Creating content in an accessible way is an important part of making sure your course is inclusive. Both native and integrated tools within Canvas help instructors in creating accessible files, pages, and other content. Below are some tools you can use to create more accessible course content.
Table of Contents
This article will address the following information:
Blackboard Ally
Blackboard Ally provides a visual dial to instructors that indicates the "accessibility score" of a file, Canvas course page, or image, as well as provides helpful guides in how to improve the quality.
To learn more about this, check out our Blackboard Ally: Overview article, as well as our Blackboard Ally: Viewing and Understanding a File's Accessibility Score article.
Downloading Alternative Formats of Files and Canvas Pages
Blackboard Ally allows students and instructors alike to benefit from the ability to download alternative formats of uploaded files to a Canvas course. These alternative formats can be more accessible and compatible with screen reader or other assistive technologies.
To learn more, check out our Blackboard Ally: Downloading Alternative Formats article.
Canvas Accessibility Checker
The Canvas Accessibility Checker is a tool within the rich content editor (RCE) of Canvas that checks for common accessibility errors within the editor, and provides recommendations for fixing accessibility issues.
To learn more, check out Canvas's support article: How do I use the Accessibility Checker in the Rich Content Editor as an instructor? (Vendor Guide)
Media Library (Panopto) Captions
The Media Library (Panopto) has the ability to manually upload captions or add captions through automatic speech recognition (ASR). Though captions created through ASR are not 100% accurate, they may be a great start in creating and providing more accessible video / audio course content. Captions added to media this way should be reviewed and edited before being used in your course
To learn more, check out our Adding / Editing Captions on Media Library Content article.
Canvas Accessibility Resources
- What are the Canvas accessibility standards? (Vendor Guide)
For more information about Yale's accessibility guidelines, please contact [email protected]. For general help, please contact [email protected].