 “The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect."
– Tim Berners-Lee, Inventor of the World Wide Web

Welcome!

Welcome! This module is meant to serve as a quick resource that you can reference for various topics and questions you may have around accessibility in designing your Canvas courses and creating content. We have broken the module and section into topics that you can explore in order, or go directly to a specific topic of interest. Interested in learning even more? Check out our "Resources" section which includes links to more in-depth content including amazing guides created by the Vision Resource Center. If you are looking for information on accessibility that is not here please contact us and an accessibility specialist will connect with you.

Canvas Best Practices

 Videos & Closed Captioning

 Accessible Files (PDFs, docs, etc.)

 Deaf HOH Resources

Additional Resources

What does "Accessible" mean?

“Accessible” as defined by the Office of Civil Rights, means a person with a disability is afforded the opportunity to acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services as a person without a disability in an equally effective and equally integrated manner, with substantially equivalent ease of use. The person with a disability must be able to obtain the information as fully, equally, and independently as a person without a disability. Although this might not result in identical ease of use compared to that of persons without disabilities, it still must ensure equal opportunity to the educational benefits and opportunities afforded by the technology and equal treatment in the use of such technology.

What Online Materials Need to be Accessible?

ALL required web-based materials (content in Canvas, HTML files, PDF files, PowerPoint presentations, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, video files, audio files, images) for use with online, hybrid, blended, or face-to-face classes must be made compliant.

This includes:

Content created by the instructor within your school's learning management system.
Files uploaded by the instructor to your school's learning management system.
Material created or controlled by the instructor, but hosted on another server.
Content used as course material provided by educational publishers and other third-party websites.

What About Textbooks?

Though outside the instructor's responsibility, a student may need the textbook in an alternate format (e.g., Braille, large print, audio, electronic), which is usually done by your campus disability services.

Converting a print text can be a time-consuming process—one which causes the student to lose valuable time while it's being produced—so as an instructor, you can support students by opting for digital Open Education Resource (OER) textbooks and learning materials (that have been vetted for accessibility, of course!).

Optional Course Content

Some folks interpret current guidelines (as of 2019) to mean that material that is truly optional is not held to the same strict compliance standards. Others hold the perspective that if it's in the course, it's legally supposed to be accessible. While the OEI doesn't dictate your institutional policy in that regard, we do want to point out the increasing prevalence of lawsuits around inaccessible educational materials.

Plus, keep in mind that a student who is disabled can't take advantage of things like "optional" review or extra credit activities unless they're made accessible.

CCCO 508 Accessibility Compliance

Title 5 is clear that online classes must fulfill the requirements of the Americans with Disability Act and section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (often abbreviated as “ADA” and “508”). These requirements deal with things such as media, format, alternate descriptions, color, tables, HTML code, and image maps.

San Diego City College is committed to making education accessible for all students.

“Title 5, section 55200. Definition and Application. Distance education means instruction in which the instructor and student are separated by distance and interact through the assistance of communication technology. All distance education is subject to the general requirements of this chapter as well as the specific requirements of this article. In addition, instruction provided as distance education is subject to the requirements that may be imposed by the Americans with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. §12100 et seq.) and section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended.”

Know that "accessibility" is an ever-evolving topic of consideration. Guidelines are regularly being updated and revised, often based on technological advancements or legal findings.

Lesson Objective(s)

Gain tools and learn strategies to design and create accessible Canvas courses and content
Explain how formatting impacts assistive technologies’ ability to access and interpret information
Utilize the Rich Content Editor to properly format content pages
Recognize the uses and purpose of captions and transcripts in video and audio multimedia
Create and adapt closed captions using multiple captioning platforms: Amara, YouTube, 3C Media
Compare the captioning services that are available and determine the appropriate one for their circumstances
Ready to get started? Click "Next" below! :)