structure your content with headings, and add alt text to images. Then work outward from there.

If your department is managing hundreds of course files across multiple sections, tools like Aelira can help by scanning documents in bulk, identifying WCAG compliance gaps, and auto-remediating PDFs and other file types — so faculty can focus on teaching rather than tagging.