Intro
Indicators
Canvas Tools
Examples
Try It!
Resources

Introduction

The purpose of this standard is to encourage you to reflect on the accessibility and usability of your course materials. Designing your course content in a way that maximizes usability for the widest possible audience is known as Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Applying UDL principles and accessible design practices to the design of your learning materials benefits all of your students, not just those who may have a disability. For example, a captioned video is helpful for a student who is deaf or hard of hearing, but captions can also benefit a student trying to watch the video in a noisy public space, or a student whose first language is not English. Applying UDL and accessible design principles to the design of your course materials can also benefit you. Proactively designing for usability and access upfront and supporting the varied abilities and diverse learning needs of your students, can save you time should you receive a last minute accommodation request. But, just because you haven't received official accommodation paperwork, that doesn’t mean you don't have students with disabilities in your course. Often disabilities remain unaccommodated due to the stigmas associated with requesting help, lack of proper documentation, or students being unaware of the resources available to them. Disabilities come in many forms including mobility/physical impairment, brain injury, loss of sight/blindness, loss of hearing/deafness, and mental illness. Some disabilities may be hidden or invisible, such as learning disabilities, anxiety, or chronic pain. Students with disabilities have rights and while it is a general good practice to ensure your course materials are accessible, it’s also the law. Below is a list of federal and state laws that impact higher education.

Federal

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 & 2018 Refresh
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990
Amendments Act (ADA) of 2008

State

As a teacher, you are responsible for providing accessible content for your students. Over time, you've probably learned to make your content look the way you want but did you know that there are built-in styling tools in programs like MS Word, Pages, Google Docs, and Canvas that can help you achieve a similar look, speed up your editing, and also result in accessible content? When you use these tools and design for usability and accessibility upfront, you allow students to retrieve, use, and benefit from the resources in your course and to participate fully without needing to ask for a modification or an alternative format. While you cannot plan ahead for every possible type of accommodation a student might request, you can proactively design your course with a variety of needs in mind. Selecting accessible tools and technologies for your course and helping to connect students to the access support resources they may need is also important and will help students be successful and maintain their learning independence.

Why it Matters to Students ...

It’s near the end of the quarter and the instructor asked the class if anyone would be willing to participate in a small group conversation about the usability and accessibility of their online course materials. H and a few other interested classmates volunteer to meet online in Zoom with an Access Services advisor and one of the eLearning instructional designers. H is looking forward to sharing and hopes the other students are too. The first question they ask the group is about how easy the course materials are to use.

H shares first and begins by saying that as a screen reader user, most of the content has been ok to read. H really appreciates the instructor’s use of headings on the LMS pages and in most of the documents because it gives the content structure and makes it easier to navigate. (4.7.b) There have been a few rough spots though, and H suggests that the hyperlinks in the course could use some work. Sometimes the instructor includes a full URL and other times the hyperlinks all have text saying “click here.” Listening to multiple URLs or hearing “click here” over and over doesn’t give H any information about where the links might go. (4.7.f). The course home page had some information formatted as a table, but the instructor hadn’t added a heading row and the table included merged cells plus the table seemed to be used more for aligning images than anything else, so it was impossible to understand. (4.7.e) H also mentions that there have been a few PDF files that were difficult to understand because the content seemed to be out of order and others weren’t readable at all because they were only images and didn't contain any real text. (4.7.h)

D chimes in to agree that the PDF files with scanned images of text are difficult to read and don’t make good study tools because the documents aren’t searchable, and the image gets really blurry if you try to increase the size to see the text better using a magnifier. (4.7.a and 4.7.h) D would also prefer if the course materials were formatted in a less decorative sans serif style font, because it would be a lot easier to read. (4.7.d)

G agrees about the sans serif font because reading text with a lot of decoration is very difficult for people with dyslexia. (4.7.d) G also expresses frustration that some parts of the content are color coded using red and green which is difficult to identify when you are colorblind. (4.7.g)

M frequently uses a text-to-speech program for reading due to a non-apparent learning disability and agrees with H about the benefits of being able to navigate content structured with headings and real text. (4.7b and 4.7.a)

Consider This ...

How equitable is the experience for students of different abilities in your course? What strategies can you use to improve access for your students?
What types of barriers can you proactively anticipate and plan ahead for in your course to create a more seamless and inclusive experience for students with varying abilities and learning needs?
What processes and tools do you use to ensure that the materials and technologies you use in your course are usable by as wide an audience as possible? What challenges you the most when thinking about how to create accessible and inclusive course content?

Indicators Explained

The Indicators for Standard 4.7 are organized by Essential, Best Practice, and Exemplary. Click the menu bars below to expand and read about the Indicators in each section.

Essential

Meeting all Essential Indicators demonstrates that your course design includes the basic foundational elements that must be present for students to succeed in an online course.

4.7.a - Text-based content consists of real text.

All text contained in your course materials should consist of real or true text that is adaptable, customizable, and searchable. Content not represented as real text lacks adaptability, so whenever possible it is important to avoid using images of text like SmartArt, WordArt, text contained within graphics, or scanned images of text which can create readability and usability issues for many students. Some advantages of using real text include:

It can be read and recognized by assistive technologies like a screen reader.
It can be scaled up or down in size without becoming blurred, allowing mobile users to view the text on a smaller screen and those with visual impairments to enlarge the text as needed.
It can be customized in appearance for line, word, and character spacing and the font style and font color can be changed.
It is searchable and can be copied/pasted making it easier for students to navigate the content to find and review key terminology and concepts.
It can be translated more easily to other languages.
It is searchable by search engines.

