AI tools are now a practical part of many workflows in the higher education sector, and accessibility is increasingly becoming a part of this conversation.
Accessibility compliance means ensuring your materials meet required standards, such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). UAL’s accessibility statement outlines how we approach this across our platforms and services.
In practice, many staff are short on time, and fixing accessibility issues after materials are created can be difficult and time-consuming. This is where AI tools can help, quickly spotting common problems and suggesting ways to fix them, making the process more manageable.
UAL has a license for Microsoft Copilot that offers a level of security and confidentiality public generative AI tools don’t. Signing in with your UAL credentials gives you “protected status”, meaning your chat history isn’t stored and your inputs aren’t used to train the AI, so it’s the safer choice when working with UAL-specific content, which shouldn’t be uploaded to third-party public platforms. You can read more about why we use Copilot and Adobe Firefly at UAL on the AI and Teaching page.
This guide walks you through using Copilot to review and improve the accessibility of your learning materials, showing you how to:
- Scan your materials for accessibility issues (text, files, links) for common accessibility issues
- Suggest improvements based on best practices
- Fix accessibility issues on specific platforms (e.g. Word, PowerPoint, Adobe)
Scan your materials for accessibility issues
Copilot can be used to scan through and analyse your learning material. You can upload documents directly into Copilot or share links if the material is live on a web page. You can also share screenshots of both images and text, being mindful to only upload content you have authored or have the appropriate permissions to share.
Example prompt: Please scan this content and check for any accessibility issues. Once you’ve identified them, list them out.
Suggest improvements
Going further, in addition to the highlighted accessibility issues, you can ask for suggestions on implementing accessibility from the start.
Example prompt: Can you now specify why these are accessibility issues and what actions can be taken to reduce them when creating future resources?
Fix accessibility issues
Once the accessibility issues have been outlined and the improvements listed, you can then ask Copilot to explain how to apply these changes yourself. You can make this request software-specific. Whether that’s a PDF, a Miro board, or an inDesign document, you can prompt AI to provide step-by-step instructions to apply fixes.
Example prompt: My document is a PDF file created in [software]. Please can you guide me through the steps to apply these accessibility fixes within this specific software. Write this out in a step-by-step format for each point.
Summary
While Copilot is a fantastic ally for refining your content, it works best when paired with the specialised accessibility features already built into tools and platforms such as Miro, Padlet, or Acrobat Reader. It is recommended that you look for these built-in tools to help aid the process.
By viewing these audits as a way to grow our understanding of Universal Design, we can begin to embed inclusive features from the very start of the production process. This proactive approach helps ensure your learning materials are accessible to everyone from the outset and reduces the need for any retroactive editing later on.
Further learning
For more on using Copilot for accessibility checks, or AI and accessibility more broadly, read the AI & Accessibility module in the AI: Integrating into Art Education series.
*This post contains text from AI: Integrating AI into Art Education – AI & Accessibility Module.