Accessibility & Course Content
Educators have a responsibility to make their course content available to all learners. Prioritizing accessibility in your course design benefits not only students with disabilities but all learners at the institution.
- Accessibility in Canvas Links to an external site.
- General accessibility design guidelines Links to an external site.
- AccessibleNU
For a more thorough introduction, complete the Accessibility 101 Links to an external site. online tutorial.
Small changes that will make a big impact in your course site
- Use high contrast colors. Don’t rely on color to convey information, it will be missed by color-blind students and students using screen readers.
- Provide appropriate headers and incorporate lists. Headers allow students using screen readers to quickly scan a page of text for relevant information. Similarly, lists facilitate keyboard navigation and provide meaning and structure.
- Provide alt-text for images. Alt-text summarizes images.
- Create thoughtful links. Provide thoughtful links that let the reader know exactly where they'll go if they click. Avoid links like “Click here” and “more”.
- Provide captioning or transcripts for media. Providing captioning for video and a transcript for audio clips is essential for students with hearing impairments, but also helpful to students in distracting locations or students who speak English as a second language.
Pope Tech Accessibility Guide
Pope Tech is a tool that identifies accessibility issues in Canvas course sites. The tool scans a course, generates a report, and provides resources on how to address common accessibility issues.