This article guides instructors to ensure they are aware of all accessibility features and best practices when creating courses in Canvas. The content is guided by the latest accessibility standards, with input coming from the Academic Success Centre and the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL).

New in May 2025, Canvas has released Fundamentals of Accessible Digital Content in Canvas, a new, on-demand, self-paced training course available for all U of A staff and instructors through the Canvas Training Centre via in-system Resources menu.

Canvas Accessibility Standards

Instructure (the Canvas vendor) is strongly committed to accessibility and keeps an up-to-date guide to their accessibility standards online. Specific topics within that page include:

• Screen Readers and Browsers
• Canvas Navigation with Screen Readers
• Keyboard Shortcuts
• and more!

Built-in Canvas Tools

Canvas provides instructors a number of in-system options for easily validating and improving the accessibility of their courses and content:

• Accessibility Checker - reviews content created through the Rich Content Editor (RCE).
• Canvas Link Checker - checks for broken or unreachable links in course content. 

Additional Design Guides/Resources for Instructors

• CTL's Access and Accessibility Resources - a collection of U of A specific resources prepared by the Center for Teaching and Learning
• Canvas Content Accessibility Checklist - guide to best practices for building HTML content within Canvas using the RCE.
• Canvas Course Accessibility Evaluation - PDF with specific recommendations for content based on UDL provided by Canvas and then updated by CTL and OCE.

Video Captioning

Beyond native Canvas content, instructors should also consider accessibility in online meetings, lecture recordings, and videos. Note that captions are now enabled by default in all the main video recording and meeting tools at the U of A (with the options in both tools to hold captioning until after review.)

General Recommendations

• • For students who are blind or have low vision, narrate the material that is displayed visually on the screen. Just as you might read materials aloud in class, read the screen material that you share on-screen, just in case students are not able to see the essential text.

Yuja 

• • Review and edit automatically created captions in Yuja
  • Upload additional caption files in Yuja - this can include pre-existing captions for videos and caption files in different languages
  • Add audio descriptions for videos

Canvas Studio

• • Review and edit captions in Canvas Studio
  • Request Studio captions in a different language

Zoom

• • As of May 2025, automated captions have been enabled by default for all Zoom meetings
  • Zoom settings for automated caption (opt-out) and live subtitles in meetings

Using Google Workspace Tools

• • Users can enable captions when using Google Meet by toggling on the CC feature at the bottom of your screen.
    
  • Instructors using Google Slides to record voiceover lecture videos can  enable the live captioning feature within Google Slides