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Digital Accessibility |

Creating Accessible Course Sites in Canvas

For many Notre Dame students, the learning management system (LMS) is central to their academic experience. It serves as the primary gateway for accessing course materials and demonstrating learning through assessment. Because Canvas facilitates the delivery of the curriculum, ensuring its accessibility directly helps us fulfill our institutional obligations to students.

In this resource, you will find information about:

Remember, improving accessibility is an iterative process. Start with small, high-impact changes, and build from there.

Organizing Your Course Site

Modules

A well-organized course structure reduces cognitive load and is essential for students using screen readers or those with cognitive disabilities. Some things to keep in mind when building out your course site:

  • Use Canvas Modules to organize content chronologically (by week) or topically (by unit). Using modules creates a clear structural map that helps all students, especially those using assistive technologies, spend less mental energy navigating and searching for materials.
  • Use specific labels (e.g., “Week 3: The American Revolution”) rather than generic ones (“Week 3”).
  • Keep module items in a consistent order, typically starting with instructional materials followed by assignments or discussions.
  • Ensure all major assignment prompts and due dates are visible throughout the semester in the Canvas Calendar.

For more information on Canvas Modules, please see the How to Use Modules to Build Courses in Canvas resource on the Instructure website.

Pages

Pages are where the magic happens, so it is important that they are accessible to all students. When building out your pages, the following small changes can ensure everyone can engage with the content:

  • Use the Styles dropdown in the Rich Content Editor (RCE) to apply heading styles, (e.g., Heading 2 and Heading 3). Do not use bold or large font sizes to mimic a heading; screen readers rely on these heading HTML tags for navigation. As such, headings should also be structured hierarchically without skipping levels (e.g., avoid going from Heading 2 directly to Heading 4).
    • The page title is automatically marked as Heading 1.
  • For all images, provide alternative (alt) text that concisely describes the visual. If an image is purely decorative, mark it as such to prevent screen readers from announcing redundant information.
  • Embed links within descriptive phrases (e.g., “Download the Course Syllabus”) rather than using raw URLs or “click here.”
  • Break assignment prompts into numbered steps or bulleted lists. Clearly define expectations for length, format, and deadlines, and always link to Rubrics.
  • Use the Canvas Equation Editor for math equations and the “Insert Character” tool for special symbols. This ensures that formulas and symbols (like Ω or ≠) are readable by screen readers and scale correctly on all devices.

You might consider using a CidLabs Design Plus template to help with accessibility. 

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Accessibility Tools in Canvas

In addition to the best practices detailed in the previous section, Canvas and approved integrated products provide several tools to audit your content for accessibility and offer students flexible viewing options.

For Instructors

  • Canvas Accessibility Checker: Located in the RCE in edit mode (person-in-a-circle icon), this tool identifies immediate issues like low color contrast or missing alt text for images.
  • Panorama Digital Accessibility Checker: Located in the RCE in edit mode (speedometer icon), this tool identifies major and minor issues and gives you guidance on how to fix them.
  • Link Validator: Found in Course Settings, this tool identifies broken external links that can obstruct navigation for students using keyboard or voice control.

For Students

  • Panorama Website Accessibility Widget: Located in the bottom right of Canvas, this allows students to adjust contrast, font size, and spacing.
    • Alternative Formats: Students can generate versions of your content that best suit their needs, such as audio/MP3, electronic braille, or BeeLine Reader.
  • User Settings: Students can enable High Contrast UI or Underline Links via their personal profile to tailor the Canvas interface to their visual needs.

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Assistive Technology Support

Canvas is manually tested for compatibility with major screen readers, including JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and Talkback. To support students leveraging screen readers and other assistive technologies, instructors should:

  • Maintain simple page layouts and avoid complex nesting.
  • Be aware that keyboard shortcuts are available for the Gradebook, SpeedGrader, and Modules page for users who cannot use a mouse.
  • Upload PDFs as searchable text. Scanned-image PDFs are invisible to screen readers and must be processed via Optical Character Recognition (OCR).

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Third-Party Integration Accessibility

Canvas offers optional third-party app integrations, which undergo a review process by the Teaching & Learning Technologies (TLT) team to ensure they meet University accessibility standards. As an instructor, you can support an inclusive environment by consulting with TLT early before adoption to learn the tool’s accessibility features so you can assist students who may need to use them.

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Media Accessibility

The use of video content—either self-produced or obtained from sites like YouTube or elsewhere—is now commonplace in course design. To ensure the video content in your Canvas site is accessible, follow these guidelines around closed captions and written transcripts:

  • Captions: All course videos (Panopto, YouTube, etc.) must have accurate captions. Auto-generated captions serve as a starting point but require manual editing for technical terminology.
  • Transcripts: When possible, provide downloadable text versions of video content for students who prefer reading or have limited bandwidth.
    • Note that audio-only content must have written transcripts.

For more information about generating captions and transcripts, please see Notre Dame Learning’s Designing Accessible Course Videos resource. 

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Mobile Readiness

Many students access Canvas primarily through the Canvas Student App. When building your Canvas site, you can check that it is accessible across devices by:

  • Previewing your course on a mobile device to ensure content scales correctly.
  • Avoiding the use of tables for page layout, as they do not render well on small screens; tables should be reserved strictly for data display.

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Additional Resources

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Where to Go for Help

If you have questions about how to integrate digital accessibility into your course materials, please contact the Office of Digital Learning (online@nd.edu). 

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