Canvas Accessibility
Canvas is the learning management system (LMS) available for all classes. Canvas provides instructors with a platform to communicate with students, post course materials, and create online assignments.
Here are the basic things you can address in your Canvas course.
Content Formatting:
- Heading styles are nested in a logical and sequential order. Content is organized into meaningful sections using headings.
- List Styles are formatted using the embedded list tool.
- Images have appropriate alternate text; images unrelated to page content are designated as decorative.
- Link text is meaningful, descriptive, and in context.
- Tables are for data with identifiable headers and header rows identified.
- Color and contrast are sufficient. Color is not used alone to convey meaning.
- All Canvas content (pages, discussions, assignments, and quizzes) has been reviewed with an accessibility checker.
Other Considerations
Other Supplementary items include providing extra time on quizzes, converting files to Canvas pages, Canvas keyboard shortcuts, and free accessible course layouts.
Content formatting
Accessibility Checkers
There are two accessibility checkers that you can use to check your Canvas pages. We recommend using the Pope Tech Instructor Accessibility Guide as it is a bit more robust in accessibility support.
Other Supplementary
Faculty Support
Student support
- Please direct students to your local DSPS to ensure proper accommodation.
- Students can take advantage of the free Immersive Reader in Canvas.
Immersive Reader is a learning tool that uses proven techniques to improve reading for people, regardless of their age or ability. Key features include "read text out loud," "break it into syllables," and "increase spacing between lines and letters." It offers text-decoding solutions for students with learning differences such as dyslexia, and it encourages independent reading and helps teachers support students’ unique learning needs.
Canvas Pages store educational resources that are plugged into courses or groups. These resources can include text, video, links to files, and other content. Thanks to our long-term partnership with Microsoft, we’ve integrated Immersive Reader into all Canvas Pages content, which ensures that learners can consume and comprehend those resources regardless of their reading ability.
When building courses and creating course content in Canvas, Immersive Reader lets users:- Change font size, text spacing, and background color
- Split up words into syllables
- Highlight verbs, nouns, adjectives, and sub-clauses
- Choose between two fonts optimised to help with reading
- Read text aloud
- Change the speed of reading
- Highlight sets of one, three, or five lines for greater focus
- Select a word to see a related picture and hear the word read aloud as many times as necessary
Note: The Immersive Reader does not function the same as a screen-reader such as NVDA and JAWS. The Immersive Reader is a tool to assist with cognitive disabilities; whereas, a screen-reader supports low or visual impairment.