A quick test to determine if text is real or if it is an image, is to try selecting it with your cursor. If you can’t highlight or select it, it is not real text. For example, if you scan a copy of an article for students to read, the resulting file is only an image of the words rather than real text. It cannot be read by assistive technology, may not be able to be resized and maintain adequate resolution, cannot be keyword searched, etc. This loss of adaptability means that it is not accessible for all students. If you do include text contained within an image, for example in a page banner, be sure to add an alternative text description or mark the image as decorative if it is not important to the page content.

4.7.b - Text-based content uses styled formatting for headings.

Your course content should be visually appealing and functional for as many users as possible, but you should always consider how accessible and functional your content is before worrying about how it looks. Luckily there are built-in styling tools in most content authoring programs that can help you achieve both. The most important accessibility feature you can add to your digital content is headings. You can think of headings as the labels you give to each section of your content to help keep it organized. For example, in your syllabus, you might have sections titled: Instructor Contact Information, Course Description, Prerequisites, Course Outcomes and so on. Adding headings for these sections using the built-in styling tools in MS Word, MS PowerPoint, Google Docs, Google Slides, or Canvas will give your documents, slides, and LMS content semantic structure. This structure is what allows a screen reader to easily navigate the content and quickly jump between headings - and, as an added bonus, adding headings helps organize your content for sighted readers too! In some cases, adding a heading structure also creates a navigation pane in the form of a linked menu and it can also help you make much quicker and easier revisions to your entire document.

By default, most text is designated as regular Paragraph level text unless you change it. If you are currently styling your section labels with only color, by bolding text, by enlarging text, or using a combination of these, your content cannot be easily read by a student using a screen reader. Because screen readers do not navigate content based on changes in font characteristics like color or size, content without structured headings will appear as a running stream of text forcing the student to “read” every single word in order each and every time they want to “scan” the page as a sighted reader would. For example, a syllabus without a heading structure might “look” like this to a student using a screen reader:

Canvas 101 syllabus Instructor Contact Information Facilitator Alissa Sells Email asells@sbctc.edu Phone 425.239.0456 Course Description This asynchronous online course is designed for instructors who have never used the Canvas learning management system (LMS) or who are just getting started. By the end of this course you should have a basic understanding of the Canvas tool set and be ready to begin using Canvas for instruction. Prerequisites Participants should currently be teaching or preparing to teach in higher education, however, many staff and administrators may find the course helpful as well. Coursework includes activities that require familiarity with online tools such as web browsers and email.

Headings should be added to your content sequentially (H1, H2, H3, H4, H5) using the built-in tools for doing so with your big ideas at the top of the hierarchy, just like an outline. The same syllabus information with structured headings, would look something like this:

Canvas 101 Syllabus (H1 Level)

Instructor Contact Information (H2 Level)

- - Facilitator: Alissa Sells (Paragraph level, Bulleted List)
  - Email: asells@sbctc.edu
  - Phone: 425.239.0456

Course Description (H2 level)

This asynchronous online course is designed for instructors who have never used the Canvas learning management system (LMS) or who are just getting started. By the end of this course you should have a basic understanding of the Canvas tool set and be ready to begin using Canvas for instruction. Prerequisites Participants should currently be teaching or preparing to teach in higher education, however, many staff and administrators may find the course helpful as well. Coursework includes activities that require familiarity with online tools such as web browsers and email. (Paragraph level text)

The same built-in styling tools in MS Word and Google Docs that allow you to add structured headings, can also be updated to reflect the text appearance (color, size, bolding etc.) you prefer and using the built-in styling tools allows you to change all of the same level headings throughout your content in a single step, making revisions a breeze.

4.7.c - Text-based content uses styled formatting for lists, columns, page breaks, and spacing.

Your course content should be visually appealing and functional for as many users as possible, but you should always consider how accessible and functional your content is before worrying about how it looks. Luckily there are built-in styling tools in most content authoring programs that can help you achieve both, but not all authoring programs have the same features. For example, there are a lot more built-in formatting options in Word than in Canvas. What’s important to remember is to always use whatever tools are available in the program you are using. Here are some tips for formatting various elements of your text and explanations of related issues your students may encounter if your text is inaccessibly formatted.

Lists

Using the built-in styling tool to format numbered and bulleted lists allows you to make easy revisions. With a few simple clicks you can change the style of your bullets, the formatting of your numbers, or even switch to an outline style that uses letters. But, did you know that using the built-in styling tools also provides extremely important information to users of assistive technologies? When properly formatted, a screen reader not only informs the student that there is a list, it also tells the student how many items are in the list making it much easier to navigate and understand. If an ordered/numbered list is formatted without using the built-in styling tools, for example by using a combination of spaces or tabs and a dash, the listed items cannot be read or understood as a list by a screen reader and you’d have to manually renumber the list each time you wanted to insert or remove items.

Columns

Using tabs or spaces to separate or vertically align content might help it look nice but it makes the content nearly impossible for a student using assistive technology, like a screen reader, to understand. Text aligned or organized manually with extra tabs or spaces loses its meaning because it will be read as single lines from left to right rather than vertically with each formatting element called out to the student. However, if you format your content using the built-in styling tool for creating columns, a screen reader knows to read and navigate the text vertically by column.

Page Breaks & Spacing

Text formatting created manually using extra spaces, extra returns, empty lines, and extra tabs is cumbersome for students using assistive technologies. Each formatting element will be called out by the screen reader meaning if you put in 10 spaces, the screen reader calls out space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space, space. Aside from having to hear the spaces called out, all the extra spaces could make the student think they’ve reached the end of the document and they might stop reading and miss out on valuable information. Manually created formatting is also time-consuming for you to create and edit. Here are some ways you can avoid creating extra spaces in your content:

Rather than adding a bunch of returns to move content down, insert a page break or section break at the end of a paragraph if you’d like to start a new page.
Rather than adding a bunch of tabs or a bunch of spaces to align content, use the increase/decrease indent option to indent content.
Rather than adding returns, use the paragraph spacing tool to create space between paragraphs.

