Accessibility in Canvas

accessibility icon of stick figure with outstretched arms inside a circle

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.

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.
Learn more

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.

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

Community and Technical Colleges WA State Board logo

Find more resources via SBCTC’s Accessibility Center. Here you will find updates on events and trainings, information about policy, resources, and more.

Additional Resources

Accessibility icon created by Smashicons – Flaticon

Last Updated February 12, 2025