Canvas Tips

It is a very common misconception to think, "Isn’t Canvas already accessible?" the software is, but your content might not be. While the Canvas platform itself is built to be accessible, your PDFs, videos, and pages are your responsibility and may not be compliant. To remain compliant with both federal law and our main campus policies by April 24, 2026, every piece of material you upload and create in Canvas must be readable and usable for every student.

Here is how to ensure your course content meets the WCAG 2.2 AA standard.

Best Practices

Create proper headings – don’t just use bold-face type. Screen readers use headings as a guide to follow the page. In Canvas, the page title is automatically Heading 1. Your first subheading would then be Heading 2, then Heading 3, and so forth. 

Make sure to create links that have meaning. A screen reader will read a link as is, so “Click Here” or “Read More” is not descriptive enough to let the user know what they are accessing. Also avoid using just the HTTPS hyperlink for the same reason, a screen reader will take the time to read the whole thing and won’t help the user know what it’s taking them to. 

Of course, if you have any images make sure to add alternative text and describe the image.  If it is an image of a symbol or something not descriptive, just there for the design of your course, you can go ahead and mark it as decorative. 

Ensure that you are using the built-in lists feature provided, do not manually type a dash (-) or numerals (1.) to start a list. 

Tables should only be used to show data, like a grading scale for example. Do not create tables to align images or to improve the look of your course pages. A screen reader can only read text in tables. 

For any recorded videos through Zoom, Panopto or other software, or embedded from YouTube you need to make sure that there are captions included. Auto-generated captions are allowed; they just need to be correct. For other media, try to avoid scanned documents and images (text is viewed as a picture on a page). If the text cannot be highlighted or selected, then a screen reader will not be able to read it either. 

At the bottom of your editor, there is a small icon that looks like a person within a circle. This is Canvas' in-application accessibility checker. If you click on this icon, it will review your page for any issues like poor color contrast, missing alt-text, bad formatting, etc. This will walk you through how to fix them. 

The University of Pittsburgh provides a tool called UDOIT for checking the accessibility on Canvas, along with other accessibility resources (just click on the accessibility tab at the top) on that page. This includes accessibility trainings, creating accessible documents, creating accessible media, web integrations, and other tips or trainings you may need. The UDOIT scans your Canvas course, generates a report of accessibility issues that could impede your students' ability to learn, and provides resources for addressing these issues.