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Accessibility in action videos

Get started cleaning up Canvas and digital docs with these video tutorials

These quick videos cover multiple accessibility topics common in digital documents and Canvas.

Viewing tip: These videos are short, and get right to-the-point. They are designed to help you get started checking accessibility and fixing errors.

Because the videos are short, they don’t go into great detail about each topic—but they will get you started. We encourage you to check the additional resources, and schedule a 1:1 consultation with us to go over any questions you may have.

Schedule a 1:1 consultation with the Continuum College Instructor Development Team.

Animated hand holding mobile device showing message: Accessibility in Action.

Images need alternative text to be accessible for everyone.

Alternative (alt) text is read aloud to a person using a screen reader.

Alt text should not be longer than a sentence or two, and concisely convey the content, and purpose of the image.

Alt text for images (2:12)

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Any time you embed a link to a file, page or web site, use meaningful and descriptive text (in place of the URL) so everyone knows where the link will take them. Embed links inside text on the page.

Avoid using “Click Here,” and don’t list the full URL (screen readers “read” aloud every character in a URL). Anyone using a screen reader can opt to hear a list of the links on the page in the format: Link + <link text>.    

Descriptive link text (1:58)

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Readers navigate content and sections on a page by skimming titles. Create proper page structure by applying heading tags to titles and subtitles (adjusting font sizes or bold doesn’t create an accessible title). Proper heading styles make it possible for screen readers to announce titles out loud. 

Apply heading tags using the Style editor in Word or the Headings drop down panel in Canvas.

Page structure and titles (1:29)

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Ally is built in to Canvas. Ally scans course content and assigns an accessibility score, offers guidance how to fix errors, and includes a built-in remediation platform to fix common issues.

ALLY is particularly good at scanning files, and offers a conversion tool that allows students to view Word docs, PDFs and Powerpoint files, among others, in alternative formats like an audio file, electronic braille, or an e-publication.

Ally accessibility checker tool (1:57)

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UDOIT is available in Canvas. The UDOIT checker scans a course, generates a report about accessibility errors, offers guidance about how to fix errors, and offers a remediation dashboard to fix issues.

UDOIT can convert scanned PDF files into Canvas pages, which are much easier to modify to meet accessibility requirements. A strength of UDOIT is that it collates accessibility issues by type, enabling you to focus on one type of remediation at one time: for instance fixing all the “alt text” issues found by UDOIT.

UDOIT accessibility checker tool (1:56)

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This checker tool is embedded in Canvas pages, assignments, announcements, and discussions.

Use the Canvas checker to fix common issues including missing headings, alternative text for images, tables, and color contrast. The Canvas checker works inside Canvas pages, so you can fix issues as you work on content in Canvas.

Canvas accessibility checker tool (1:50)

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When content on a page can be described as a list of something, it should be formatted as a list.  

Avoid using bullet symbols or numbers, or hyphens to manually create lists. Use the Word doc style panel or Canvas rich content editor list icon to create lists.

Lists (1:55)

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Complex images, graphics, illustrations and maps contain substantial information a reader needs to understand. For these complex images, a two-part description is needed.   

The first part is the alternative text — a brief description of the image. 

This alt text can also include information about where to find a longer, more detailed description elsewhere on the page. 

Long descriptions for complex images (1:27)

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Colored fonts must have sufficient contrast between the text and background to be readable.

Some people cannot see text if the foreground or background are too light. Use an accessibility checker tool (such as Ally) to change color and contrast so text is readable.

Color contrast (1:27)

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Use tables to organize and display  data.   Don’t use tables for page layout in documents or Canvas pages.  People using screen readers can have the row and column headers read aloud as they navigate through the table.

To make a table accessible, identify and label specific parts of the table:  the table caption, row header, and if needed, the column header.

Tables (3:35)

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To be accessible, PDFs need to be tagged. Labelling the elements in a PDF enable screen readers and assistive technology to navigate them. Fixing errors in PDFs can be accomplished using Adobe Acrobat Pro, or in some cases Microsoft Word.

Consider if there are alternative file types to use instead of a PDF.

PDFs (3:10)

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Microsoft Word has a built-in accessibility checker that guides you through each error and is straightforward to use.

Word docs (1:32)

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Video captions allow everyone to access a the visual and audio parts of the recording.

Video captions (1:59)

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Updated 10/22/2025