New PDF remediation, AI-powered tools and reporting capabilities help institutions address accessibility challenges at scale and build more sustainable practices

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Blackboard today announced new capabilities for Blackboard Ally™ that help institutions tackle one of the biggest challenges in digital accessibility: improving large volumes of existing content while making it easier for faculty to create more accessible materials in the future.

The announcement comes as institutions prepare for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title II web and mobile accessibility requirements. For institutions managing thousands of course materials, accessibility can be difficult to address at scale. PDFs, images, and other digital content may contain barriers that prevent students from accessing, navigating, or engaging with essential learning materials, while limited time and technical expertise can make remediation difficult for faculty.

Ally helps address both sides of the challenge. New remediation and AI-powered capabilities make it easier to address accessibility issues in existing content, while new guidance and reporting help faculty and administrators understand where improvements are needed and build better practices into everyday teaching and learning.

The announced Ally innovations include:

Reporting and visibility: New reporting capabilities help faculty and administrators better understand accessibility and identify opportunities for improvement.

• Enhanced Course Accessibility Report: Helps faculty understand accessibility within their courses and pinpoint where improvements are needed.
• New Ally Usage Report for administrators: Provides interactive visualizations, filtering and drill-down capabilities to help institutions understand usage and identify opportunities for improvement.

PDF remediation: New capabilities make it easier for faculty to identify and address common accessibility issues in PDF documents. AI-generated suggestions are subject to human review and approval before implementation, ensuring users retain ultimate oversight and control.

• PDF Auto Tagging: Automates the tagging of untagged PDFs through a new PDF Quick Fix, helping faculty improve document structure while maintaining control over remediation.
• PDF Decorative Image Workflows: Helps faculty identify and appropriately manage decorative images.
• OCRed PDF Guidance: Helps identify accessibility issues that may remain after optical character recognition (OCR) processing.
• AI Alt Text for PDFs: Extends Ally’s AI Alt Text Assistant to images within PDFs, providing instructors with an inline remediation experience.

Enhanced student experience: Ally gives students greater flexibility in how they access and engage with course content.

• Enhanced Reader: Gives students a more personalized way to engage with course content through word emphasis and customizable fonts, text size and spacing.

These capabilities are included, or will be included upon availability, as part of the standard Blackboard Ally license, enabling institutions to expand their accessibility efforts without additional investment.

“When we give faculty the tools and confidence to create more accessible content, and give students more ways to engage with learning, we’re doing more than addressing barriers. We’re building a culture of accessibility that makes the learning experience better for everyone,” said Dr. Amy Lomellini, Director of Accessibility at Blackboard.

Ally works across all major learning management systems, and has been recognized with multiple industry honors, including the 2026 EdTech Breakthrough Award for Accessibility Learning Solution of the Year.

Learn more about driving accessibility with Ally during a live webinar on September 17. Visit Blackboard at EDUCAUSE 2026, September 29–October 2, in Denver.

About Blackboard

Blackboard delivers the digital environment for transformational teaching and learning. We serve thousands of institutions with the industry’s most AI-advanced LMS (Blackboard LMS), Ally for digital content accessibility, and institutional effectiveness solutions that put educators and learners at the center. We’re an education company that builds technology. Learn more at blackboard.com. 

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SOURCE Blackboard