
Digital content in online and hybrid courses needs to be accessible and inclusive for all learners. Bellevue College has a variety of tools available to instructors for ensuring accessibility in your courses. In addition to these self-access tools, instructors can also access Live Faculty Support to get help with accessibility questions.
Accessibility Tools in Canvas
Canvas Accessibility Checker
The Rich Content Editor in Canvas includes an accessibility tool that detects common accessibility errors within the editor and provides guidance and tools for fixing issues as you design your content.
Learn more
Ally Accessibility Report
To scan your entire course including files such as PDFs and Word documents, run the Ally Accessibility Report available from the course navigation menu. This tool is great for getting a comprehensive overview of your entire course and will help you identify key accessibility issues to address.
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UDOIT
UDOIT scans your Canvas courses, identifies issues, and provides guidance to improve accessibility with ease. This is the most powerful accessibility tool instructors have access to, and it’s highly recommended that instructors use this tool regularly to ensure accessibility in their courses.
DesignPLUS Accessibility Tools
Within the Cidi Labs DesignPLUS editing panel, you will find a number of features for checking accessibility and improving usability while designing pages with Cidi Labs. DesignPLUS includes tools for checking contrast, headings, image alt text, links, math, and tables.
Learn more
TidyUP
Although not technically an accessibility tool, TidyUP is useful for identifying and removing unused content including files and Canvas elements (e.g., Pages, Assignments, Announcements, etc.). This type of ‘housekeeping’ can keep you organized and supports accessibility by ensuring that only essential content remains in your course. You can enable TidyUP via Settings > Navigation.
Canvas Reference Shells
Did you know that you can request a Canvas reference shell for each of your courses? Instead of copying your content from course to course each term, you can now (well, soon) create a reference shell. Check back here later for a link to request a Canvas reference shell.
SBCTC Accessibility Center

WA State Board Resources
Find more resources via SBCTC’s Accessibility Center. Here you will find updates on events and trainings, information about policy, resources, and more.
- The Web Accessibility Learning Lab
- SBCTC Accessibility Micro Courses (self-paced Canvas courses open to SBCTC and all colleges)
- Accessibility Training and Events (upcoming and past events hosted by SBCTC)
- Create Accessible Documents (learn about Word, PowerPoint, and more)
- Create Accessible Media and Video (learn about best practices for creating video content)
Additional Resources
- How to create accessible Canvas courses
Excellent Canvas accessibility guide by blogger Whitney Lewis - Creating Accessible Documents – Word and PDFs
Detailed guide for creating accessible documents from the BC Disability Resource Center - Accessibility tools for Microsoft 365
Links to accessibility guides for Microsoft 365 tools (e.g., Word, PowerPoint, Excel, etc.)
Accessibility icon created by Smashicons – Flaticon
Last Updated February 12, 2025