Knowing what to fix is only half the work — you also need the right tools to fix it.
This section collects the scanning tools, remediation software, templates, and checklists available to the UCLA community. Most are free for faculty and staff. Where campus-specific resources exist, we link to them directly; where the best resource is external, we'll tell you that too.
Understanding the Process
Digital accessibility remediation is not a single tool decision — it's a sequence. Before choosing a tool, identify which layer of the work you're trying to address:
- Scan — Find issues at scale across websites, apps, and documents.
- Review — Validate severity, usability impact, and whether an issue is real, policy-relevant, and worth prioritizing.
- Remediate — Actually fix the content, code, structure, tags, reading order, alt text, forms, captions, and interaction problems.
No single tool does all three well. Automated scanners are not remediation tools. Remediation tools are not monitoring platforms. Matching the right tool to the right task saves significant time and avoids false confidence about compliance.
SiteImprove Automated accessibility scanning for UCLA websites. SiteImprove crawls your site, flags WCAG issues by severity, and tracks progress over time. Available to all UCLA units at no cost.
WAVE (Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool) A free browser extension for on-demand page-level accessibility checking. Good for spot-checking individual pages without a full site scan.
Ally (Bruin Learn) Integrated into Bruin Learn, Ally scores the accessibility of individual course files and provides instructor-facing guidance for improving them.
- Accessibility Guideline PDFs in Box: Find guidance on how to remediate Adobe Acrobat Pro, PDFs, Microsoft Office, and Google Workspace products.
- Adobe Acrobat Pro Available free to UCLA faculty and staff through Creative Cloud. Includes an Accessibility Checker and full PDF remediation tools for fixing tags, reading order, alt text, and form fields.
- UDOIT (Coming Soon) A Canvas-integrated accessibility tool being procured for campus. UDOIT will help instructors identify and fix accessibility issues across entire Bruin Learn courses, including uploaded files. More information will be available once the tool is live.
- Vendor Document Remediation For large or complex PDF backlogs that exceed your team's internal capacity, DCP maintains a list of vendor remediation services.
UCLA Brand & Web Templates UCLA's brand guidelines include CMS resources and web templates built to meet accessibility requirements. See also:
Website Accessibility Checklist A practical checklist for web content editors covering the most common WCAG issues: headings, links, alt text, color contrast, forms, and tables.
Document Accessibility Checklist A pre-publish checklist for Word, PowerPoint, and PDF documents.
axe DevTools (Browser Extension) A browser-based accessibility checker with low false-positive rates. Useful for testing individual pages in depth.
Colour Contrast Analyser A desktop tool for checking foreground/background color combinations against WCAG contrast ratios.
WebAIM Contrast Checker A quick browser-based contrast checker. Paste in two hex values and get an immediate pass/fail against WCAG AA and AAA thresholds.
NVDA (Screen Reader) A free Windows screen reader used for manual accessibility testing.
SiteImprove Automated accessibility scanning for UCLA websites. SiteImprove crawls your site, flags WCAG issues by severity, and tracks progress over time. Available to all UCLA units at no cost.
WAVE (Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool) A free browser extension for on-demand page-level accessibility checking. Good for spot-checking individual pages without a full site scan.
Ally (Bruin Learn) Integrated into Bruin Learn, Ally scores the accessibility of individual course files and provides instructor-facing guidance for improving them.
- Accessibility Guideline PDFs in Box: Find guidance on how to remediate Adobe Acrobat Pro, PDFs, Microsoft Office, and Google Workspace products.
- Adobe Acrobat Pro Available free to UCLA faculty and staff through Creative Cloud. Includes an Accessibility Checker and full PDF remediation tools for fixing tags, reading order, alt text, and form fields.
- UDOIT (Coming Soon) A Canvas-integrated accessibility tool being procured for campus. UDOIT will help instructors identify and fix accessibility issues across entire Bruin Learn courses, including uploaded files. More information will be available once the tool is live.
- Vendor Document Remediation For large or complex PDF backlogs that exceed your team's internal capacity, DCP maintains a list of vendor remediation services.
UCLA Brand & Web Templates UCLA's brand guidelines include CMS resources and web templates built to meet accessibility requirements. See also:
Website Accessibility Checklist A practical checklist for web content editors covering the most common WCAG issues: headings, links, alt text, color contrast, forms, and tables.
Document Accessibility Checklist A pre-publish checklist for Word, PowerPoint, and PDF documents.
axe DevTools (Browser Extension) A browser-based accessibility checker with low false-positive rates. Useful for testing individual pages in depth.
Colour Contrast Analyser A desktop tool for checking foreground/background color combinations against WCAG contrast ratios.
WebAIM Contrast Checker A quick browser-based contrast checker. Paste in two hex values and get an immediate pass/fail against WCAG AA and AAA thresholds.
NVDA (Screen Reader) A free Windows screen reader used for manual accessibility testing.
Remediation Strategy by Content Type
Different content types require different approaches. Use this as a planning reference when scoping your remediation work.
| Content Type | Suggested Approach |
|---|---|
| Standard HTML pages | Use SiteImprove to identify issues; fix shared templates first, then train editors on headings, links, alt text, tables, and structure |
| Documents (PDF, Word, downloadable files) | Inventory and prioritize high-use files; provide accessible templates; use document remediation tools; require accessible creation at the source going forward |
| Multimedia | Build a captioning, transcript, and audio description workflow; prioritize public and required content first; require caption-before-publish standards for new media |
| Forms | Replace ad hoc forms with approved accessible patterns and platforms; test actual user completion flows, not just individual fields |
| Third-party embeds | Review vendor accessibility claims; test the embedded experience directly; replace or escalate non-compliant tools; add procurement controls |
| Archived or affiliated content | Avoid heavy remediation where UCLA lacks control; use decommissioning, non-migration, contractual standards, and documented exceptions where appropriate |
