Releases Q&A: 2021-08-21 RCE Accessibility Checker Notifications

[erinhmcmillan]

Looking to discuss this feature from the 2021-08-21 Release Notes? Post a reply and start a conversation!

This feature was also included in the 2021-10-16 Release Notes.

POSTING GUIDELINES

• This topic is for feature discussion only—please share use cases, best practices, etc. regarding this feature
• Please thread replies as much as possible to keep posts organized
• Feedback to product managers about idea enhancements should be submitted in ideas.canvaslms.com (though linking to the idea here so others can find it is welcome)
• Bug reports should be submitted to Canvas Support—bugs will not be triaged in this thread

[kirsten_ryall]

Wow, this is exciting. I cannot wait to see it in action. Other than the notification (which is really good), will there be any advice/links to guides for users on HOW to make the content more accessible? Even if it is to direct users to the checker tool. Sorry if I am jumping the gun a bit. Let me know if there is a good conversation happening somewhere that is discussing this and I'll follow along on that too.

[erinhmcmillan]

Hi @kirsten_ryall 

The accessibility checker contains tips and help for correcting the issues, so they'll be good to go!

Erin

[kirsten_ryall]

Hi there, we can turn this off once it hits prod as On/Locked on 18 September, correct? It's optional. Yes? And staying optional?

[dlyons]

@kirsten_ryall, once a feature is on/locked (sometimes referred to as "enforced") it is no longer optional and we begin the process of removing the flag entirely to keep the list tidy. 

[kirsten_ryall]

Thanks @dlyons for the update. Looking forward to seeing this in the beta environment. We offer an LTI called Ally to our users and we are worried that this new notification will have an impact on that tool. We are also worried that our teaching staff in particular will see those notifications and be uncertain about what they are and what to do about them. And instead of opening up the accessibility checker for more information, they will contact either our internal IT support desk or Canvas Support. Has that been considered and already mitigated?

[dlyons]

@kirsten_ryall, Ally is definitely a popular tool! It functions more at the institutional and document level, where the Canvas Accessibility Checker is just-in-time assistance during content creation anywhere the RCE is used and for all users, not just teachers/admins. That is to say, these two great tastes should go great together. 😀 The behavior of this indicator is the same as other indicators throughout Canvas so the learning curve should be pretty minimal for any Canvas user. We just published a short video about the Accessibility Checker Notification if you want to see how it looks and works ahead of release.

[rebecca_taub]

@dlyons and @kirsten_ryall We are also excited about the feature release but also use the UDOIT tool at our institution and we are wondering how these two accessibility checkers will work to help course designers rather than confuse them. 

Is there a list of the accessibility items the Canvas accessibility checker looks for and reports on? 

Thanks!

Rebecca 

[dlyons]

This guide for how to use the Accessibility Checker includes a list of things it currently checks for.

[aeagle]

We use Ally as well. From the user perspective, they seem to cover different bases: the Canvas Accessibility Checker covers page content whereas Ally covers attached files and images. 

Both the Canvas AC and Ally check for alt text issues; we've found that Ally is just a bit better (the Canvas AC does not truly mark images as decorative, plus it only checks to ensure that the filename is not used as the alt text)

[kirsten_ryall]

Thanks for the link to the video @dlyons. It looks like it is going to be opt-in at course level. I'm not clear though on how it will arrive into production on both 21 August and 18 September. Will it look like below on 21 August release, and then change for the 18 September release? On the 18 September is it no longer opt-in at course level , and therefore fully enforced, not optional at all? I feel I am over complicating this. Sorry about that. I'm confused by those availability settings. We may need to get some comms out internally about this so I need to get it right.

[erinhmcmillan]

Hi, @kirsten_ryall 

Just as a followup, we have temporarily removed the enforcement of this feature preview in the September release. A new date will be announced in the future. Until then, the feature preview will be Off and Unlocked for institutions to turn on as they'd prefer.

Thanks,

Erin

[kirsten_ryall]

Thanks for the update @erinhmcmillan. Appreciated. This wasn't released in beta prior to production, is that correct? That is unusual right? I do get nervous when that happens.

