Tips and Tricks

Page Content

Top 10 Tips for Accessible Content

Grounded in the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE) Faculty Digital Accessibility Toolkit and widely used accessibility guidance. We believe a few of these habits, used consistently, make a meaningful difference for every student.

	Semantic Headings Apply Heading 1, 2, and 3 styles in order so screen readers can navigate your document’s structure. About 61% of screen reader users scan by headings first.
	Real Alt Text Describe what an image shows and why it matters, such as “line graph showing enrollment increasing from 2015 to 2025.” Mark decorative images as decorative.
	Color & Contrast Check contrast with a free online checker, and pair color with text or an icon rather than relying on color alone to communicate.
	Descriptive Links Write link text that names the destination, such as “view the syllabus,” instead of a bare URL or “click here.”
	Simple Tables Use tables for data only, with clear header rows. Avoid merged or nested cells that confuse assistive technology.
	Consistent Layout Keep headings, navigation, and formatting predictable across your pages and documents so people know what to expect.
	Keep It Text Put essential information in real, selectable text rather than embedding it in an image. Text inside an image cannot be resized, searched, or read aloud.
	Comfortable Spacing Avoid tiny or condensed text. Stick with standard font sizes and generous line spacing so content stays easy to read.
	Plain Language Write for your audience in clear, direct sentences. Plain language helps everyone, including multilingual readers and screen reader users.
	Captions & Transcripts Add accurate captions to video and transcripts to audio so your content is usable without sound.

 

Tools

Writing for the Web

• W3C: Writing for Web Accessibility
• WebAIM: Writing Clearly and Simply

Canvas Accessibility Checker (Rich Content Editor)

Available any time you are editing a Page, Assignment, Quiz, or Discussion in the Rich Content Editor. We recommend running it before every publish.

1. Open any item that uses the Rich Content Editor (Pages, Assignments, Quizzes, Discussions, Syllabus).
2. Look for the accessibility icon in the toolbar below the editor. A number badge shows how many issues were found.
3. Click the icon to open the Accessibility Checker panel and review each flagged issue, such as missing alt text, low contrast, heading order, or table structure.
4. Fix each item using the tool’s suggested corrections, then click Apply.
5. Save your changes and re-run the checker any time you edit the content again.

Note: the Rich Content Editor checker only scans content built inside the editor.