4.7.d - Text-based content uses 12 pt. or larger font size in a sans serif font with sufficient color contrast.

Choosing the size, style, and color of font to use is an important decision you’ll need to make when selecting and creating content and materials for your course. Because font size, style, and color impact one another, you’ll need to consider all three before making a final selection. For example, sometimes you can compensate for a lower contrast color by increasing the font size but if you’ve also chosen a complexly styled font, adjusting the size or color may not be enough to make it readable. Generally speaking, the smaller the text size, the more complex the text style, and the lower the contrast the text has against the background, the more difficult your content will be to read and the faster your students’ eyes will get tired. Selecting larger sized text in a simple font style with sufficient contrast will ensure your content is easily readable for the majority of your students to read.

While there is no agreed upon single “best” font style for every situation, using a simple sans serif style font is typically a good choice. Fancy font styles that have a lot of decoration or that deviate from standard character styles are difficult to read, especially for students who have dyslexia, who are new language learners, or who have issues processing patterns. Whenever possible it is a good idea to avoid using overly decorative and cursive fonts, combining multiple font styles, and typing long phrases in all caps. Fonts that have too much space between characters and words or that are squished together can also be challenging to read.

When choosing a font color, you will need to consider the contrast ratio between the color of the font and background color of the page or screen. Excessively high and extremely low contrast ratios should be avoided. Low contrast combinations like yellow on white or very light blue on white will be difficult for students to read, even if the text size is extra large. And, some high contrast combinations like black text on a white background can create halos/echos surrounding the text characters, making it fatiguing to read for long periods. Luckily, the default text color in Canvas is a 12 pt. sans serif font in a very dark gray which lessens the halo/echo effect for students. You can adjust the default text colors in Word and Google docs if you feel it won’t meet the needs of your students. An easy way to check the contrast ratio of your text is to use a checker such as WebAIM's Color Contrast Checker.

4.7.e - Tables present data and include a caption, header row or header column, and non-merged cells.

Tables should be used for the organization of data, so even though it’s very tempting to do so, you should avoid using tables for page layout purposes like aligning text, images, links, or icons. A table used for layout looks visually organized but typically lacks the necessary formatting, like a caption and header row / header column structure which makes it difficult for students using screen readers to navigate. Using tables for layout purposes can also cause readability problems for students with low vision who may need to enlarge the text.

Many content authoring programs like Word, Canvas, and Google Docs have built-in styling tools for creating and formatting tables. The formatting options vary between programs and some are more robust than others, but it’s important to always make use of whatever features are available to you. To format a table for accessibility be sure to:

Include a table caption.
Identify a header row and/or header column.
Avoid merging cells and splitting cells.

A table caption describes the table and helps identify its contents, you can think of this as being similar to adding a title. For more complex tables, you may also want to include a descriptive paragraph preceding your table. And, like images and other graphics, tables sometimes also include alternative text describing specific variables or other items that require emphasis. However, using all three, may be redundant, so start by adding a caption and decide from there how much additional description is needed.

Read order is very important when trying to understand the data in a table because the order in which the data is read can alter the meaning. Tables without designated header rows and/or header columns can be disorienting and confusing for students using assistive technology or using only their keyboard to navigate. You can add clarity about the data each column or row contains and also allow for easier navigation between columns and rows by identifying a header row and/or header column on your table. Adding a header row and/or header column also tells the screen reading software to announce the total number of columns and rows and to read the names of each. Setting your header row to repeat if the table will span more than one page is helpful also. If you are using Google Docs, you will need to install the Grackle Docs add-in to add header rows to your tables.

To ensure your tables are screen reader friendly, you will also want to avoid merging and splitting cells. If you are creating a highly complex table that needs to include merged or split cells, using Excel will be a better choice for communicating your data. You should also avoid leaving cells, rows, or columns blank as this can also create confusion for students using assistive technology. If you want visual separations or spacing within your table, you can use the built-in styling tools in your authoring program to add cell margins, change the cell height and width, align your text, adjust the space between cells, and change the appearance of the cell outline.

4.7.f - Text-based content includes URLs formatted as descriptive hyperlinks.

Long URLs pasted into digital learning materials not only look bad, they’re also incredibly cumbersome for students who may be using assistive technologies, such as a screen reader, to read. You can make your URLs accessible by formatting them as descriptive hyperlinks that clearly describe the link destination in a meaningful and contextualized way. You can also provide additional context as part of the sentence containing the link and/or in the paragraph preceding it as appropriate.

When URLs are not formatted as descriptive hyperlinks, most assistive technologies will read the identifying phrases “link” or “links to an external site” plus the entire string of characters contained in the URL. For example:

The sentence “Visit https://sbctc.instructure.com/courses/1578604/pages/hyperlinks?module_item_id=33185587 to learn more about using descriptive hyperlinks.” would be read as “Visit link h t t p s : / /s b c t c . i n s t r u c t u r e . c . o . m.” and so on with each individual character in the URL pronounced.

It is also important to link the text within your sentence that provides the most appropriate and most accurate information. For example:

Hyperlinking the word “Visit” in the sentence “Visit SBCTC’s Library of Accessibility Resources SBCTC’s Library of Accessibility Resources to learn more about using descriptive hyperlinks.” does not tell the reader where they will be directed to.

Using the same URL written into a sentence as a descriptive hyperlink conveys useful and contextualized information for the reader and would be read as a regular sentence with the identifying phrase “link” added. For example:

“Visit link SBCTC’s Library of Accessibility Resources to learn more about using descriptive hyperlinks.”

Students using assistive technologies can navigate digital content by skipping from link to link, a handy feature as long as the hyperlinks are descriptive. For this reason, it is important to avoid hyperlinking generic phrases like “Click here” that lack context or meaning. This is especially important if you have multiple links on the same page all hyperlinked using the text “Click here.” For example:

A student using a screen reader would hear “link Click here”, “link Click here”, “link Click here” and would not be able to tell which link to click on without actually clicking on it and following it to its destination.

