Many instructors look for ways to help students save money on course materials, given the high costs of a college education. However, as Michael Mace, manager of IU's Assistive Technology & Accessibility Centers (ATAC), points out, "free" resources often come with usability issues and hidden costs that can significantly impact both instructors and students. Ultimately, these materials end up excluding a lot of students from full participation.
Michael Mace
Manager, IU Assistive Technology and Accessibility Centers
Adjunct instructor, O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
Note: Microsoft Copilot helped with framing and organizing this article based on an interview between Mike Mace and Sarah Engel.
New rules concerning Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act
On April 24, 2026, all digital course materials, including content in the Canvas learning management system, must comply with new federal rules around accessibility. Review the "Minimum digital accessibility guidelines for IU courses" IU Knowledge Base article to ensure your materials meet the new requirements.
Photocopied or scanned content
Improve the accessibility of PDF documents in Canvas
Even if you do not have access to the source document, you can still improve the accessibility of a PDF document. Visit the IU Knowledge Base for more details.
Also be sure to check with your campus library to see if they can provide assistance with creating, improving, or converting content—and with identifying or selecting accessible content.
Instructors, with the best intentions, often scan books or articles so their students can avoid purchasing texts. However, this well-meaning gesture can inadvertently create significant barriers for students with disabilities.
Up to 25% of the student population has some kind of disability, most commonly a learning disability that includes a problem with reading.
Scanned PDFs, which are essentially pictures of text, are not accessible to screen readers or other assistive technologies. That means the material is not usable for a quarter of the class, defeating the purpose of providing free resources.
Even students without disabilities are affected. Scanned PDFs cannot be used with note-taking tools that allow for highlighting, creating flashcards, or copying excerpts. This limitation hampers students' ability to engage with the content fully and effectively.
The YouTube dilemma
YouTube is a popular source of free content. While it offers a vast array of educational videos, Mace warns of several issues. "Most YouTube videos are captioned using automated speech recognition, which in YouTube can be only 66% to 80% accurate. It's rare to get 80%," he notes.
Inaccurate captions can make it difficult to understand what is happening in a video, especially for students who rely on them due to hearing impairments or attention deficits. There is no punctuation in the YouTube captioning, and that can significantly alter the meaning of a sentence. Mace's favorite example:
Take, for instance, a caption that says, "Let's eat Grandma" instead of "Let's eat, Grandma." Those are two different sentences and have two completely different meanings. Punctuation is important. You only get meaning out of it when the captions are done correctly.
Also keep in mind: Instructors have no control over YouTube content. Videos can be removed, altered, or even hacked, meaning it is hard to know exactly what will show up on screen.
The risks of free tools
Free tools also come with their own set of challenges. Many collect personal information, browsing history, and other data – and instructors do not know what all it is putting on their computer and their students' computers.
The university has not vetted these tools for security, accessibility, or compliance with federal privacy regulations like FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) or HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). If the tool causes problems or does not work with assistive technology, the instructor is responsible.
Finding accessible and reliable resources
So, what can instructors do to ensure their resources are free (or at least low-cost) and accessible? Mace suggests several strategies:
- Library Resources: Indiana University's libraries are an excellent source of accessible digital content (including videos and multimedia). Many library resources come with built-in accessibility features, like text layers that can be converted into various formats. If the library does not have what you need, they can often source it or at least create a cleaner scan.
- Open Educational Resources (OERs): Unlike free content, OERs are usually vetted and created by educators for educators. Instructors can go in and tailor the content to their own classes, and the content is generally more accessible from the outset. (Tip: OpenStax is a great resource for free, accessible OERs, and it's available via the IU eTexts catalog.)
- IU eTexts: The IU eTexts initiative offers many benefits that can facilitate accessibility and fulfill the university's commitment to maintaining equal access. Many publishers are under contracts that obligate them to address accessibility issues and to help IU in its efforts to create accessible alternatives when necessary.
- Accurate Captioning: When using video content, ensure it has captions that a human has created or edited. When you turn on captions in YouTube, you will either see "English (auto-generated)," meaning created by a machine and less accurate, or "English," meaning vetted by a human. Choose videos with good captions.
- Tech Tool Finder: If a tool is in the Tech Tool Finder, IU has a relationship with that vendor. This ensures it has been vetted for both security and accessibility, and IU can request fixes for identified issues.
For more options, read "Five tips for adopting barrier-free materials."
The benefits of having content in a readable format
By making it easier for students to engage with content, instructors are making it easier for students to do well in their classes. In particular, accessible digital content is ready to read or consume in other ways – using Ally in Canvas, students can create alternate formats like ePubs (for loading to a Kindle to read) or have immersive reader read aloud to them.
Accessible content also makes it easier to study. Students can highlight and take notes, or they can use an AI tool to create quick review questions. Having course content in a format that computers can read means students can interact with that content in different ways (for example, using AI to elaborate on confusing sections or to quiz them on key concepts). At the end of the day, being inclusive means students get more out of your courses.
For an overview of accessibility resources at IU, visit the IU Knowledge Base. Ready to make your digital content more accessible? Start with the 7 Simple Steps for Creating Inclusive Digital Content, and consider taking the free IU Expand course on Improving Course Accessibility.
Get help creating accessible content
IU provides multiple ways to get help creating accessible content, including:
- Ally: At IU, Ally is available as a Canvas tool to help instructors address basic accessibility requirements. Ally can walk you through most of the common accessibility barriers your students will encounter. To learn more, visit the Ally instructor guide.
- Microsoft 365: Microsoft builds accessibility assistance into many of their products. For quick solutions to common accessibility concerns when creating content, check out Microsoft's accessibility video training.
- Kaltura: Kaltura is IU's video solution. When a video is uploaded to Kaltura, Kaltura's artificial intelligence scans the video and creates captions. Instructors should edit these captions to improve the accuracy of content that will be used for multiple semesters.
- Teaching and learning centers: IU's teaching and learning centers are staffed with instructional technology experts who can provide advice and guidance about basic accessibility and universal design for learning.
- Assistive Technology and Accessibility Centers: The Assistive Technology and Accessibility Centers (ATAC) can provide training and guidance on how to create accessible materials. For questions about digital accessibility, email ATAC at atac@iu.edu.