This section contains useful guides on how to create accessible learning content.

Here at the University of Manchester, we are committed to ensuring all students, including those with disabilities and who rely on assistive technologies, can fully engage with educational content. Adhering to legal requirements, such as the Equality Act 2010, we prioritise accessibility and digital inclusion considering these essential in online learning design and in so doing, we foster an inclusive learning environment that offers equal opportunities for all students.

With this in mind, use the information on this page to help you ensure your Canvas content is accessible.

The Rich Content Editor (RCE) features an accessibility tool that helps you identify and correct accessibility issues while creating content in the editor. By using this accessibility checker, you can create course content with accessibility considerations in mind.

The tool checks for compliance with the following accessibility rules:

How to Use the Accessibility Checker

When an issue is detected, an accessibility indicator notification will appear below the rich content editor, showing the number of problems found.

In the example below, the checker is identifying 4 issues within this content.

Clicking this indicator opens a sidebar that lists each issue and provides clear instructions on how to resolve it. For example, if an image is missing appropriate alt text, the sidebar will highlight the image within the editor and explain what needs to be added and/or changed. Simply enter the correct alt text and click Apply.

Once you fix an issue, the checker automatically moves to the next one. You can also navigate through all identified issues using the Previous and Next buttons.

When all issues have been resolved, a success message will appear, and the accessibility issue indicator will disappear.

If new issues are introduced later, the indicator will reappear, allowing you to repeat the process and keep your content accessible.

Visit the ‘How do I use the Accessibility Checker in the Rich Content Editor‘ page for Canvas’ own guidance on utilising the accessibility checker.

It is also possible to create and upload caption files to a video uploaded using the Rich Content Editor. For a detailed guide on how to do this, view this Canvas page.

In the left-hand course menu of every Canvas course, you’ll find a link to the Ally Course Accessibility Report. This tool provides a comprehensive overview of all accessibility issues across your course and gives you options to correct them.

When you first open the tool, the Overview page displays:

• An overall accessibility score for the course
• A breakdown of course content grouped by type
• Options to fix some of the issues identified by the tool.

Clicking the Content tab will open the content area, where you’ll see a list of all content types in your course, sorted by their accessibility score. Select any item to view detailed information about its score and accessibility issues.

Once opened, the report highlights the specific accessibility issue for that content and provides options to fix it. For example, if an image is missing alt text, the report will display a prompt to add a description. Enter the image description in the text box and click Add to apply the fix.

Once the fix is applied, close the dialog box. The report will automatically move you to the next issue.

Your overall course accessibility score will increase as you correct each issue, and you can track this progress on the Overview page.

The Ally tool can also be used to check the accessibility of individual items within your course, including content created in the Rich Content Editor. This allows you to verify and improve accessibility at the item level, not just across the entire course.

For more detailed guidance, visit the following resources:

• A Guide to Using Ally on Canvas
• Walkthrough: Making content more accessible with Ally

The MathJax JavaScript library has been enhanced to render equations in a more accessible format, improving both usability and accessibility. Math equations created anywhere in Canvas will be rendered as MathML, ensuring greater accessibility across the platform. In addition, MathJax provides a context menu with functions for interacting with the equation.

The MathJax Accessibility extensions offer a range of tools and features that facilitate the universal rendering of mathematical content on the web, enhancing both visual and auditory presentation. Specifically, these extensions provide:

• A responsive rendering feature that allows for the dynamic collapsing and exploration of mathematical subexpressions.
• An aural rendering tool that delivers real-time speech-to-text conversion of mathematical content and its subexpressions, based on various rule sets.
• An exploration tool that enables meaningful interaction with mathematical content, featuring multiple highlighting options and synchronized aural rendering.

These Accessibility extensions are compatible with a broad array of browsers, operating systems, and assistive technologies, as they rely on widely supported web standards like WAI-ARIA, including labels and live regions.

We highly recommend using the MathJax Accessibility extensions to ensure the best possible experience for all users.

Many Canvas features have undergone improvements with regard to accessibility. Below is a list of feature areas and their accessibility functionalities.

View the ‘What are the Canvas accessibility standards?’ Canvas page for more information.