A quick way to check if your hyperlinks are descriptive enough is to read through them to ensure that they make sense and provide sufficient detail when read out of context.

4.7.g - Text-based content does not use visual characteristics alone to communicate information.

While it may be helpful to code things in color, it does not create an equitable experience for your students. You should avoid the use of color alone to indicate meaning or to draw attention to important information. For example, let’s say you decide to use a green font for all of the vocabulary words in your course and then tell students “Be sure to explore the definitions of the words in green throughout the course.” The usefulness of the green text would be lost for a student using a screen reader. Screen readers do not use color to navigate content so this student would not be able to skim through a page to identify or review words. The meaning of the green text would also be lost for a student with a red/green color deficiency. This is the most common type of “color blindness” and this student would not be able to accurately identify the words marked in green.

4.7.h - PDF files include real text, headings/tags, and a logical read order.

Documents saved in PDF format need to follow the same general formatting rules for accessibility and usability, like using descriptive hyperlinks and adding alt text to images. PDF formatting should also include tags (headers), logical read order, and searchable (real) text. Tagging a PDF creates document structure similarly to adding headings in Word. Creating a logical read order in a PDF file ensures that the file will be read in the correct order. This is especially important if your document contains columns, images, text boxes, etc. Unfortunately, many PDF files do not contain real text and are simply scanned images. For example, a scanned copy of an article for students to read results in a file that is only an image of the words rather than real or true text. The file cannot be read by assistive technology because it’s an image and doesn’t have tags/headings or a read order. The scanned text may not be able to be resized and maintain adequate resolution and cannot be keyword searched. This loss of adaptability means that it is not accessible for all students.

PDF formatting can be tricky and trying to edit a PDF file can be even trickier. There is software, like Adobe Pro DC, that can help you remediate or fix a PDF file by converting it using an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) process, but it’s kind of expensive, may require additional editing for accuracy depending on the quality of your source document, and you may or may not have access to the software on your campus. If you need assistance remediating a PDF file, you may want to check in with your campus eLearning team or access services office to see what options are available to you. If you do need to use PDFs, the easiest way to create an accessible PDF is to start with an accessible source document. You can do this fairly easily using the built-in styling tools and Accessibility Checker in Word and then export your file in PDF format, but it’s even easier just to skip the PDF step and give students the actual Word file.

Next Steps

Applying all Essential Indicators for this Standard combined with one or more of the following Next Steps Indicators demonstrates that your course design includes the basic foundational elements necessary for students to succeed in an online course plus additional elements that are intentionally designed to increase student success in your online course.

4.7.i - Text-based content has a medium, good, or excellent Ally score or passes a comparable accessibility check.

All student facing course materials, including LMS pages, discussions, assignments, quizzes, announcement, documents, and slide presentations, etc. should be checked for accessibility. MS Word, MS PowerPoint, and the Rich Content editor (RCE) in Canvas all have built-in Accessibility Checker tools. Unfortunately, the newer versions of Word for Mac do not have a built-in accessibility checker. If you are using Google Docs, you can install the Grackle Docs add-in to check your document for accessibility. These accessibility checkers might not catch everything but when combined with your own knowledge of creating accessible content, they are certainly helpful.

Many community & technical colleges in Washington state also have the Ally accessibility checker integrated into Canvas. However, some colleges may be using UDOIT or other accessibility checking processes. A quick chat with your campus eLearning team can help you identify which accessibility checker tools are available on your campus. Ally not only helps you identify problem areas like missing alt text or missing header rows on tables, the tool will also direct you in how to fix any identified issues. In some cases, Ally will even generate an accessible version of the content for students. Making revisions to your course will most likely need to be an iterative process and no course will ever score a 100% rating, but using an accessibility checker can help you improve the usability and accessibility of your course. Even if you can’t make revisions all at once, the information provided by the accessibility checker can help you see where problems exist so you can make a plan for correcting them.

4.7.j - Lengthy text-based content includes a table of contents.

For many students, lengthy text-based content can feel overwhelming, even if you’ve already added headings. Including a table of contents is a quick and easy way to make your course materials even more accessible and user-friendly. Adding a table of contents streamlines navigation, helping students quickly locate the content they need. For students using screen readers or other assistive technologies, a table of contents adds essential structure that makes the materials more usable. Even for students who don’t rely on assistive tools, a table of contents simplifies navigation, making it faster and easier to find information. The good news? It’s often not much extra work for you. If you use the built-in heading styles in Word or Google Docs, these tools can automatically generate a table of contents for you, and in Canvas, you can manually create one using descriptive hyperlinks.

4.7.k - Course includes instructions for adding headings, alternative text, and descriptive hyperlinks to student-created and/or student-shared resources.

Whether for sharing student created content in class or out to the world as open educational resources (OER), you can encourage your students to create accessible content by sharing resources with them for how to add captions, transcripts, and alternative text to their work. These could be the same resources you rely on to make your course content accessible, or you could create your own materials for them to use. If you are requiring students to use a specific authoring program for your course like Word or PowerPoint, as you introduce the project, consider taking a few minutes to show students how to use the program correctly and provide support resources for doing so.

Always be sure to promote accessibility tools and accessible practices to your students as a way to create flexible learning resources and a more inclusive learning space, not as something students must do because a specific classmate needs them to. Consider explaining to students how adding captions, a transcript, or alternative text benefits everyone. For example, captions can assist language learners with acquisition, help students improve their communications skills, allow students to watch videos in noisy places, allow students to watch videos quietly, supplement the audio when it’s poor quality or when the teacher speaks too fast, help students with note-taking and spelling of complex terms, and provide an additional way for learners to experience and process information. Having students write a script for their presentation provides an opportunity for them to think through and practice what they will say, but the scripts can also be shared with their classmates as a transcript. In addition to providing an alternative to audio, the transcript of a student's presentation could also be quite valuable to other students as a searchable study aid. And, while the alternative text descriptions added to images, tables, and other graphics are only viewable by those using a screen reader, the process of writing contextualized alt text provides students an opportunity to reflect on how and why the selected image, table, or graphic is important to their work.

