Accessibility Tools in Canvas
Source: https://canvas.caltech.edu/canvas-resources/accessibility Parent: https://digitalaccessibility.caltech.edu/
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Accessibility Tools in Canvas
Related Pages
Meet the needs of diverse learners with resources available in Canvas.
Click on the links below to jump to that section.
- NEW Course Accessibility Checker
- The Rich Content Editor
- Canvas Studio Automatic Captioning
- Gradebook Icons for Colorblindness
- SensusAccess Document Converter Tool
- The Microsoft Immersive Reader
- Zoom Captions
- Other Canvas Accessibility Resources
- Universal Design for Learning (at ctlo.caltech.edu)
- Caltech's Digital Accessibility Policy, Guidelines, and Resources
Course Accessibility Checker
Now available in all Caltech Canvas courses, the Accessibility Checker scans Pages and Assignments to identify and remediate accessibility issues in your course.
From the Course Navigation menu (it may be at the bottom near Settings), click the Accessibility link and Scan Course to quickly locate and resolve common errors.
Learn more about the Accessibility Checker in the Canvas LMS Basics Guide.
The Rich Content Editor
Rich Content Editor (RCE)
The Rich Content Editor (RCE) is embedded in Announcements, Assignments, Discussions, Pages, Quizzes, and the Syllabus. It provides several tools to help make your content more accessible for those needing screen readers and/or document conversion, and facilitates interaction in the same way as sighted students. Options include:
- Headings instead of large bolded or underlined text, to provide a clearer overview and structure (note that Heading 1 and Title are not included in the text block drop-down menu, as they already built in to the standard Canvas layout)
- Lists using preformatted bullets or numbers
- Alt Text prompts to identify and describe embedded images (try this tool for best practices)
- An Accessibility Checker that notifies of and provides guidance on issues in your content
Find the Canvas Course Accessibility Checklist here.
Canvas Studio Automatic Captioning
Studio is Caltech's licensed media and collaboration tool for Canvas, which allows users to organize and deliver video content in their Canvas courses. Studio provides instructors with unique engagement tools such as quiz questions for students to answer as they watch, insights that provide data on viewership, and the ability for all users, regardless of role, to make recordings and screen captures, upload media, and add videos from YouTube and Vimeo.
Auto-generated captions are published to new media uploads by default, with 85% accuracy and support for the following languages: Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish.
Please review automatic captions for new media and edit as needed before sharing with students. Click View, select Captions from the media tabs, and click Edit from the 3-dot Options menu.
Auto-generated captions are not provided for media uploaded before October 30, 2024. Captions may be manually created, or media can be re-uploaded.
View the Caltech Studio Short Guide, the complete Studio Instructor guide, and the Student guide for additional guidance.
Gradebook Icons for Colorblindness
Instructors can enable icons in their course's Gradebook Settings to display symbols next to each assignment status in the Gradebook. Standard statuses include Late, Missing, Excused, Resubmitted, and Dropped. View all in the Canvas Instructor Guide.
Open Grades in your Canvas course menu, click the Settings gear (right), and select View Options (below) to enable. Click Apply Settings when done.
SensusAccess Document Converter Tool
The SensusAccess Inside Canvas Document Converter Tool is an easy-to-use Canvas integration that converts instructional content into alternative accessible formats and languages. Look for the blue S icon to the right of all compatible materials.
For New Quizzes and materials outside of Canvas (such as in Gradescope, Piazza, and Perusall), please use the CASS standalone website via theHelp/?menu on the left side of your Canvas window.
The Microsoft Immersive Reader
The Microsoft Immersive Reader, available to all Canvas users, improves accessibility and boosts reading comprehension to enhance the reading experience. When viewing pages, assignments, course home pages, and the syllabus in a course, click the Immersive Reader button to initiate the tool.
- Manage text, grammar, and reading preferences using the toolbar [1].
- Click the Full Screen button [2], hear the text read aloud [3], or adjust Voice Settings [4].
- To close and return to Canvas, click the Exit button [5].
- Find the Microsoft Immersive Reader Quick Guide here.
Note that the Immersive Reader does not appear for LTI tools outside of Canvas, such as Gradescope, Piazza, and Perusall.
Zoom Captions
Caltech has provided all Canvas courses with a Zoom integration that allows instructors to schedule online office hours and recitations, and provide easily accessible links for students right from within the course. Cloud recordings made from these sessions will automatically be listed (after processing) in the Cloud Recordings tab. If your Zoom link is no longer visible in your course menu, locate and enable it by following these guidelines.
Canvas-Zoom Integration
- To automatically add captions to Zoom meetings, please follow these guidelines.
- Check Advanced Cloud Recording Settings to create audio transcripts of future recordings, and allow viewers to view those transcripts.
- For previously recorded Zoom sessions, use Canvas Studio, which automatically generates captions for all uploaded media.
Other Canvas Accessibility Resources
"Fundamentals of Accessible Digital Content in Canvas" course
- Select Help from the Global Navigation menu in Canvas.
- Locate and select the Training Services Portal link.
- If necessary, select Authorize to access the portal.
- Select Fundamentals of Accessible Digital Content in Canvas to enroll.
Guide to Accessibility in Online Course Design
Canvas Course Accessibility Checklist
Instructure's Accessibility Toolkit
The POUR Principles of Accessibility
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG): Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, Robust