As this module's focus is on entry level accessibility training, we wanted to present a handful of high impact changes that you can begin to start using in your document/Canvas workflow immediately. You can start implementing accessibility in your own online course by employing the information below to make low-lift, high-value changes in your online course. The items listed below are eLearning recommendations for developing into the way you create content moving forward.
Headings add hierarchical structure and organization to your document. Headings (rather than simply bolding or enlarging text) make it easier for individuals using a screen reader to navigate a document and are an essential element in creating accessible online materials.
There are three different heading styles you can use for formatting in Canvas – Heading 2, 3 and 4. Canvas also allows you to designate text as Paragraph, and Preformatted text as well. When creating pages, it is important to designate heading and paragraph styles first. Then you are free to apply additional formatting such as bold, underline, colors, and text sizes. The additional formatting you do will not replace the heading designation, just change the appearance of it. Change style designations in the drop-down menu next to the text size in the rich content editor.
Here's an example of a page that used the heading styles in Canvas.
Image Captioning with Alt Text
When you add an image to Canvas you are prompted to supply an alternative text. This is what a screen reader describes to a person using one. The key here is to provide a description of the image so that if a person can't see it, the image's intention can still be understood.
When images are complicated and show a wide variety of information such as graphs, infographics, charts, etc, this can be quite the challenge to write an alternative text for. If it is needed for students to understand the course material, you may want to find an alternative material for that specific student.
Here are two examples of what the experience is like for a student using a screen reader.
When adding hyperlinks to a document or website it benefits all users to use descriptive hyperlinks. This less will introduce the concept of descriptive hyperlinks and give tips on how to write descriptive hyperlinks.
Descriptive Hyperlinks
When you are providing a link to something, avoid pasting the full URL onto the page. Full URLs, at least long ones, are difficult to read and very rarely contain any useful information. Instead, you want to embed the URL into descriptive text that will tell the reader where they will be taken if they click on the link.
This also means to avoid embedding URLs into phrases like "click here" or "link" as they do not give the user much information about what will happen when they click on that link. Instead, use descriptive language. Listen for yourself:
Tables should only be used to organize data. When using a table, you want to be sure to provide a caption and to define the top row and/or the first column as headers. This ensures that the data in the table is connected to the labels in the row/column.
Tables
If you are using tables in Canvas to display data, there are a few ways that you can make those tables more accessible. One of those ways is to give your table a caption, so learners using a screen reader can quickly identify the context of the table. To give the table a caption go to:
Table --> Table Properties --> Check the box marked "Caption"
Another way to help make your table more accessible is to designate headers. You can designate header cells for both rows and columns so that a screen reader can distinguish between header cells and data content.
Table --> Cell --> Cell Properties
The "cell type" allows you to designate the cell as a header, and the "scope" lets you specify if it a row header or column header. Save clicks by selecting all your column or row headers at once when applying this setting.
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