Canvas Tools

These Canvas tools can help you meet this standard and make your work easier:

Syllabus: Use the Syllabus page to prominently display important course information. For example, by including a section about Accessibility and Access Resources.
Media Recorder: Use the built-in media recording tool to add additional content formats to your course. For example to add an audio or video recording of text-based content to your Canvas Syllabus, Announcements, Pages, Discussions, Quizzes, and Assignments.
Rich Content Editor: Use the Rich Content Editor to add accessible formatting to your Canvas Syllabus, Announcements, Pages, Discussions, Quizzes, and Assignments. For example, to add headings, alternative text, descriptive hyperlinks, bulleted/numbered lists, and table formatting.
Canvas Accessibility Checker: Use the built-in Canvas Accessibility Checker in the Rich Content Editor to ensure your Canvas Syllabus, Announcements, Pages, Discussions, Quizzes, and Assignments are accessible. For example, to check for missing headings, alternative text, descriptive hyperlinks, list formatting, and table formatting.
Ally Accessibility Checker: Use the Ally Accessibility Checker in the Rich Content Editor to ensure your Canvas Syllabus, Announcements, Pages, Discussions, Quizzes, and Assignments are accessible. For example, to check for missing headings, alternative text, descriptive hyperlinks, and table formatting. NOTE: Some campuses may not have this tool integrated into Canvas.

Examples of Standard 4.7

Want to see how other instructors have applied this Standard in their course? Check out these examples!

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Ways to Apply Standard 4.7

Need some ideas for how to apply this standard to your course? Try one of these!

4.7.a - Using real text

Visit the Accessible Design Concepts module in SBCTC’s Library of Accessibility Resources to learn more about using real text. Select an option below for revising the text used in your course content.

(4.7.a) Review the text in your course to ensure that it is adaptable, customizable, and searchable real text. Replace any SmartArt, WordArt, text contained within graphics, or scanned images of text as needed.

4.7.b - Using headings

Visit the Accessible Design Concepts and Canvas Accessibility modules in SBCTC’s Library of Accessibility Resources to learn more about using headings in Canvas. Select an option below for adding or revising the headings used in your course content.

(4.7.b) Use the Rich Content Editor in Canvas to add heading structure to your Canvas Syllabus, Announcements, Pages, Discussions, Quizzes, and Assignments. Tip: The title of your Canvas page will display as an H1 level heading, so begin your headings with H2 level headers.
(4.7.b) Use the built-in Accessibility Checker in the Rich Content Editor to check your Canvas Syllabus, Announcements, Pages, Discussions, Quizzes, and Assignments for inaccurate or missing heading structure. Follow the prompts to add headings as needed.
(4.7.b) Use the Ally Accessibility Checker in Canvas to check your course for inaccurate or missing heading structure. Follow the prompts to add headings as needed.

Visit the Accessible Design Concepts, Accessible Word Documents, and Accessible PowerPoints modules in SBCTC’s Library of Accessibility Resources to learn more about using headings in Word and PowerPoint. Select an option below for adding or revising the headings used in your course content.

(4.7.b) Use the built-in styling tools in Microsoft Word to add or revise the heading structure in your documents and slides.
(4.7.b) Use the built-in Accessibility Checkers in Microsoft Word or PowerPoint to check your documents and slides for missing headings and slide titles. Follow the prompts to add headings and slide titles as needed.
(4.7.b) Use the built-in document templates and styling tools in Microsoft Word to create more accessible documents.
(4.7.b) Use the built-in slides templates and styling tools in Microsoft PowerPoint to create more accessible slides.

Visit Creating Accessible Google Documents by Michigan Tech to learn more about accessibility in Google Docs. Select an option below for adding or revising the headings used in your course content.

(4.7.b) Use the built-in styling tools in Google Docs to add heading structure to your documents and slides. Tip: The "title" of your document should be assigned the H1 heading level to help ensure your document is compatible with a variety of screen reading technologies.
(4.7.b) Use the built-in slides templates and styling tools in Google Slides to create more accessible slides.

4.7.c - Formatting lists, columns, page breaks, and spacing

Visit the Accessible Design Concepts, Accessible Word Documents, Accessible PowerPoints, and Canvas Accessibility modules in SBCTC’s Library of Accessibility Resources and Creating Accessible Google Documents by Michigan Tech to learn more about accessible text formatting in Word, PowerPoint, Canvas, and Google. Select an option below for adding or revising the headings used in your course content.

(4.7.c) Review your course materials (documents, slides, Canvas content etc.) looking for areas where lists may have been manually created with extra spacing, extra tabs, and dashes or asterisks. Use the built-in styling tools to reformat your lists as true ordered or unordered lists.
(4.7.c) Review your course materials (documents, slides, Canvas content etc.) looking for areas where content may have been manually aligned using extra spaces or extra tabs. Use the built-in styling tools to format content in columns as needed.
(4.7.c) Review your course materials (documents, slides, Canvas content etc.) looking for areas where content may have been manually formatted using extra returns, multiple blank lines, extra spaces, or extra tabs. Use the built-in styling tools to format the content with page breaks and add line or paragraph spacing as needed.

4.7.d - Formatting font size, style, and color

Visit the Accessible Design Concepts, Accessible Word Documents, Accessible PowerPoints, and Canvas Accessibility modules in SBCTC’s Library of Accessibility Resources and Creating Accessible Google Documents by Michigan Tech to learn more about accessible text formatting in Word, PowerPoint, Canvas, and Google. Select an option below for adding or revising the headings used in your course content.

