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Canvas Accessibility

Accessibility Checker

The Canvas Accessibility Checker appears as a person-in-a-circle icon under the Rich Content Editor.
The accessibility checker may catch common accessibility issues in your content and offer suggestions to help you fix the issues. The accessibility checker is available below the Rich Content Editor in Canvas.

To use the accessibility checker:

  1. Open your Canvas item and select Edit.
  2. Open the Accessibility Checker.
  3. Follow the checker prompts to make changes.
    1. There may be options or additional information depending on the type of issue.

Consider the short video demonstration on this page: How do I use the Accessibility Checker in the Rich Content Editor? [1:38, closed captions available].

Accessibility Review

Consider the following manual and automated checks to maximize the accessibility of your Canvas content:

Accessibility Consideration Best Practices
Prefer HTML, Word documents, and PowerPoint files. Use accessibility checkers in Canvas, Word, and PowerPoint. Avoid PDFs as they are exceedingly difficult and time-consuming to make accessible.
  • Use Modules > Add to Module > Add an Assignment, Quiz, Page, or Discussion to create HTML content in Canvas.
  • Use Files > Upload to add Word and PowerPoint documents. Link to them (accessibly) from your HTML Content.
Use default font size of 12 points for normal text. Do not restyle the default font sizes in Canvas. Do not set any text below 10 points.
Use headings. Add headings using the Blocks menu. Apply headings in sequential order without skipping a heading level.
Use numbered lists for steps in a process and bulleted lists for groupings of items. Use the List menu in the Canvas editor.
Provide meaningful text descriptions of link destinations. Do not include bare URLs or unclear link text such as “click here” or “read more.”
  1. Type a description of the link destination
  2. Highlight the text
  3. Select the link icon (looks like a small chain).
  4. Choose External Link or Course Link.
    1. For an External Link, paste the URL in the dialog that appears.
    2. For a Course Link, select the correct course item in the sidebar that appears.
Ensure adequate color contrast and do not use color alone to differentiate or emphasize.
  • The Canvas accessibility checker will flag inaccessible color contrast for text.
  • Use color and a symbol or text-based cue to differentiate information.
Provide alternative text.
  • Add a description of the image when adding images to HTML pages.
  • Check Decorative Image for images that are not necessary to understand information or present the same information that is already available in text format.
Tables are only used to represent data.
  • Do not use an invisible table for alignment or layout purposes.
  • Tables must have header rows and/or columns. Avoid blank, merged, and split cells. Add a table caption.
Math content must be accessible. Use EquatIO or the Canvas Equation Editor to create accessible math and notation.
Caption videos and transcribe audio.
  • Use a video hosting platform like Kaltura, Panopto, or YouTube for hosting videos. Edit automatically generated captions and embed the video into Canvas.
  • Use Word’s transcription tools to provide a text equivalent of audio content.
Any external learning tools and activities are accessible. Look for accessibility information on the platform or the vendor’s webpage. Prepare an alternative activity or assessment in the event of any inaccessibility.

Checker Results

The accessibility checker tool checks for a number of issues. Below is a summary of what is checked and how well the Canvas checker does in flagging issues:

Element checked Reliability of checker
Structure and use of heading styles Good.
Recognizes text that has been formatted to appear as a heading but is not tagged as such.
Flags headings out of sequential order.
Color Good.
Can recognize contrast errors and offers easy methods to improve contrast.
Cannot determine if color is used as the sole indication of emphasis or meaning.
Use of images Moderate.
Marks images that have neither Alt text, nor are marked as decorative.
Flags images where the Alt text is the file name.
Cannot identify whether the Alt text is appropriate or even meaningful.
Links Poor.
Does not check for descriptive link text.
Notes adjacent links directed to the same URL.
Lists Good.
The checker notes text that appears to be a list but is not properly coded as a list.
Recognizes lists created manually using symbols and suggests creating a semantic list.
Plain English Poor.
No readability statistics. A word count is available next to the accessibility checker.
Tables Moderate.
Notes lack of table caption.
Requires header cell(s).
Does not flag merged or split cells.
Does not prompt for a summary for more complex tables.
Miscellaneous Moderate.
Does not check text justification.
Does not check embedded media for captions.

Read more about the Canvas Accessibility Checker.

Student View

Select the View as Student button at the top of the screen to view how the item will appear to students. Use this as a last step to ensure that, on top of being accessible, your page appears as you want.

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License

Icon for the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License

Accessibility Checker Copyright © 2025 by Briana Fraser, Luke McKnight, Cheryl Colan, and Max O'Neil is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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