Creating Accessible Canvas Pages

This page will show you how to make sure all of your Canvas pages (and assignments, discussions, quiz pages) are accessible. 

You have a choice as to how to engage with the material in this page. Remember, the key concepts are always addressed in the text. If you need more info or learn by watching, the videos and resources are great supplements.

 Read: Creating Accessible Canvas Pages

The Rich Content Editor

The rich content editor in Canvas is one tool that you should become very familiar with. These icons above the pages where you add text, allow you to add headings to your page (much like you do in Word), add images, add tables, videos, lists, etc. 

Page Structure

Just as you do in Word, you add structure to a Canvas page by using headings. The page title is Heading 1, so any section heading in Canvas will begin with Heading 2. To add headings, you simply highlight the line of text, then select the appropriate heading. 

You check how text has been formatted by highlighting or clicking on a section of text (while in edit mode). At the bottom of the editing pane, you will see a p, h2, or h4 appear. These stand for paragraph (normal text, such as this text), heading 2 (section titles), heading 3 (sub-section), or heading 4 (sub-sub section).  

Alt Text for Images

You're probably sick of hearing about alt text, but guess what - you need it in Canvas, too! Luckily, Canvas makes it easy to add alt text - prompting you to add it when you first add your image (if you're using the rich content editor). 

If you're adding alt text to exiting images, click on the image, then click on the image editor icon in the rich content editor to access the alt text field. 

If the image is decorative, remove all content from the alt text field - this will ensure that a screen reader skips over it. The default alt text is the file name, which can be quite confusing. Leaving the alt text field blank will render the alt text as alt="", which a screen reader will view as intentional, rather than simply leaving out the alt text. Note that other web editing software may behave differently. 

Tables

Canvas now allows you to edit tables in such a way that you can use the rich content editor to add headings to them (as opposed to going into the HTML to do it!). As discussed with Word, tables should have captions and headings to assist screen readers in reading the data correctly. Tables should not be used to format/control the layout of your page. Once you've made your table, follow the instructions on the guide below.

You can also review the Canvas Community Guide for step by step instructions on making accessible tables.

Captions/Transcripts for Media

Another fun function in Canvas is the ability to easily add in audio and video recordings to each page using the rich content editor. However, if you have a student that is deaf, hard of hearing, or simply doing classwork in a noisy environment, you'll want to make sure you also provide captions or a transcript. 

The next lesson will go over how to caption videos (in Canvas), but in the meantime, feel free to review the Canvas Guide on adding captions to Canvas videos

Watch: Making Accessible Canvas Pages

Using Heading Tags to Improve Accessibility (3 mins)

A short demonstration from Bellingham Tech on how to use headings in Canvas.

Using Heading Tags to Improve Accessibility

Alt text (3O seconds)

In this video, Shawn Jordison will walk you through how to add alt text for images in Canvas.

Adding Captions to Videos (2 mins)

In this video, Texas Woman's University, provides a walkthrough of how to add captions to your videos in Canvas. This video will apply to media that is added through the Rich Content Editor in Canvas.

Explore: Canvas Accessibility Guides

• Canvas Guide: General Accessibility Guidelines - Includes links to adding alt text, descriptive hyperlinks, checking color contrast.

• Canvas Community Guide: Table Accessibility in Canvas - Jump straight to the guide on accessible tables (since they involve more steps and take a bit more practice).

• Canvas Community Guide: Accessibility in Online Course Design - Offers tips and examples of designing an online course in Canvas.