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Earlier this year, we explained how to Give Your Canvas Course an Accessibility Check-Up. Now that the Fall semester has started, we wanted to share more of our favorite tips for making Canvas courses accessible.

#5: Organize for Clarity

Maintain a simple, consistent page layout throughout your web pages. Start by using pre-built course shells and templates. Place all information in consistent locations.

Clarity applies to language as well. Keep assignment directions simple, using short sentences. The ideal reading level of content intended for a non-specialist audience is generally between 7th and 8th grade.

#4: Caption Your Videos with Canvas Studio

Canvas Studio has replaced Kaltura as ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú's recommended media platform. When you upload a video to Canvas Studio, auto-generated captions are added by default. You can edit, download, replace, or delete the captions file. You can further improve auto-captions before making manual edits by enabling and utilizing the Assisted Caption Editing feature.

Although YouTube media cannot be automatically captioned in Canvas Studio, you can upload a caption file or manually create captions for your uploaded media. 

Visit the to learn more about captioning.

#3: Run the Canvas Accessibility Checker

A relatively recent addition to Canvas, the Canvas Accessibility Checker scans Pages and Assignments against some of the most critical accessibility barriers. Once a course has been scanned, the tool automatically scans new and edited resources.

To run the checker, in Course Navigation, click the Accessibility link. Then click the Scan Course link or button.

Note that this tool does NOT replace the Ally Accessibility Report. Moving on…

#2: Run the Ally Accessibility Report

The Ally Accessibility Report scans your course content and provides an overall percentage score of the accessibility of your coursework. It identifies inaccessible files and offers step-by-step instructions on how to fix them. Importantly, this report is only visible to Teacher and Designer roles—students cannot see this score. 

For best results, remove or delete unused or outdated files from your course before running the report. 

To run the Ally Accessibility Report, in Course Navigation, click Ally Accessibility Report. Use the on-screen feedback to resolve issues.

#1: Attend a virtual Accessibility Fundamentals drop-in session

AccessMU Center is offering virtual drop-in sessions during the Fall semester each Tuesday at 10 and Thursday at 3. Bring your Canvas documents, websites, or questions to our drop-in sessions for real-time, expert guidance. . We look forward to chatting with you!

BONUS: Register for the 11th annual on October 23! This free event is open to anyone at ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú who wants to learn how to make our community more welcoming and accessible for all.