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Canvas related

Why it Matters

Given that all of your course content will likely be housed within Canvas and that students will access that course content along with various assessments through Canvas, it’s imperative to ensure your Canvas course sites are accessible to all your students.

Before the fall semester, Canvas will have available two tools to work with digital accessibility, the ideal is to keep your content in the green area for the accessibility score. 

  1. Ally (67% to 99%)
  2. Panorama (86% to 100%)

You can use any of the tools available to remediate accessibility issues in Canvas, but it is recommended that you go to the source of your files and fix those issues there (Microsoft products, videos, links, etc), and leave accessibility issues in Canvas for content created in Canvas. 

Get Help With Digital Accessibility


Faculty members have several support channels:
  1. IT Accessibility
  2. CTE Digital Accessibility website and trainings
  3. TAMUS CATIE Accessibility & Universal Design for Learning Work Group
  4. SPH Academic Team consultations
Please contact the Academic Tech Team and/or Dr. Rhonda Rhan if you need any help.

Ally is a powerful accessibility tool that seamlessly integrates with Canvas, helping to ensure that all course materials—documents and images—are accessible to every student. It automatically reviews uploaded content and provides actionable feedback to instructors, highlighting areas that need improvement to meet accessibility standards. In addition, Ally offers students a range of alternative formats for course materials, allowing them to choose the format that best supports their individual learning preferences and needs.

Below is a brief overview of features of Ally. For a detailed tutorial on Issue Description and Step-by-Step Assistance, visit Ally Remediation Guide curated by CTE.

Overview

By default, Ally is activated for every course and appears as "Accessibility Report" in the course navigation menu, accessible exclusively to instructors. Upon accessing the report, instructors are presented with a dashboard that outlines the overall accessibility score of their course. The TAMU course template is fully accessible (100%) when initially configured. 

 

Screenshot of accessibility checker


Addressing Accessibility Issues

Ally reviews all content within a course for accessibility. An overview of the content items can be found on the Content tab of the Ally Dashboard. Each item will then be given an accessibility score. These results indicate the accessibility of individual items in the form of a score icon appearing to the left of course resources. Faculty will see review results, however, students do not. 
 

low allyLow (0-33%, red dial turned to about 33% from left to right): Item needs revision. There are severe digital accessibility issues. 

medium allyMedium (34-66%, orange dial turned halfway): The file is somewhat accessible but still requires revision to be accessible.  

high allyHigh (67-99%, light green dial almost to right): The file is accessible, but more improvements are possible. 

perfect allyPerfect (100%) (dark green dial turned completely to the right): No digital accessibility issues identified. 
 

Once Ally identifies issues, faculty should begin editing to resolve the issues to make the course usable and accessible for all students.  Those resources marked Low should take highest priority.
 
Best practice for accessibility is to create an accessible document before uploading it to Canvas. For more information on creating accessible documents, visit IT Accessibility.

The Rich Content Editor includes an accessibility tool that detects common accessibility errors within the editor. Key checks include proper alt text for images, adequate color contrast, formatted lists, sequential headings, and structured tables with captions and headers. It also identifies issues like adjacent duplicate links, overly long headings, and improper table scopes, helping instructors create more accessible course materials.

For more detailed tutorial video and step-by-step guidance, visit Canvas Basic Guide.

Panorama is a tool available inside and outside Canvas to enhance digital accessibility. What can be done with this tool?

  • It identifies digital accessibility issues.
  • Panorama offers solutions within the tool to fix issues like:
    • Contrast
    • Lists
    • Font size
    • Headers in tables
    • Alt text in images
*Note: everything else is suggested to fix in the original file.

 

For more information, consult: