Canvas Tutorials Accessibility Guidelines

Why Accessibility is Important

Accessibility is important because educational institutions have a legal responsibility to make instruction accessible to all learners.

https://www.section508.gov/

WebAIM has put together a series of articles to help people understand the law. Please review the links to gain a better understanding of laws that lead up to web accessibility.

Additional Resources

Use the tabs below to learn more accessibility and course design.

WC3 WCAG Guidelines

Below are Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0) guidelines. The WCAG guidelines are organized by four key points that create the POUR acronym for easy remembering. Please note Canvas is already accessible and meets these guidelines up to the point of your content. ALL content you create should be able to meet all of the guidelines listed below.

Perceivable: Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive. This means that users must be able to perceive the information being presented (it can't be invisible to all of their senses)

Guideline 1.1: Text Alternatives - Provide text alternatives for any non-text content so that it can be changed into other forms people need, such as large print, braille, speech, symbols or simpler language.
Guideline 1.2: Time-based Media - Provide alternatives (text captions and/or transcript) for time-based media.
Guideline 1.3: Adaptable - Content should be presented in different ways (for example simpler layout) without losing information or structure.
Guideline 1.4: Distinguishable - Make it easier for users to see and hear content including separating foreground from background.

Operable: User interface components and navigation must be operable. This means that users must be able to operate the interface (the interface cannot require interaction that a user cannot perform)

Guideline 2.1: Keyboard Accessible - Make all functionality available from a keyboard. Canvas has keyboard shortcut reference document
Guideline 2.2: Enough Time - Provide users enough time to read and use content.
Guideline 2.3: Seizures - Do not design content in a way that is known to cause seizures.
Guideline 2.4: Navigable - Provide ways to help users navigate, find content, and determine where they are.

Understandable: Information and the operation of user interface must be understandable. This means that users must be able to understand the information as well as the operation of the user interface (the content or operation cannot be beyond their understanding)

Guideline 3.1: Readable - Information and the operation of user interface must be understandable.
Guideline 3.2: Predictable - Make Web pages appear and operate in predictable ways.
Guideline 3.3: Input Assistance - Help users avoid and correct mistakes.

Robust: Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies. This means that users must be able to access the content as technologies advance (as technologies and user agents evolve, the content should remain accessible)

Guideline 4.1: Compatible - Maximize compatibility with current and future user agents, including assistive technologies.

Design Courses for Inclusiveness

As you build your course, it is important to think about how students with visual, auditory, or other disabilities will be able to use your course materials. The article below from WebAIM gives a you a broad overview of the issues many of our students face when course sites are not designed for accessibility. Contact Information System and Services for help making your courses more accessible.

The video below was created by The National Center on Disability and Access to Education (NCDAE) and gives you an idea why accessibility is important to everyone. The videos below points out that if we don't think about accessibility when we design a course, we may be excluding students unintentionally.

Canvas & Accessibility

Instructure is committed to making Canvas as accessible as possible; however, a large part this responsibility falls on the instructor's shoulders. Review the resources listed below for suggestions and tips on making your course content more accessible.

Canvas VAT- Instructure's commitment to accessibility
General Accessibility Design Guidelines- Canvas guide with tips on making your course more accessible.