(4.7.d) Review your course materials (documents, slides, Canvas content etc.) looking specifically at the font size, font style, and font color. Adjust your font selections as needed to ease readability by increasing the font size, selecting a simple sans serif style font, and adjusting font color for appropriate contrast.
(4.7.d) Check the contrast ratio of the font color and page background in your course materials using the WebAIM Contrast Checker. Adjust your font color as needed to achieve a passing contrast ratio.

4.7.e - Formatting tables and displaying data

(4.7.e) Review the content in your course looking for places where tables may have been used for layout and organizing content rather than for displaying data. Remove any tables used for layout purposes and reformat your content as needed.
Visit the Accessible Design Concepts and Canvas Accessibility modules in SBCTC’s Library of Accessibility Resources to learn more about accessible table formatting in Canvas. Select an option below for accessibly formatting the tables in your course content as needed.

(4.7.e) Use the Rich Content Editor in Canvas to add header rows and table captions and/or alternative text descriptions to your tables.
(4.7.e) Use the built-in Accessibility Checker in the Rich Content Editor to check your Canvas Pages, Discussions, Announcements, Quizzes, and Assignments for inaccessible table formatting. Follow the promts to add header rows and table captions and/or alternative text as needed.
(4.7.e) Use the Ally Accessibility Checker in Canvas to check your course for inaccessible table formatting. Follow the promts to add header rows and table captions and/or alternative text as needed.

Visit the Accessible Design Concepts, Accessible Word Documents, and Accessible PowerPoints modules in SBCTC’s Library of Accessibility Resources to learn more about accessible table formatting in Word and PowerPoint. Select an option below for accessibly formatting the tables in your course content as needed.

(4.7.e) Use the built-in styling tools in Microsoft Word or PowerPoint to add header rows and table captions or alternative text descriptions to your tables.
(4.7.e) Use the built-in Accessibility Checkers in Microsoft Word or PowerPoint to check your documents and slides for inaccessible table formatting. Tip: To learn more, visit the Accessible Design Concepts, Accessible Word Documents, and Accessible PowerPoints modules in SBCTC’s Library of Accessibility Resources.

Visit Creating Accessible Google Documents by Michigan Tech to learn more about accessibility in Google Docs. Select an option below for accessibly formatting the tables in your course content as needed.

(4.7.e) Open the Chrome browser. Install the Grackle Docs add-in for Google Docs. Launch Grackle Docs in the Google Doc of your choice and follow the prompts to tag your tables with header rows. Tip: Using Grackle Docs is the only way to add a header row to a table in Google docs.

4.7.f - Formatting URLs as descriptive hyperlinks

(4.7.f) Visit the Accessible Design Concepts and Canvas Accessibility modules in SBCTC’s Library of Accessibility Resources to learn more about descriptive hyperlinks in Canvas. Select an option below for adding descriptive hyperlinks to your course content as needed.

(4.7.f) Use the Rich Content Editor in Canvas to add descriptive hyperlinks to your Canvas Syllabus, Announcements, Pages, Discussions, Quizzes, and Assignments.

(4.7.f) Visit the Accessible Design Concepts, Accessible Word Documents, and Accessible PowerPoints modules in SBCTC’s Library of Accessibility Resources to learn more about descriptive hyperlinks in Word and PowerPoint. Select an option below for adding descriptive hyperlinks to your course content as needed.

(4.7.f) Use the built-in styling tools in Microsoft Word or PowerPoint to add descriptive hyperlinks to your documents and slides.

Visit Creating Accessible Google Documents by Michigan Tech to learn more about accessibility in Google Docs. Select an option below for adding descriptive hyperlinks to in your course content as needed.

(4.7.f) Use the built-in styling tools in Google Docs or Slides to add descriptive hyperlinks to your documents and slides.

4.7.g - Not using visual characteristics to communicate information

Visit the Accessible Design Concepts and Canvas Accessibility modules in SBCTC’s Library of Accessibility Resources to learn more about using color in Canvas. Select an option below for revising the colors used in your course content as needed.

(4.7.g) Review the Canvas Syllabus, Announcements, Pages, Discussions, Quizzes, and Assignments used in your course looking for places where you may have used color alone to indicate meaning. Revise the content as needed using the built-in styling tools in the Rich Content Editor.

Visit the Accessible Design Concepts, Accessible Word Documents, and Accessible PowerPoints modules in SBCTC’s Library of Accessibility Resources to learn more about using color in Word and PowerPoint. Select an option below for revising the colors used in your course content as needed.

(4.7.g) Review the Word docs and PowerPoint slides used in your course looking for places where you may have used color alone to indicate meaning. Revise the content as needed using the built-in styling tools in Word and PowerPoint.

Visit Creating Accessible Google Documents by Michigan Tech to learn more about accessibility in Google Docs. Select an option below for revising the colors used in your course content as needed.

(4.7.g) Use the built-in styling tools in Google Docs or Slides to add descriptive hyperlinks to your documents and slides. Revise the content as needed using the built-in styling tools in Google Docs and Google Slides.

4.7.h - Formatting PDFs

Visit the Accessible Design Concepts and Accessible PDFs modules in SBCTC’s Library of Accessibility Resources to learn more about creating accessible PDFs. Select an option below for adding or revising the headings used in your course content. add link to Ally page?

(4.7.h) Review the PDF documents in your course. Test for real text (rather than images of text) by trying to highlight words and phrases within the content. If the text is a scanned image, use Adobe DC Pro to run your document through an OCR process, correct any misspelled words and tag formatting, then repost your new document.
(4.7.h) Create an accessible PDF for your students by creating an accessible Word document first and then exporting it as a PDF file.
(4.7.h) Use the Ally Accessibility Checker in Canvas to check your course for inaccessible PDF files. Check the Ally generated versions for accuracy and replace any problematic content.

