Canvas

This page focuses on how to design accessible Canvas courses: structure, content, and roles. A separate Ally page provides detailed guidance on using Ally’s accessibility indicators and reports inside Canvas.

Accessibility in courses is a shared, structured effort. The goal is continuous improvement and equitable access, not blame. Ally and Canvas are tools to help you see where improvements are needed and to support you in making them.

Ally is integrated into Canvas to help you identify and address accessibility issues in your course content.

• For faculty: Ally displays indicators next to course content (pages, files, etc.) and offers a course‑level accessibility report. These indicators show where improvements are possible and provide just‑in‑time guidance for fixing issues—such as missing alt text, low contrast, or untagged headings.
• For chairs and administrators: Ally provides higher‑level dashboards that show overall accessibility trends across courses, departments, and colleges. Some administrators can view college‑level reports to see where support and outreach are most needed.
• For students: Ally can generate alternative formats (such as audio, ePub, or tagged PDFs) from content you upload. This can benefit students with disabilities as well as those who prefer different ways of engaging with course materials.

Ally does not “fix” content automatically; it highlights issues and gives faculty practical steps to improve accessibility over time.

You do not have to memorize all the guidelines. Focusing on a few core practices will improve most Canvas courses.

Give your course a clear, predictable structure.

• Use concise, descriptive course, module, and page titles so students can quickly tell what each item is about.
• Break long pages into sections with headings such as “Overview,” “Objectives,” “Readings,” “Activities,” and “Assessments.”
• Apply heading levels in order (for example, Heading 2 for main sections, Heading 3 for subsections) rather than just changing font size or color.

Describe images that convey important information.

• Add alt text to images, diagrams, screenshots, and icons that students need to understand (for example, a graph showing results or a screenshot of a tool).
• Focus alt text on what the image means in context, not on every visual detail.
• Mark purely decorative images as decorative so screen readers skip them and students hear less noise.

Make it clear where links go and what they do.

• Use link text that describes the destination or action, such as “Download Week 2 readings” or “Complete Quiz 1,” instead of “click here.”
• Avoid pasting bare URLs as the only link text; long web addresses are hard to read and give little context.
• Be consistent in how you label similar items across modules so students recognize patterns.

Ensure text and key elements are readable for all students.

• Choose text and background colors with strong contrast, especially for headings, important instructions, and any text in banners or images.
• Avoid using color alone to signal meaning (for example, “items in red are late”)—pair color with text labels or icons.
• When in doubt, keep text dark on a light background or light on a dark background, and keep backgrounds simple.

Help students move through your course in a logical, predictable way.

• Organize modules in a consistent sequence (for example, Overview → Materials → Activities → Assessment) so students learn the rhythm of your course.
• Within pages, make sure instructions, content, and activities appear in the order you expect students to use them.
• Avoid “orphaned” items—files, quizzes, or pages that are not linked from modules or clearly signposted—so students do not have to hunt for key tasks.

Make written content easy to read and scan.

• Use short paragraphs and bullet lists for steps, requirements, and key points instead of long unbroken blocks of text.
• Use bold or italics sparingly to highlight key words or phrases, not entire paragraphs.
• Use Canvas’s built‑in tools for lists, spacing, and alignment rather than creating structure with extra spaces or line breaks.

Support access to video and audio used in your course.

• Ensure required videos have accurate captions; review and edit auto‑generated captions, especially for names and technical terms.
• Provide transcripts for audio‑only materials such as podcasts or recorded lectures where no video is present.
• Clearly indicate in the course where students can access captions and transcripts (for example, in video descriptions or nearby text).

Use Canvas features in ways that preserve accessibility.

• Create content using Canvas’s Rich Content Editor and built‑in tools for headings, lists, tables, and links rather than pasting heavily formatted HTML.
• Keep quizzes, assignments, and discussions structured with clear instructions and avoid unnecessary complexity in layout or navigation.
• When integrating third‑party tools or external content into your Canvas course, consider whether they support keyboard navigation, screen readers, and basic accessibility expectations, and offer alternatives when they do not.