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Accessibility tips

For you who are a teacher and work in Canvas, there are some things you can do to create more accessible content for your students. Many of the tips are good to keep in mind for any type of information that is published on the web and on digital platforms.

Learn digital accessibility in three hours

Digital accessibility means that everybody – regardless of disabilities – can use our digital services and websites. Now there is a Canvas course for you as an employee.

Course in digital accessibility

What can I as a teacher think about when it comes to accessibility?

Lack of accessibility is discrimination

Physical and digital teaching both have accessibility requirements that need to be met to avoid discrimination. Your students will appreciate it if you try to follow the requirements, even those outside your responsibility as a teacher. If you discover deficiencies, don't hesitate to contact your immediate manager about how to handle them.

Lack of accessibility in the field of education (Swedish, do.se)

When you create digital teaching materials, it is important that the content works for everyone, regardless of disability. Often all users benefit from increasing the accessibility of the material, not just those with some form of disability or who use assistive technology to surf the web. This is commonly called "Design for all" or Universal design (universaldesign.ie) .

Accessibility tips for Canvas and the web

The tips on this page are mostly minor adjustments that can make a big difference for many, even if they are not time-consuming to implement.

3 tips about texts

  • Split long texts into subpages. You can link between them or group them with modules in Canvas.
  • Avoid uploading files. Rather, enter text and media in the text editor in Canvas or on the web page.
  • If you have to upload files, use a file format that is accessible to everyone when uploading files, such as the PDF format (not scanned).

4 tips about structure

  • Use automatical accessibility checkers to find problems with structure, contrast, tables and more. A manual check is also needed, as automatical checkers never find everything. Canvas has their Canvas accessibility Checker (community.canvaslms.com) .

  • Use tables for content that is best displayed in tables, not for layout on a page. Improperly used tables can cause problems for screen readers and make the page look weird on mobile phones.

  • Create links that clearly tell you where it leads, independent of the surrounding text. Avoid the "click here" type.

  • Write descriptive headings, preferably so that the readers understand the essence of the text from just reading the headings.

5 tips about media and colour

  • Give all images an "ALT-text". This is a text that describes the content of the image for those who use screen readers or if the image doesn't load. You can fill in the ALT-text when you upload the image.
  • If the ALT-text isn't enough, you have to complement figures or graphic elements with the same information in text form. Sometimes a description fits best, sometimes a table.
  • Do not use colour alone to convey information. Complement with, for example, patterns so that the differences are visible even in greyscale.
  • Have high enough contrast between colours. Feel free to test colour contrasts with a Contrast checker (webaim.org) .
  • Caption video and create transcripts for audio recordings.

More on accessible web content