4.7.i - Passing an Ally or comparable accessibility check

Visit the Accessible Design Concepts and Canvas Accessibility modules in SBCTC’s Library of Accessibility Resources to learn more about Accessibility Checkers in Canvas. Select an option below for revising the colors used in your course content as needed. Tip: If you have a lot of items to fix, consider breaking it down into smaller, more manageable tasks. For example, fix all of your headings first, then move on to adding alternative text, captions, and descriptive hyperlinks in steps as you are able.

(4.7.i) Run the Canvas Accessibility Checker on individual course items to identify inaccessible content. Use the tools in the Canvas Accessibility Checker to fix any inaccessible content in your course.
(4.7.i) Run the Ally Accessibility Checker on your course to identify inaccessible content. Use the tools in Ally to fix any inaccessible content in your course.
(4.7.i) Run the UDOIT Accessibility Checker on your course to identify inaccessible content. Use the tools in UDOIT to fix any inaccessible content in your course.

Visit the Accessible Design Concepts, Accessible Word Documents, and Accessible PowerPoints modules in SBCTC’s Library of Accessibility Resources to learn more about using the Accessibility Checker in Word and PowerPoint. Select an option below for accessibly formatting your documents and slides. Tip: If you have a lot of documents or slides to fix, consider breaking it down into smaller, more manageable tasks. For example, fix your syllabus first, then move on to assigned readings, assignment documents, and other support materials as needed.

(4.7.i) Run the Accessibility Checker in Word on individual course documents to identify inaccessible content. Use the tools in the MS Word Accessibility Checker to fix any inaccessible Word docs in your course.
(4.7.i) Run the Accessibility Checker in PowerPoint on individual course presentations to identify inaccessible content. Use the tools in the MS PowerPoint Accessibility Checker to fix any inaccessible Word docs in your course.

Visit Creating Accessible Google Documents by Michigan Tech to learn more about accessibility in Google Docs. Select an option below for checking your Google docs for accessibility.

(4.7.i) Open the Chrome browser. Install the Grackle Docs add-in for Google Docs. Launch Grackle Docs to check the Google Doc of your choice for accessibility and follow the prompts to fix an inaccessible formatting. To learn more about accessibility in Google Docs, visit Creating Accessible Google Documents by Michigan Tech.

Visit the Accessible Design Concepts and Accessible PDFs modules in SBCTC’s Library of Accessibility Resources to learn more about creating accessible PDFs. Select an option below for adding or revising the headings used in your course content.

(4.7.i) Use the Ally Accessibility Checker in Canvas to check your course for inaccessible PDF files. Check the Ally generated versions for accuracy and revise any problematic content using Adobe Acrobat Pro to edit the existing doc or replace the document by creating an accessible Word doc first and exporting it as a PDF file.

4.7.j - Using a table of contents

(4.7.j) Send your video out for professional audio description. Be sure to check in with your campus and make sure there is a budget available to do so first!

4.7.k - Providing instructions for making student-created and/or student-shared resources accessible

(4.7.k) Share the resources you rely on to make your course content accessible with your students. This information could be shared with students in your Syllabus, your Start module, with the related assignment, or in its own support module. This information could be included in your Syllabus, your Start module, or in its own support module.
(4.7.k) Create your own materials to share with students showing them how to create accessible content. This information could be included in your Syllabus, your Start module, or in its own support module.This information could be shared with students in your Syllabus, your Start module, with the related assignment, or in its own support module.
(4.7.k) Include directions in your course showing students how to create accessible content using the built-in styling tools in Word, PowerPoint, or Google Docs. This information could be shared with students in your Syllabus, your Start module, with the related assignment, or in its own support module.

Resources

Recommended Reading

Canvas Shell: Library of Accessibility Resources by SBCTC includes easy to understand information and additional resources organized in topic-based modules to help you improve the accessibility of your course materials
Video: 5 Principles for Creating Accessible Canvas Pages by How to Canvas explains how to format your Canvas content using the Rich Content Editor so it’s accessible
Website: Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Guidelines by CAST includes suggestions for optimizing course design for the benefit of all students
Website: A Tutorial for Making Online Learning Accessible to Students with Disabilities by Sheryl Burgstahler provides instruction on how to make your course more accessible and inclusive
Website: WebAIM by WebAIM includes a variety of instructional resources for creating accessible content
Website: WebAIM's Color Contrast Checker by WebAIM is a tool for checking the contrast ratio of foreground and background colors for WCAG AA and WCAG AAA compliance

References

4.7.a - Using real text

SBCTC. (n.d.). Accessible Design Concepts [Canvas Module]. Library of Accessibility Resources. Retrieved August 6, 2021, from https://sbctc.instructure.com/courses/1578604/modules/4035416
CAST. (2018). Checkpoint 1.1 Offer ways of customizing the display of information. UDL Guidelines. Retrieved July 13, 2021, from https://udlguidelines.cast.org/representation/perception/customize-display
WebAIM. (n.d.). Typefaces and Fonts. WebAIM. Retrieved August 23, 2021, from https://webaim.org/techniques/fonts/

4.7.b - Using headings

SBCTC. (n.d.). Accessible Design Concepts [Canvas Module]. Library of Accessibility Resources. Retrieved August 6, 2021, from https://sbctc.instructure.com/courses/1578604/modules/4035416
University of Washington. (n.d.). Overview of Accessible Documents. Accessible Technology. Retrieved August 25, 2021, from https://www.washington.edu/accessibility/documents/overview/
WebAIM. (n.d.). Semantic Structure: Regions, Headings, and Lists. WebAIM. Retrieved August 23, 2021, from https://webaim.org/techniques/semanticstructure/#headings
WebAIM. (n.d.). Microsoft Word. WebAIM. Retrieved August 23, 2021, from https://webaim.org/techniques/word/

