Accessibility Checklist

In Word/PowerPoint: right-click the image → Edit Alt Text → write a sentence describing what the image shows or means.

In Canvas: click the image in the Rich Content Editor → Image Options → add alt text in the field provided.

Keep it short and descriptive — "Bar chart showing enrollment growth from 2018 to 2023" is better than "chart" or a filename.

In Word/PowerPoint: right-click → Edit Alt Text → check "Mark as decorative."

In Canvas: check the "Decorative image" box in the Image Options panel — this sets alt="" automatically.

Add a sentence or two below the chart summarizing the key trend or finding — e.g., "This chart shows that enrollment peaked in 2021 and has declined slightly since."

For data-heavy charts, include the underlying table in the document or as a linked resource.

Use both color and a label, pattern, or shape to distinguish items. In a pie chart, label each slice directly rather than relying on a color-coded legend.

Test your materials using the free Coblis color blindness simulator.

YouTube: auto-captions are generated but often contain errors — go to YouTube Studio → Subtitles → edit the auto-generated captions before publishing.

Canvas Studio: click the auto-caption button, then review and correct errors in the editor.

Zoom recordings: enable auto-transcription in Zoom settings — captions are generated when the recording is processed.

Play through the video while reading the captions. Correct any errors directly in the caption editor on YouTube, Canvas Studio, or your institution's media platform.

Pay close attention to proper nouns, course-specific terminology, and speaker changes.

Use a free transcription tool like Otter.ai or upload the audio to YouTube as an unlisted video to generate captions, then export the transcript.

Post the transcript as a downloadable file alongside the audio in Canvas.

Avoid flashy transitions or strobe effects in video or animation. If you're embedding third-party videos, watch them through first to check for rapid flashing.

The free PEAT tool from the University of Maryland can analyze video files for flashing issues.

In Word: select your heading text → apply Heading 1, Heading 2, etc. from the Styles pane on the Home tab.

In PowerPoint: use the built-in slide layouts — each layout has a designated title placeholder that screen readers recognize.

Use one Heading 1 per page (usually the document title), then Heading 2 for sections, Heading 3 for subsections — don't skip levels.

Use the bulleted or numbered list buttons on Word's Home tab. Do not create lists by typing hyphens, asterisks, or numbers manually.

Try selecting text in the PDF — if you can highlight it, it's text-based. If you can't, it's a scanned image.

Use your library's scanning service to request an accessible version, or use Adobe Acrobat's OCR feature (Scan & OCR → Recognize Text) to convert the scanned image to real text.

In Word: click inside the table → Table Design tab → check "Header Row." Right-click the top row → Table Properties → Row → check "Repeat as header row at the top of each page."

If you're using a table just to create columns or arrange text visually, use text boxes or columns instead.

WCAG requires a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for body text. Use the free WebAIM Contrast Checker — paste in your text and background color codes to see if they pass.

Avoid light gray text on white, or yellow text on white — these are common failures.

In PowerPoint: go to Home tab → Arrange → Selection Pane. The reading order is bottom-to-top in this list — drag items to reorder them so the title is at the bottom (read first) and other content follows logically.

Instead of: "For the syllabus, click here."

Write: "Download the course syllabus." — where "course syllabus" is the linked text.

In Canvas: highlight the descriptive text → click the link icon → paste the URL. Avoid pasting bare URLs like https://... directly into content.

Add a note in the link text or next to it: "Writing Center resources (opens in new tab)". This is a simple text solution that works everywhere without any code.

In Canvas: use the built-in Link Validator (Settings → Validate Links in Content) to find broken links across your course automatically.

Check links before each semester begins, especially links to library resources or external websites that may have changed.

Write: "Week 3 reading: The Learning Brain (PDF, 4 pages)" rather than just "Week 3 reading."

This also helps students plan — a 40-page PDF requires different preparation than a 2-page article.

Group content by week or unit inside Canvas Modules. Use consistent naming (e.g., "Week 1: Introduction to X") and order items from reading → activity → assessment.

Avoid dumping all files directly into the Files section without Module organization — students with screen readers find this especially difficult to navigate.

In Canvas's Rich Content Editor, look for the paragraph/heading dropdown (it usually says "Paragraph" by default). Change it to Heading 2 or Heading 3 for section titles — don't just make text bold and increase the font size.

While editing any Page or Announcement in Canvas, look for the accessibility icon in the Rich Content Editor toolbar (it looks like a person with outstretched arms). Click it to run the checker and see flagged issues with one-click fixes.

Type the full assignment instructions directly into the Canvas Assignment description field. You can still attach a supplementary file for reference, but the key information should always be in the page itself.

In each Assignment, Quiz, or Discussion, set the Due Date field — not just mention it in the instructions. This populates the Canvas Calendar automatically for all enrolled students.