[erinhmcmillan]

This change is in beta, yes. However, it is opt-in so it needs to be turned on in Feature Previews.

Thanks,

Erin

[mpfaff1]

As an accessibility trainer I really love this update. But I couldn't help but notice that the accessibility checker tool - which looks for things like insufficient color contrast - has a tiny notification bubble with white text that has insufficient contrast. 

[dlyons]

Don't worry. Our all-new Accessibility-Checker Checker will check for accessibility of the Accessibility Checker. 🙃

Thanks for pointing this out! We'll get to work on getting that contrast into compliance.

[ellen_peters]

I have done a small test on our beta environment and I see odd results: it seems as if each link in the text counts as an issue in the indicator. But if I click on the accessibility icon, I see 'no accessibility issues detected'. Do you have an explanation for this? (tested in Firefox and Chrome).

[snugent]

I am seeing the same thing that @ellen_peters sees. It seems like the badge should disappear if the page passes the checker. 

Accessibility Check in rich content editor

[dlyons]

What you're seeing is a bug related to custom themes. The notification is "over checking" in a sense so the tray is correct in this case. Good news is we're already working on getting this bug resolved!

[padoughe]

This feature is not working. In various pages in my course I see a number in the red circle in the accessibility checker when my page is in edit mode. The number is anywhere from 1 to 16 on various pages, and when I click on it, the accessibility checker either shows 1-2 issues, or states there are no issues.

[erinhmcmillan]

Hi @padoughe 

This behavior is being resolved; if you'd like to follow it, please submit a support case, or you can find out the status by subscribing to  Error count for A11y notification and tray are dif... - Instructure Community

Thank you!

Erin

[kroeninm]

Thank you!  I just tried logging a similar bug and should've checked her first 😄

[laureneissler]

Hi! I was reading through documentation/discussions, and I have a quick question. Are there plans to add a character count below the text box for alt text? I have some notifications for alt text being too long, and it would definitely be helpful to have that kind of indicator/counter tied to the text box! 

[kirsten_ryall]

Hi there, I may be very late to the party. Has the bug that was reported earlier on been resolved? I think it has been but just wanting to make sure before we start communications. Is there any new 'quirks' that we should make our users aware of, or is it good to go?

[erinhmcmillan]

Hi, @kirsten_ryall 

The known issue indicates that it was resolved in the 2021-09-29 deploy.

Thanks,

Erin

[audra_agnelly]

All of our linked (blue) paragraph text is getting flagged by the accessibility checker with the message: Text smaller than 18pt (or bold 14pt) should display a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1. Is this a bug or is the blue text insufficient contrast?

[dlyons]

That's odd. There was a related issue similar to what you're describing but it was fixed already. And I'm unable to duplicate that behavior in my environment.

I'm going to send you a private message so we don't clutter up this thread with support back-and-forth, but we'll figure out where the problem is and get it fixed. 🙂 

[sbj]

So ... the recent deploy notes (going into Production Feb. 2) say that "The Accessibility Checker color value has been changed from a warning style to an information style." And I am wondering why?  The checker flags accessibility errors, and this seems to minimize the importance of them: 

When users create content in the Rich Content Editor that includes accessibility concerns, the Accessibility Checker displays in the editor, notifying the user that concerns exist. This icon provides information to the user about how to correct the concerns within the editor. 

The Accessibility Checker color value displays as electric blue, #0374B5. Previously it displayed as the Canvas warning color (#FC5E13).​

Why are we referring to errors as "concerns" now?  This is a huge step backward for accessibility in Canvas.

[dlyons]

@sbj, this is a tricky color choice for sure. We spent a lot of time discussing it with Accessibility and Design. The reasoning for this choice is that "errors" communicate that a situation must be resolved before the user can continue (e.g. "you cannot save this page until this error is addressed.") Accessibility concerns are not "errors" because they are not required to be addressed before a user can proceed, and that is because an accessibility concern does not necessarily need to be addressed at all (e.g. intentionally inaccessible color combinations in an Art course.)