This information provides guidelines for making accessible learning content using Canvas, Word, and Powerpoint. The tips contain steps to help all students access your courses, as well as to help assistive technologies navigate and read content.
General Accessibility Guidelines
- Ensure that all learning resources are accessible, including the textbook, websites that you use as resources, and so forth.
- When providing content other than text, use textual equivalents:
- Alt tags for graphics
- Captions for videos
- Transcripts for audio
- If your content contains a lot of images, videos, and audio recordings, consider providing a text-only alternative. (This alternative can also be used by all students as a study aid.)
- When scanning documents (such as articles from publications), use the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) option to ensure that the documents can be read by screen readers.
- Consider creating learning content in Canvas pages because assistive technologies interpret html code better than with applications such as Word or Powerpoint.
- When using applications other than Canvas pages, consider providing the native application file (such as .doc, .docx, .ppt, .pptx) instead of converting the file to a .pdf format. Adobe Acrobat files require additional preparation for accessibility. Canvas has the ability to present Word and Powerpoint files to students without requiring them to have the applications on their own computers.
Canvas Pages
Consider the following guidelines when creating Canvas pages:
- Organize content into short, logical sections and paragraphs as it easier for many students to process new information in smaller “chunks.”
- Use “white space” (wide empty areas around text and graphics) to help information appear more manageable.
- Use Styles to format text so that screen readers can easily navigate the content.
- Use numbered lists when a task should be completed in a specific order, and use bulleted lists when listing items in a series.
- When naming hyperlinks, provide a description of the item so that students will know where the link is going. (Using the phrase “click here” is not descriptive enough.)
- When providing links to another page, activity, or assignment, make the link open the item in the same window. When linking to a resource outside the course, make the link open the resource in a new window.
- Provide text descriptions (alt text) for images unless they are only for visual interest purposes (decoration). There is no need to state that they are a “photo” or “illustration” because the screen reader provides that information anyhow. If an image contains text, be sure to include that information in the description. If the image contains a lot of text, such as with an infographic, provide a separate text file with “text for use with a screen reader” as an option.
- When linking to files, such as the Course Syllabus, include information about the file type. For example [.docx].
- Use adequate color contrast between the text and the background to ensure legibility.
- Avoid relying on color as the only means of providing information. For example, instead of denoting certain items in green text, also use a different symbol for those items (using shapes and color together).
- Instead of using highlighting to make information stand out, use bold text instead.
- Use tables when they are needed to present data. Avoid using tables to format content.
Word Documents
All the previous guidelines for Canvas pages also apply toward word processing programs. Consider the following additional guidelines when using Word documents:
- Use column headers for tables. Go to Table Properties > Row > Repeat as header row at the top of each page.
- Use tabs instead of spaces to indent text.
Powerpoint Presentations
In addition to following the guidelines for Canvas pages and Word documents, the following guidelines are additional elements to check when using Powerpoint:
- Use pre-designed themes.
- Give every slide a unique title.
- Use the Accessibility Checker to ensure that each textbox in a slide will be read in the order in which you intend. Go to File > Check for Issues > Check Accessibility.
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