Simple Accessibility Fixes | Distance Education

Here are some simple tips and resources on making your course more accessible.

Simple Practices for Canvas Pages and Documents

Links	Create links that describe where the link is going, avoid URLs as links	Links video Links instructions via web page
Image Descriptions	Every image needs to have a description added via a setting in Canvas or Word	Image Description video Image Description instructions via web page
Headings	Insert headings throughout pages by using tools in Canvas or Word	Headings video Headings instructions via a web page
Lists	Create lists by using numbered or bulleted list tools in Canvas or Word	Lists video Lists instruction via web page
Data Tables	Most data tables have cells that act as headers to a column or row, designate these header cells with a setting in Canvas or Word	Data Tables video Data Table instructions via web page
Color Contrast	Avoid adding color to text, unless the color chosen has a lot of contrast with the background color of the page	Color contrast instructions via web page

CCC Document Converter

The CCC Document Converter, provided to us by the CCC Accessibility Center, will allow you to upload a document and have it converted to anther format that will be emailed to you. You must use a .edu email address in order to use the tool. Some of the output options are PDF, Word, MP3, HTML, RTF, and ePub. This tool will be particularly helpful to convert scanned documents into a document that can be read by a screen reader.

Help for Document Accessibility

If you use scanned PDFs, the CCC Document Conversion tool will help to digitize them, but depending on the quality of the PDF, the text may or may not be readable by screen readers. The Accessibility Team can assist you by using the form, below.
PDFs and complex documents will likely need a fair amount of skilled work to make them accessible.
Contact the Distance Ed Accessibility staff to get assistance with document accessibility.

Word Document Accessibility

The simple practices listed in the table above are helpful in Word docs.
Utilize the accessibility checker in MS Word for guidance on accessibility.
See a tutorial on Word Accessibility (PDF).
Contact the Distance Ed Accessibility staff to get assistance with Word accessibility.

Multimedia

Audio and video files are especially important content to make accessible.
Instructors can order captions for videos they hold copyright or have permission themselves or with assistance from the Instructional Accessibility Specialist. See the Multimedia Accessibility pages for more information.
To get help with captioning and transcripts, use the Request Multimedia Captioning Form.
Instructors with identified deaf and hard of hearing students should contact the Instructional Accessibility Specialist or the DRD counselor for the student to strategize on the best and most timely way to provide captions or transcripts, use the Request Multimedia Captioning Form.