Accessibility in Canvas

Overview

This page walks you through a few simple things that you can do in Canvas to make it more accessible for people with disabilities (and better for all viewers/users). 

You have a choice as to how to engage with the material in this lesson. Remember, the key concepts are always addressed in the text of the "Read:" section. If you need more info or learn by watching, the videos and resources are great supplements.

 Read: Good Course Design in Canvas

Canvas Modules

One thing that is great about Canvas is that you can design and organize materials in so many ways: via files, module, pages, the syllabus, etc. However, one of the most used ways to organize material is in modules. Modules act as folders; they allow you to "chunk" materials and assessments together by topic or week. Modules also provide a linear path for course content.

Chunking material (putting it into sections, on separate pages, etc.) is a helpful way for people to see patterns and make connections between concepts. Chunking material also helps separate longer lessons into small pieces with the scaffolding necessary to support success. 

Canvas Modules Overview Links to an external site.

Course Navigation

One way to help people with disabilities, and anyone new to Canvas, is to limit the navigation links (that list on the left of the screen) to the ones that are used in the course. Depending on how you arrange your class, you may opt to hide many of the buttons (as I do in this class) or re-order them so that the most important buttons come first. 

This benefits people with disabilities in that it involves fewer items to choose from and directs them to the most important parts of the course. For someone using a screen reader, they may have to listen to a list of links before hearing the one that they need. Removing unnecessary links and ordering them in terms of priority will help them navigate in a more efficient manner. 

Instructions for reordering or hiding Course Navigation links Links to an external site.

Discussions

If you're teaching a large group and requiring everyone to post to a discussion and reply to others, a discussion forum can quickly become a huge collection of text for someone to sort through. For someone using a screen reader, this can be overwhelming. For larger classes/groups, consider breaking them into smaller discussion groups (just as you would in a face-to-face class/meeting), making it more manageable for everyone to review.

Instructions for creating group discussions Links to an external site.

Quizzes

Canvas allows you to moderate quizzes in such a way that you can extend the test-taking time or number of attempts for one person and not everyone.

Instructions for granting extended time Links to an external site.

UDL in Canvas

One thing I love about Canvas is the various ways in which you can design with UDL in mind. For instance, you can use the Rich Text Editor Links to an external site. to present content in a variety of ways (text, image, audio, video). You can assign a variety of assignments Links to an external site.from tests to discussion boards, to media comments, etc. Lastly, you can give students choices for assignments (put the assignments into an assignment group Links to an external site. where the settings Links to an external site. allow you to keep the highest grade- just as we do in this course). There's more about this topic in a handout down in the Explore section of this page.

ALLY

We have a tool in Canvas that you may not even be aware of: ALLY. This integrated Canvas tool scans all uploaded  files to check for accessibility issues. Next to each file (documents and images that you have linked into your pages, loaded into your modules, or listed in your Files list) you will see a green, yellow, or red gauge icon symbolizing how accessible the file is (students do not see this indicator). If you click on the icon, you'll find out what the most pressing issue is for that file and be walked through how to fix the problem.

The ALLY student side was implemented in our UW Canvas Fall 2018. If you look, next to files, you will see a small drop-down arrow that offers the option of alternate formats. You and your students can download alternative versions of the file (Audio, Braille, etc.)

Due to recent updates, ALLY can now scan Canvas pages for accessibility issues. To learn more about ALLY check out this UW-IT ALLY resource.

Watch: Canvas Accessibility Demos

How to change the Canvas course left navigation (1:19)

A quick demo on how to change course navigation links.

ALLY Overview  (6:45)

This video, created by Jess Thompson at the SBCTC, walks you through using ALLY in Canvas.

Explore: Accessible Course Design Resources