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Canvas Accessibility

There are multiple tools for helping you ensure that the content you make available through the Canvas learning management system can be perceived and understood by all users, including those with disabilities. Check out these resources to learn more:

Tools within Canvas

  • Ally: This tool works within the Canvas LMS to test uploaded files for accessibility and allows students to download files in alternative formats that may be more accessible for them, such as EPUB, audio, and Braille.
  • The Canvas Rich Content Editor Checklist (PDF): This is a checklist of things you can do to ensure that content created using the Rich Content Editor in Canvas in accessible.
  • UDOIT: This tool will scan your whole course site to identify accessibility issues with anything created using the Rich Content Editor.   It will also test any HTML files you may have uploaded to the Files tool for accessibility.

Documents

Documents you provide to your students, such as Word, PowerPoint, Google Docs, or PDF files should also be accessible.

Videos

Videos used in your course should have captions, so that people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing have equal access.  Captioned videos are useful for all students, but are essential for these folks.  Kaltura and YouTube can automatically create captions for you using speech recognition.  Though not perfect, these automatically-generated captions are a good way to begin to meet this need when time is limited.