Accessibility in Canvas Terrill Thompson Technology Accessibility Specialist
Accessibility in Canvas Terrill Thompson Technology Accessibility Specialist University of Washington tft@uw. edu
“Accessible” to whom?
Everyone!
Ability on a continuum See Hear Walk Read print Use a mouse Write with pen or pencil Communicate verbally Tune out distraction etc.
Student Photo #1
Student Photo #2
Student Photo #3
Can everyone access your course content?
Simple test: Try your Canvas course without a mouse
By law, the answer must be Yes • Rehabilitation Act of 1973 – Section 504 requires that programs and services of federally funded programs and organizations not discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities • The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 – Prohibits disability discrimination in places of employment, public entities, and places of public accommodation
Accessibility is Possible • W 3 C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines originally passed in 1999, updated in 2008 • Federal accessibility standards (Sec 508) became law in 2001 • W 3 C Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA) Specification makes accessibility possible in dynamic web applications. Assistive technologies widely support it.
National Federation of the Blind (NFB) • June 2009 – NFB vs Arizona State University over use of Amazon Kindle (settled in Jan 2010) • November 2010 – NFB vs Penn State University over use of Angel, etc. • March 2011 – NFB vs. Northwestern and NYU over use of Google Apps
Who's at risk? • We are – if students and faculty are unable to participate in our courses • Instructure is not required by law to make an accessible product • Instructure is a company who listens, and cares about meeting customer's needs
Who can fix this? • Instructure can ensure Canvas complies with accessibility standards • Instructure must hear from its customers that this is a priority • Teachers must create and use accessible course content
Accessibility in Five Simple Steps 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Use headings Add alternate text to images Caption videos Upload accessible course materials Ask questions about accessibility before selecting other features or tools
Step 1. Use Headings
Outline of a Canvas Course Page
Use Heading 2 as Top of Content
Step 2. Add alternate text to images
Alternate text = equivalent communication
If adding Flickr Images, check alt text in source code
Step 3. Add Captions to Videos
Just click the cc button in the video player.
Then follow the instructions.
Caption files are plain text files
Step 4. Upload Accessible Course Content • Accessible Microsoft Word documents • Accessible Power. Point files • Accessible PDFs
Step 4 a. Use Headings
Step 4 b. Add Alternate text for images
Step 4 c. Export to Accessible PDF • Three general types of PDFs: – Images – Untagged images with text – Tagged • "Tagged PDF" is the only type that supports accessibility • Office 2010 (Windows) "Save As PDF" exports to tagged PDF by default • Prior versions did so with a plug-in
Is My PDF Tagged? Ctrl (or Command) + D
You can make an inaccessible PDF accessible using Adobe Acrobat Pro
For more on PDF Accessibility • Complete step-by-step workflows for creating or retrofitting PDFs: – http: //uw. edu/accessibility
Some features may require workarounds
Discussions
Conferencing
Collaboration
External Apps / LTI
Questions to Always Ask When Choosing Features and Tools • Is it accessible? • Can users perform all functions without a mouse? • Has it been tested using assistive technologies such as screen readers? • If it supports audio, does it support captions? • Is accessibility documentation available? • If it’s an authoring tool, how does one create accessible content with it?
What Next? • Ask Instructure about Canvas Accessibility • Talk about accessibility within the Canvas community • Educate yourself and others on your campus about creating accessible course content • Contact me for additional ideas about ways you can help: tft@uw. edu
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