The Seven Pillars of Accessibility
While many digital accessibility best practices exist, there are seven core areas to prioritize in your course materials to improve access for all.
Alternative Text
Only through alternative text, or alt text, can non-visual viewers access visual content.
If the image is important to the course content, then include alt text. In one or two sentences, describe the essential meaning of the image. If the image is decorative, then mark it as such. If the image already contains an adequate caption which describes it, then you can also mark it as decorative to avoid a redundancy.
Color Contrast
Users with color deficiencies and those using screen readers require high color contrast to adequately understand the information being conveyed. Colors for text and images of text need a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1. If the text is large (14 point and bolded, or 18 point regular and larger), then a 3:1 ratio is needed. This does not apply to decorative images/
Color alone should not be used to convey meaning, organization, or emphasis (e.g., use text meaning or complementary visual representation in association with high contrast color).
- Color Contrast Checker - Source: WebAim
- Design for Color Blindness - Source: University of Wisconsin
Headings
Use heading styles when formatting text on a page. Headings create a logical outline on the page that allows screen readers to easily navigate content. Headings also make it easier for users to scan content.
- Headings - Source: Web Accessibility Initiative
Links
Link text should accurately describe the link. This ensures users accessing page content through a screen reader know where a link will take them.You should also assign a descriptive phrase to document links, removing the file extension from the link in the process.
- Descriptive Links and Hypertext - Source: Section508.gov
- Descriptive Hyperlink Text - Source: Harvard University
Lists
Make lists using the built-in tool in the Canvas Rich Content Editor. Do not create lists by typing numbers, dashes, or asterisks. This may visually resemble a list to sighted users, but screen readers will not be able to interpret this formatting as a list. The Rich Content Editor allows you to format lists using proper HTML formatting.
Tables
Use the built-in Canvas Rich Text Editor when creating tables and only use tables when presenting structured data. Avoid using tables layout or formatting page content, as this confuses screen readers. Tables should have clear column and/or row headers set in the table settings and be as simple as possible.
- How do I insert a table using the Rich Content Editor? - Source: Instructure Community
Video & Audio
All videos should have high-quality captions and all audio should contain transcripts.
- Enable Automatic Captions in Panopto - Source: Brown University
Additional Considerations
- Ensure that file formats are accessible (e.g., PDF, Word, PPT)
- Files shared with students must be accessible to all students. Provide standard formats and use accessibility checking software when creating files, where possible.
- Consider using a document conversion tool like SensusAccess to improve existing files and produce alternative formats.
- Creating Accessible Content - Source: National Center on Disability and Access to Education
- Check that information is organized consistently and accessibly
- Consider the use of headers to organize information.
- Text should be appropriately sized (12 pt or above).
- Tables should be accessible and used for data and not formatting/layout.
- Make navigational structures like lists easy to use and ensure they are formatted as list styles.
- Provide multiple means for accessing and engaging with content
- Offer students choice and autonomy about how they can acquire information and actively participate in their learning (e.g., written, audio, and/or video).
- The UDL Guidelines - Source: CAST
- Provide information in a logical flow
- Use familiar language rather than obscure, decontextualized language
- Consistently and clearly communicate expectations for student engagement and production of work.
Accessibility Tools
If you are unsure if your course meets basic accessibility standards, then consider using one of the following digital accessibility tools Brown makes available to instructors.
Pope Tech for Canvas Accessibility
Pope Tech is an accessibility scanning and remediation tool that is integrated in Canvas. Pope Tech features both an Accessibility Guide for checking individual pages and a Canvas Course Dashboard to look at issues across your course. Pope Tech is designed to make it easier to identify accessibility problems and learn how to fix them. For more details, visit:
- What is Pope Tech? (Canvas @ Brown)
- How Do I Use the Pope Tech Accessibility Guide? (Canvas @ Brown)
- How Do I Use the Pope Tech Canvas Course Dashboard (Canvas @ Brown)
If you'd like to meet with a designer or technologist to go over accessibility best practices for your Canvas course, you can sign up for a consultation.
Canvas Accessibility Checker
Canvas also has a built-in accessibility checker which can also find and address basic issues. When editing a page, there is an accessibility icon on the lower right-hand corner of the text editor which indicates the number of issues it detects. In most cases, we recommend using the Pope Tech accessibility guide for a more comprehensive scan.
While accessibility checking tools can assist with improving existing materials, they are not a substitute for learning how to apply accessibility best practices like the seven pillars above.
SensusAccess for Document Conversion
To convert PDFs and other document types to alternative formats, or make them more accessible, you can use Brown’s SensusAccess tool.
The service allows anyone at Brown to convert inaccessible documents (e.g. image-based PDFs, JPEG photos, PowerPoint presentations) into more accessible formats. It uses optical-character recognition (OCR) to make texts searchable, selectable, and screen-reader friendly.
The service can also be used to automatically convert documents into a range of alternate media including audiobooks, e-books, and digital Braille. In your course, you can choose to provide alternative formats on your own, or highlight this resource for students in case they would like to generate alternative formats that best suit their learning style.
To use the tool, visit the SensusAccess page and scroll to the Use SensusAccess section. To learn about the tool and accessibility best practices, visit the SensusAccess E-Learning Course.
Additional Resources:
- Canvas Accessibility Checker - Source: Instructure
- Accessibility within Canvas - Source: Instructure
- Inclusive Approaches to Support Students - Source: Brown University
- Inclusive Teaching in an Open Curriculum - Source: Brown University
- WAVE Webpage Accessibility Checker - Source: WebAim