Canvas LTI Setup

This guide walks Canvas administrators and instructors through installing and configuring the Accessible PDF Converter as an LTI 1.3 tool in Canvas. Once installed, it appears as a course navigation item that scans all PDFs for accessibility issues and provides one-click conversion.

Prerequisites

• A Canvas LMS instance (cloud-hosted or self-hosted)
• Canvas Admin access (to register the developer key) — or ask your Canvas admin
• An Accessible PDF Converter account with credits

Step 1: Register the LTI Developer Key in Canvas

You need a Canvas LTI Developer Key so Canvas trusts the tool.

1. Log in to your Canvas instance as an Admin
2. Navigate to Admin > Developer Keys
3. Click + Developer Key > + LTI Key
4. Fill in the configuration:

Field	Value
Key Name	Accessible PDF Converter
Redirect URIs	https://api-pdf.theaccessible.org/api/lti/callback
Method	Manual Entry
Title	Accessible PDF Converter
Description	Scan course PDFs for accessibility issues and convert to accessible HTML
Target Link URI	https://api-pdf.theaccessible.org/api/lti/callback
OpenID Connect Initiation URL	https://api-pdf.theaccessible.org/api/lti/login
JWK Method	Public JWK URL
Public JWK URL	https://api-pdf.theaccessible.org/api/lti/jwks

1. Under LTI Advantage Services, enable:

- Can retrieve user data associated with the context the tool is installed in (Names and Role Provisioning)

- Can look up Account information (optional, for department accounts)

1. Under Placements, add:

- Course Navigation — this adds the tool to the left sidebar in every course

1. Click Save
2. The key will be in OFF state. Click the toggle to set it to ON
3. Note the Client ID shown (a long number like 17000000000042) — you'll need this next

Step 2: Register the Platform in Your Converter Account

Now tell the converter about your Canvas instance.

1. Log in to your Accessible PDF Converter account
2. Go to Settings > LTI Platforms (or ask your tenant admin)
3. Click Add Platform and fill in:

Field	Value
Name	Your Institution Name
Issuer	https://canvas.yourinstitution.edu (your Canvas URL)
Client ID	The Client ID from Step 1
Auth Endpoint	https://canvas.yourinstitution.edu/api/lti/authorize_redirect
Token Endpoint	https://canvas.yourinstitution.edu/login/oauth2/token
JWKS Endpoint	https://canvas.yourinstitution.edu/api/lti/security/jwks
Deployment ID	(leave blank — Canvas auto-generates this)

1. Click Save

Tip: Replace canvas.yourinstitution.edu with your actual Canvas domain. For Canvas Cloud (Instructure-hosted), this is typically yourinstitution.instructure.com.

Step 3: Add the Tool to a Course

Any instructor can add the tool to their course once the developer key is active.

1. Open your course in Canvas
2. Go to Settings > Navigation
3. Find Accessible PDF Converter in the list of hidden items
4. Drag it to the visible items list (or click the three-dot menu > Enable)
5. Click Save
6. The tool now appears in your course's left navigation sidebar

Step 4: Using the PDF Accessibility Scanner

First Launch

1. Click Accessible PDF Converter in the course navigation
2. The tool automatically scans all PDF files in your course
3. Wait for the scan to complete — this takes a few seconds per file

Reading the Dashboard

After scanning, you'll see a dashboard with:

• Summary bar — total PDFs, average accessibility score, number already converted
• Score distribution — a color bar showing how many files fall into each category
• File list — every PDF in your course, sorted worst-first

Score Color Coding

Color	Score Range	Meaning
Red	0–33%	Inaccessible — likely scanned images with no text
Orange	34–66%	Needs work — missing tags, language, or alt text
Green	67–99%	Mostly accessible — minor issues
Dark Green	100%	Fully accessible — passes all structural checks

What the Scanner Checks

The scanner runs six structural checks on each PDF:

1. Extractable text — Is there real text, or is it a scanned image? (-40 points if missing)
2. Tag structure — Does the PDF have accessibility tags (MarkInfo + StructTreeRoot)? (-20 if missing)
3. Image alt text — Do images have alternative text descriptions? (-15 per image, max -30)
4. Document language — Is the language set (e.g., English)? (-10 if missing)
5. Document title — Does the PDF have a title in its metadata? (-5 if missing)
6. Table headers — Do tables have header cells marked? (-10 if missing)

Note: Scanning is free — it doesn't use any conversion credits. Only converting files uses credits.

Converting a File

1. Click Convert next to any file with a low score
2. The button shows the estimated credit cost (based on page count)
3. Confirm the conversion — the file enters the conversion pipeline
4. Wait for conversion to complete (typically 10–60 seconds per page)
5. Once done, you'll see:

- Copy URL — copies a shareable link to the accessible HTML version

- View — opens the accessible HTML in a new tab

Using the Converted File in Canvas

You have two options for making the accessible version available to students:

Option A: Share a Link (Recommended)

1. Click Copy URL on the converted file
2. In your Canvas course, go to the page or module where the PDF is referenced
3. Edit the page and add a link: "Accessible version: [paste URL]"
4. Students can click the link to view the accessible HTML

Option B: Download and Upload HTML

1. Click View to open the accessible HTML
2. Save the page (Ctrl+S / Cmd+S) as an HTML file
3. Upload the HTML file to Canvas Files
4. Link to it from your module or page

Tip: Option A is easier and the URL stays up-to-date. Option B gives you a local copy but won't update if you re-convert the PDF later.

Rescanning

Click Rescan Course to check for new PDFs or re-check files that previously had errors. Files that have already been scored won't be re-downloaded unless they failed previously.

Troubleshooting

"No LTI session found. Please launch from your LMS."

This means you navigated to the scanner page directly instead of through Canvas. Always launch the tool from your Canvas course navigation.

"Platform not found or not authorized"

Your Canvas instance isn't registered as an LTI platform, or the registration is inactive. Check Settings > LTI Platforms in your converter account.

Scan shows 0 files

• Verify that your course has PDF files uploaded to Files (not just linked externally)
• The Canvas API token may have insufficient permissions — check that the LTI developer key has the file access scope enabled

Conversion fails

• Check that you have sufficient credits in your account
• Very large PDFs (100+ pages) may take several minutes — the dashboard will poll for updates
• If a conversion fails, a Retry button appears — click it to try again

For Canvas Administrators

Institution-Wide Deployment

To make the tool available across all courses:

1. Register the developer key at the account level (not sub-account)
2. In Admin > Settings > Apps, add the tool using the Client ID
3. Enable Course Navigation as the default placement
4. The tool will appear in all courses automatically

Department Accounts with Shared Credits

For institutions purchasing credits for multiple instructors:

1. Contact us to set up a department/organization account
2. All instructors from your institution will share a credit pool
3. Department admins can view usage reports per instructor
4. Set per-instructor or per-course credit budgets to control spending

Data Privacy

• The tool only accesses PDF files in courses where it's installed
• No student data is accessed or stored
• PDF files are downloaded temporarily for scanning and deleted after scoring
• Converted HTML files are stored securely and accessible only via authenticated share links
• All data is encrypted in transit (TLS) and at rest