Canvas for All | Strategies for Prioritising Accessibility

[Jess_Jones]

Accessibility is a necessary practice for ensuring our classrooms, courses and learning environments are inclusive to all learners.  As our educational offerings become increasingly diverse, and the concept of a ‘traditional student’ is broadened, the importance of providing accessible learning experiences cannot be overstated.  Within Learning Services here in EMEA we are increasingly exploring how we can drive and support accessibility with the varied organisations we collaborate with.  As a result of this work, this blog considers three strategies for championing accessibility across your organisation.  These strategies can be applied across multiple work streams and various stages of the Canvas journey, whether you are leading a Canvas roll out, refining training strategies as a learning technologist, or assessing templates as a course designer.  So let’s dig in! 

#1. Embed Early and Continuously 

Accessibility is a shared responsibility for all teachers, educators, and content creators.  Whenever there are conversations, communications, or decisions made around teaching and learning, accessibility must be considered and prioritised.  When we take this approach, we minimise the risk that accessibility becomes an afterthought, the responsibility of a specialised team, or considered a skill for advanced users.  Instead, accessibility should be  a shared responsibility that is addressed early and then continuously with all stakeholders in our learning communities.

Raise Awareness 

Convey why accessibility is important across your organisation.  There are many reasons why accessibility is important, and while unpacking this is not the focus of this blog, there are some key considerations that we should be aware of:

• To be inclusive of all learners
• To provide a necessary foundation for learning to occur
• To ensure access across devices (including mobile) and by other technologies (including assistive technologies)
• To future proof content
• To align with core principles embedded within many learning theories 

The ‘why’ for your organisation may also be informed by contextual considerations, organisational policy, or regional laws.  With this in mind, take the time to ensure teachers and course designers are aware of why accessibility is important in your organisation.  Aligning on the ‘why’ often allows us to be more receptive to the ‘how’, and cultivates adoption of accessible practices moving forward.

Demonstrate Assistive Technology

Utilise tools like Microsoft Immersive Reader to showcase how users with assistive technology interact with Canvas. Demonstrate functionalities like text-to-speech, colour overlays, adjustable text size, and automated translations. This allows colleagues to experience first hand how learners may be experiencing their Canvas Courses, and raises awareness of different technologies that others in their learning communities may be using.  

#2. Invest in the RCE

The Rich Content Editor (RCE) in Canvas is a powerful tool and is used across almost all aspects of course content creation, including Pages, Assignments, Discussions and Quizzes.  While the toolbar may look familiar and similar to toolbars used in other software (for example when creating documents or emails), effective use of the Rich Content Editor for digital accessibility requires specific considerations. Unlike printed documents, web pages need to be responsive to various screen sizes, devices, and assistive technologies.  We therefore need to invest time during training sessions on how to use the RCE effectively from an accessibility perspective.  Fortunately, the ask of our colleagues is often a minor change to workflow rather than an increase in workload (for example using Headings instead of adjusting text sizes).  Aligning on the ‘why’ sets the ground here for adopting these changes: when we understand why they are important and the positive outcome being achieved, we are more likely to change our practice.  Additionally, by supporting colleagues to understand how to build accessible web content, we are investing in the development of their digital skills and expanding digital expertise across our organisation.

The following resources are great starting points for learning more about how to create accessible content with the RCE: 

• Why Accessibility Matters in Course Design
• 7 PIllars of Accessibility and Achieving Accessibility in Canvas
• General Accessibility Design Guidelines 
• Enhanced Webinar: Developing and Delivering Accessible Learning Environments (contact your Customer Success Manager for more information about our Enhanced Webinars)

Additionally, the Canvas Accessibility Checker is a great tool to include in Canvas training, as it provides teachers with a tool to review if the content they are creating has been built in a way that can be reliably interpreted by assistive technologies. 

#3. Recognise the Value of Consistency 

Canvas is a flexible platform that can lend itself to many different educational contexts - it’s one of the things that many of us love about Canvas!  However when considering the individual learner experience, a consistent navigation and layout both within and between courses is key.  Consistency allows learners to easily find content, understand expectations, and focus their cognitive load on learning the subject at hand rather than how to navigate through the content.  Consistency doesn’t equate to uniformity however, and there are ways to still achieve consistency while also mindfully adapting based on subject, activity, teacher preference, or class context.   

When it comes to defining consistency, four key areas are often considered: homepage design, module structure, page layout and navigation menu items. There are also multiple ways to achieve consistency, from utilising tools in Canvas like Course Templates or Canvas Commons, to defining course design checklists like Instructure’s Canvas Course Evaluation Checklist.  

The conversation of balancing consistency for students with autonomy for teachers and courses is nuanced and very contextual to the organisation, course, and members of that learning community.   Therefore, it is important to engage colleagues in the conversation early on, and clearly explain the ‘why’ behind any decisions that are made.  

Conclusion

Accessibility is a rightfully important topic for all learning communities, and hopefully these three strategies provide insight into how to embed accessibility into your Canvas adoption, training, and course design.  Here in Learning Services we are always learning from across our community, and so please do join in the conversation below.  How are you approaching accessibility in your organisation? Are there any strategies or considerations you would like to share? I look forward to continuing the conversation with you.

This blog was written following a presentation at the Nordics-Benelux CanvasConnect event.