4.7.c - Formatting lists, columns, page breaks, and spacing

SBCTC. (n.d.). Accessible Design Concepts [Canvas Module]. Library of Accessibility Resources. Retrieved August 6, 2021, from https://sbctc.instructure.com/courses/1578604/modules/4035416
SBCTC. (n.d.). Accessible PowerPoints [Canvas Module]. Library of Accessibility Resources. Retrieved August 6, 2021, from https://sbctc.instructure.com/courses/1578604/modules/4035934
SBCTC. (n.d.). Accessible Word Docs [Canvas Module]. Library of Accessibility Resources. Retrieved August 6, 2021, from https://sbctc.instructure.com/courses/1578604/modules/4035417
SBCTC. (n.d.). Canvas Accessibility [Canvas Module]. Library of Accessibility Resources. Retrieved August 6, 2021, from https://sbctc.instructure.com/courses/1578604/modules/4103500
University of Washington. (n.d.). Overview of Accessible Documents. Accessible Technology. Retrieved August 25, 2021, from https://www.washington.edu/accessibility/documents/overview/
WebAIM. (n.d.). Microsoft Word. WebAIM. Retrieved August 23, 2021, from https://webaim.org/techniques/word/

4.7.d - Formatting font size, style, and color

SBCTC. (n.d.). Accessible Design Concepts [Canvas Module]. Library of Accessibility Resources. Retrieved August 6, 2021, from https://sbctc.instructure.com/courses/1578604/modules/4035416
WC3. (n.d.). Use of Color: Understanding SC 1.4.1 [W3C Working Group Note]. Understanding WCAG 2.0. https://www.w3.org/TR/UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20/visual-audio-contrast-without-color.html
WebAIM. (n.d.). Contrast and Color Accessibility - Understanding WCAG 2 Contrast and Color Requirements. WebAIM. Retrieved August 23, 2021, from https://webaim.org/articles/contrast/
WebAIM. (n.d.). Contrast and Color Accessibility - Evaluating Contrast and Color Use. WebAIM. Retrieved August 23, 2021, from https://webaim.org/articles/contrast/evaluating

4.7.e - Formatting tables and displaying data

SBCTC. (n.d.). Accessible Design Concepts [Canvas Module]. Library of Accessibility Resources. Retrieved August 6, 2021, from https://sbctc.instructure.com/courses/1578604/modules/4035416
SBCTC. (n.d.). Accessible Word Docs [Canvas Module]. Library of Accessibility Resources. Retrieved August 6, 2021, from https://sbctc.instructure.com/courses/1578604/modules/4035417
SBCTC. (n.d.). Canvas Accessibility [Canvas Module]. Library of Accessibility Resources. Retrieved August 6, 2021, from https://sbctc.instructure.com/courses/1578604/modules/4103500
University of Washington. (n.d.). Overview of Accessible Documents. Accessible Technology. Retrieved August 25, 2021, from https://www.washington.edu/accessibility/documents/overview/
WebAIM. (n.d.). Creating Accessible Tables - Layout Tables. WebAIM. Retrieved August 23, 2021, from https://webaim.org/techniques/tables/
WebAIM. (n.d.). Creating Accessible Tables - Data Tables. WebAIM. Retrieved August 23, 2021, from https://webaim.org/techniques/tables/
WebAIM. (n.d.). Microsoft Word. WebAIM. Retrieved August 23, 2021, from https://webaim.org/techniques/word/

4.7.f - Formatting URLs as descriptive hyperlinks

SBCTC. (n.d.). Accessible Design Concepts [Canvas Module]. Library of Accessibility Resources. Retrieved August 6, 2021, from https://sbctc.instructure.com/courses/1578604/modules/4035416
University of Washington. (n.d.). Creating Accessible Documents. Accessible Technology. Retrieved August 25, 2021, from https://www.washington.edu/accessibility/documents/
WebAIM. (n.d.). Links and Hypertext - Introduction to Links and Hypertext. WebAIM. Retrieved August 23, 2021, from https://webaim.org/techniques/hypertext/
WebAIM. (n.d.). Links and Hypertext - Link Text and Appearance. WebAIM. Retrieved August 23, 2021, from https://webaim.org/techniques/hypertext/link_text
WebAIM. (n.d.). Microsoft Word. WebAIM. Retrieved August 23, 2021, from https://webaim.org/techniques/word/

4.7.g - Not using visual characteristics to communicate information

SBCTC. (n.d.). Accessible Design Concepts [Canvas Module]. Library of Accessibility Resources. Retrieved August 6, 2021, from https://sbctc.instructure.com/courses/1578604/modules/4035416

4.7.h - Formatting PDFs

SBCTC. (n.d.). Accessible Design Concepts [Canvas Module]. Library of Accessibility Resources. Retrieved August 6, 2021, from https://sbctc.instructure.com/courses/1578604/modules/4035416
SBCTC. (n.d.). Accessible PDFs [Canvas Module]. Library of Accessibility Resources. Retrieved August 6, 2021, from https://sbctc.instructure.com/courses/1578604/modules/4043569
University of Washington. (n.d.). Creating Accessible Documents. Accessible Technology. Retrieved August 25, 2021, from https://www.washington.edu/accessibility/documents/
WebAIM. (n.d.). PDF Accessibility. WebAIM. Retrieved August 23, 2021, from https://webaim.org/techniques/acrobat/

4.7.i - Passing an Ally or comparable accessibility check

WebAIM. (n.d.). Microsoft Word. WebAIM. Retrieved August 23, 2021, from https://webaim.org/techniques/word/

4.7.j - Using a table of contents

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4.7.k - Providing instructions for making student-created and/or student-shared documents accessible

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