Working with Inaccessible Content

A Practical Response | Quick Check

You may receive a scanned PDF, image-only flyer, uncaptioned video, or other resource that some people cannot use. You do not need to quietly repair every item yourself, but you do need a responsible plan before you pass the barrier along.

The Question That Matters

Will everyone in the intended audience be able to get the information and complete the same task at the time they need it?

Use these four steps to choose a response.

1. Pause and Assess

Purpose: What information or task does the resource support?
Audience: Who needs it, and is an accommodation or known access need involved?
Timing: When must an accessible version be available?
Ownership: Who created, selected, or maintains the resource?
Barrier: Is the problem missing captions, an image-only scan, poor structure, inaccessible interaction, or something else?

An automated checker may help locate some issues, but it cannot decide whether the resource provides equivalent access.

2. Ask Clearly and Diplomatically

Describe the barrier and the needed outcome without blaming the sender. For example:

Thanks for sending this. The PDF appears to be an image-only scan, so people using a screen reader may not be able to read it. Is there an accessible Word, HTML, or tagged-PDF version we can share?

I would like to use this video with students. Could you provide a version with reviewed captions, or help me locate an accessible alternative?

Include the deadline and audience when that will help the owner respond appropriately.

3. Choose an Accessible Path

Replace it: locate an accessible resource that meets the same purpose.
Ask the owner to remediate it: the source creator often has the best file and subject knowledge.
Remediate with support: route the item to the appropriate campus accessibility, alternate-media, communications, or technology resource.
Provide an accessible companion: for a simple flyer or notice, complete plain-text information may meet the need. For complex documents, media, or interactive tasks, plain text alone may not be equivalent.
Pause distribution: if an important barrier remains, do not share the resource as though access has been resolved.

Documenting the concern can support coordination, but written permission or confirmation does not make inaccessible content accessible.

4. Use OCR or AI with Care

Optical character recognition (OCR) or generative AI may help produce a draft, but neither is a compliance check or a substitute for human review.

Use only district-approved tools and follow current institutional privacy, security, copyright, and records guidance.
Do not upload student records, personnel information, confidential material, or other sensitive content.
Public availability does not automatically mean a resource is approved for upload to an AI system.
Compare extracted text, summaries, and image descriptions with the original. Correct omissions, invented details, and reading-order errors.
Complete the remaining accessibility work in the destination format.

Quick Check

A colleague sends an image-only event flyer and asks you to distribute it to students today. What is the best first response?

Forward the image and offer an accessible copy only if someone requests it.: People need access when the information is distributed, not after they encounter the barrier.
Ask for an accessible version and, if time is short, coordinate a complete plain-text version of the event information before sharing.: Correct: This addresses the immediate access need and invites the content owner into the solution.
Upload the flyer to any available AI tool and distribute its output without checking it.: The tool may be inappropriate for the content, and its output may be incomplete or inaccurate.

Connection

Accessibility is shared work. A calm, specific response can protect access now while helping the person or office that owns the content improve what it sends next time.