Higher Education

PDF Accessibility for Colleges & Universities

OCR investigations, ADA lawsuits, and student accommodation requests are increasing across higher education. PDFally makes it simple to remediate course materials, syllabi, research papers, and institutional documents at scale.

The Higher Ed Accessibility Challenge

Colleges and universities publish thousands of PDFs every semester—syllabi, reading packets, forms, policies, research outputs, and more. Under the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, all of these must be accessible to students with disabilities.

The Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has dramatically increased enforcement, resolving dozens of complaints annually against institutions that fail to provide accessible course materials. Remediation agreements often require institutions to fix thousands of documents under tight deadlines.

PDFally helps institutions get ahead of complaints—before they become investigations.

Common OCR Complaint Triggers

  • Scanned PDFs with no machine-readable text (image-only)
  • Course syllabi and reading packets without alt text
  • Financial aid and enrollment forms inaccessible to screen readers
  • Research publications missing document structure tags
  • Inaccessible PDFs on LMS platforms (Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle)
  • Faculty-generated PDFs with no accessibility review

Documents We Remediate for Higher Ed

From individual syllabi to bulk semester prep, we scale to your volume.

Course Materials

  • Syllabi
  • Reading packets
  • Lecture slides as PDF
  • Lab manuals
  • Study guides

Administrative Documents

  • Financial aid forms
  • Enrollment applications
  • Policy handbooks
  • Annual reports
  • Accessibility statements

Academic Publications

  • Faculty research papers
  • Institutional reports
  • Theses and dissertations
  • Conference proceedings
  • Grant documentation

Why Institutions Choose PDFally

Batch Processing

Upload and remediate hundreds of documents at once—ideal for semester changeovers or OCR remediation backlogs.

Compliance Documentation

Every remediated file ships with a detailed report you can provide to OCR, legal counsel, or disability services.

Fast Turnaround

Most documents are completed within 1–2 business days, so you can meet urgent student accommodation requests.

Transparent Per-Page Pricing

Budget predictably—pricing is fixed per page based on complexity. No hidden fees or subscription lock-in.

No IT Infrastructure Required

PDFally is a web platform. Your team uploads files directly—no software installation or IT integration needed.

WCAG 2.1 Level AA Standard

All remediation meets the standard required by OCR resolution agreements and ADA regulations.

Get Ahead of Your OCR Obligations

Start with a free scan of any course document. No commitment required.

Start Free Scan