WHAT IS ACCESSIBILITY?

Accessibility in education means that all learners can access the information and materials they need. Just like we provide ramps and elevators to make buildings accessible to wheelchair users, we also need to make physical and digital learning materials accessible to our students. Here is an accessibility checklist for you as you create materials. Our challenge to you? Choose one accessibility practice and try implementing it this week - perhaps as you make your learning map.

See Learn More to learn how to do each of these.

Considerations for multimedia:

Images have alternative text

Videos have captions, audio has as transcript

Complex images like infographics have a text-only version available

Considerations for text materials:

The headings tool is used to organize content

Links are attached to words that describe the link destination. Like this link to an accessibility guide, not like this: https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Accessibility/General-Accessibility-Design-Guidelines/ba-p/252642.

Color is never used as the only way to communicate meaning (i.e. "team 1 do every problem with a blue star" instead of "team 1 do every problem highlighted in blue")

There is enough contrast between text color and background to meet accessibility standards, like this maroon, not this yellow.

PDF files are in accessible, or "tagged" format

Tables are used for data display, not layout. Headings should be included in columns and/or rows.

Learn More - How to do...

In this section, we'll explain each section from the checklist above. One thing to keep in mind is that if you are creating materials on Canvas, each page, discussion and assignment will have a built-in accessibility checker (looks like a person in a circle below your text box). Click it to see if you have any accessibility issues. If so, it'll help you fix them!

Alternative Text ("alt text")

This is a digital tool that allows users to attach words to images. It is important for visually impaired people that use screen readers to access the web and have anything on a screen read out loud to them. According to WebAIM, a major web accessibility organization, alt text should brief and functional for a person on a screen reader. Specifically they say it should be:

accurate and equivalent in terms of representing the image
succinct - typically, only a few words are necessary
not be redundant in terms of repeating information found in text near the image
Not include phrases like "image of..." - screen readers already announce "graphic" before reading alt text.

Check out WebAIM's great tutorial for writing alt text to learn more.

For complex images like infographics, simply provide a text alternative, for example in an attached document or by linking out to a website with the full text.

Captions and transcripts

Captions and transcripts provide text to go along with audio media, and are important for deaf or hearing impaired people. On Canvas, we recommend that you upload media to Canvas Studio and try out the autocaption feature. Auto-captioning is only 85% accurate, so you'll need to review before publishing for students.

You can also add autocaptions to a Zoom meeting, which will then save automatically if the meeting is recorded.

Accessible PDFs

PDFs should be created as accessible documents. Unfortunately, document pages that were scanned to create a PDF are sometimes not accessible. Here are some tools and tutorials for making PDFs accessible:

Headings

Headings allow you to organize your content into hierarchical sections. This is important for people using screen readers. For example, Canvas automatically designates page titles as Heading 1. On this page, the words "Learn More" are Heading 2, and the sub-sections underneath (Alternative Text, Captions and Transcripts, etc.) are Heading 3. The text you're reading now is designated as "paragraph." Interestingly, headings stay stable between formats, even if change from a Google Doc to a Word Doc or a PDF, etc. Learn more about using headings in Canvas in this guide.

Accessible links

Instead of copying and pasting a whole link URL, attach it to words that describe where it goes. This is important for people who use screen readers. Here is how to embed a hyperlink in your text in Canvas. And this Canvas accessibility guide has a great demonstration of why this is so important for screen readers.

Color

Keeping in mind that some students may be colorblind, it's important that no information be communicated by color alone. Usually, it's simple to add information in text along with color information ("Team One should answer all questions marked with a blue one").

Contrast

If you choose to use colored text, make sure it has sufficient contrast with the background. You can use the the WebAIM Color Contrast Checker or check out examples on this Canvas accessibility resource.

Tables

To help screenreaders accurately read tables, make sure to use captions and row headers. If you use a table in Canvas, the accessibility checker will help you make it accessible.

EXPLORE MORE

Learn more about digital accessibility with through WebAIM's article, "Introduction to Web Accessibility" or through their quick accessibility checklist.

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