Canvas

Accessibility Checklist

The Kansas State University Course Accessibility Checklist will provide an organized way to think through all of the different elements of accessibility. It was built to support faculty in understanding the steps to take when developing and maintaining accessible courses. Download a PDF copy of the checklist.

Headings and List Structure

  • Use standard heading styles (i.e. Heading 2, Heading 3, etc.) consistently
  • Create lists using the Bullet or Numbered List tool

Use of Visual Elements

  • Provide sufficient color contrast between foreground and background to meet Section 508 standards
  • Do not use visual elements (color, bolding, all caps) as the sole way to convey importance or meaning

Text Formatting

  • Confirm all text is visible in Outline View so that it can be read by assistive technology
  • Use Sans serif font throughout the document
  • Do not use text boxes
  • Use slide templates with pre-set accessible layouts
  • Use unique titles on each slide
  • Use Microsoft Accessibility Checker to test the document

Hyperlinks

  • Use descriptive links and avoid redundancy
  • Use underlining only to denote active hyperlinks

Tables

  • Include labels for the rows and columns to allow screen readers to read table cells in the correct order
  • Provide detailed labels for any charts, and include a textual description of the spreadsheet, drawing attention to key cells, trends, and totals

Images

  • Include descriptive alternative text (alt text) to all images and charts
  • Describe any text visible within the image using alt text
  • Name alt text file clearly and in the proper location
  • Do not use alt text description including “image of” or “picture of”
  • Use “” if the image is purely decorative

Webpages

  • Evaluate website accessibility using an accessibility checker
  • Find alternative source or provide information in a text format to student with accommodation

Canvas

  • Build Pages following accessibility standards
  • Provide Syllabus in Pages and as a downloadable document
  • Include the required syllabus statement regarding students with disabilities
  • Employ consistent and clear course navigation
  • Use descriptive file names
  • Chunk content into manageable segments
  • Provide alternative ways to access the same information (PowerPoint, PDF, etc.)

PDFs

  • Set reading order so that content is presented in the proper sequence to screen readers and other assistive technology
  • Scan original document with optical character recognition (OCR) format – no highlighting, comments or underlining
  • Confirm that text can be selected for copying
  • Tag chapters, subheadings, and keywords so they are searchable for long documents
  • Pass the Adobe Accessibility Check with no substantial errors

Internal sources (Video or audio created by faculty)

  • Include closed captioning or transcript
  • Record in manageable size (under 15 minutes)
  • Use titles that describe content
  • Make descriptive text available for visually complex non-verbal video content

External sources

  • Look for captioned sources
  • Request captioning or permission to caption
  • Use Amara to caption a video you cannot obtain permission to edit, or find another source
  • Confirm captioning prior to purchasing video content