Accessibility

Training and Resources

• Anthology Ally
• CidiLabs Tidy Up
• Sensus Access

 

Suggested Course Road Maps

• Reviewing existing courses
• Course Accessibility Standards
• Course Content Helper
• Managing PDFs

Canvas Accessibility

• How do I use the Accessibility Checker in the Rich Content Editor?
• How do I add captions to new or uploaded videos in Canvas?
• Creating accessible tables in the Rich Content Editor
• Once I publish a Quiz, how can I give my students extra attempts?
• Accessibility Standards within Canvas
• List of Canvas keyboard shortcuts (PDF)

 

Accessibility Guidelines

We’ve developed a tier system to help faculty prioritize and segment, making accessibility changes into smaller and more manageable chunks. The ultimate goal for all courses is to make a Gold Standard course. Depending on the size and make-up of your course, you may fall into one of these 3 levels. All courses should meet, at minimum, our bronze level.

Images

Level	Standard
Bronze	All instructor created content must have a useful alt-text for all images. This includes documents, PowerPoint, Canvas content, etc.
Silver	Students provided with instructions/ expectations on how to add alt-text to content they create.
Gold	Long descriptions provided for items where alt-text is not usable.
Gold	Alternative provided where long description is not usable.

 

Audio/Video (Pre-recorded)

Level	Standard
Bronze	All video content is in Kaltura.
Silver	Instructor created videos all items are described.
Gold	All items should have professional captioning done.
Gold	Items should have extended audio descriptions available.
Bronze	Auto-captions available with ability to turn on/off.

 

Audio/Video (Live)

Level	Standard
Bronze	Auto Captions available
Silver	Instructor created videos all items are described
Gold	All items should have a professional Caption/ASL interpreter available

 

Document

All Microsoft products have an Accessibility Checker built into their products. We recommend that you run this tool to identify any accessibility issues in your document and fix them.

Level	Standard
Bronze	Meaningful heading structure
Bronze	No use of color or shape to identify meaning
Bronze	Meaningful/Descriptive Links
Bronze	Accessible Tables
Bronze	Use of PPT template Layouts only (PPT)
Bronze	Provide clean copies of printed/scanned materials. This includes handouts, course reserves, course packs, etc.
Bronze	Searchable PDFs only
Silver	Color contrast meets standards in instructor generated content
Gold	Alternative formats available
Gold	Use high contrast text (e.g., black text on white background). Use an 11-point or larger font size.

 

Other Document Resources

Consult the following resources to learn more about creating an accessible source document. If the document will be saved and offered as a PDF, steps must also be taken in Adobe Acrobat Pro or another software remediation platform to ensure accessibility.

• Make your Word documents accessible by Microsoft
• Creating Accessible Microsoft Word Documents by WebAIM
• Make your PowerPoint presentations accessible by Microsoft
• PowerPoint accessibility by WebAIM
• Make your Excel documents accessible by Microsoft
• InDesign accessibility by Adobe
• Make your Google content more accessible by Google
• One-page document cheatsheets by the National Center on Disability and Access to Education (NCDAE)

Creating accessible PDFs

• Create accessible PDFs by Microsoft
• Create and verify PDF accessibility using Acrobat Pro by Adobe
• PDF Accessibility Overview by Adobe

Course Design

Level	Standard
Bronze	No flashing lights or items that may cause seizures
Bronze	Consistent Navigation and course structure
Bronze	Hide unused tools
Bronze	Clear Technical instruction
Bronze	Accessible Syllabus
Bronze	Readings, test dates, assignments clearly identified along with due dates

 

If you need help with any of the above, or which to provide feedback please email: help@oit.rutgers.edu.