Canvas has two accessibility checking systems available: One built in to Canvas itself, and the other (Ally) is an add-on provided by Highline College.
Using Canvas’s built-in accessibility tool
When building pages within Canvas, the built-in tool is visible as an accessibility icon (
) underneath the editing box. Canvas will continually watch as text and code is entered. If the icon shows a blue alert icon with a number in it (
), Canvas has found elements that need to be updated for better accessibility. The number in the icon shows how many issues are flagged.
Clicking on the icon will open the accessibility checker pane on the right side of the screen. Within this pane, you can click through any issues found and follow the instructions in the checker to update the elements as necessary.
As with all accessibility checkers, it may not catch absolutely everything, but is an excellent reference to keep an eye on as you work on building your course pages.
Ally accessibility content meters
Ally is a tool that scans your entire Canvas course for accessibility issues. Even if you’ve never checked the full Ally course report, you’ve probably seen the Ally accessibility meters on images and documents you’ve added to your classes. There are three accessibility meters you’re likely to see:
Red: Serious accessibility issues need attention.
Orange: Some accessibility issues need attention.
Green: No detected accessibility issues.
When you see an orange or red meter attached to an item, hovering over the meter will give you a brief description of the detected issue.
Clicking on the Ally meter will open a screen with the element on the left and instructions on how to fix it on the right. Some issues can be fixed directly through this screen, other issues (usually with attached documents) need to be fixed in the original file.
Ally Course Accessibility Report
The Ally Course Accessibility Report scans your entire Canvas course for accessibility issues. It then scores your course and gives you a list of the issues it found, their severity, and guidelines on how to correct them.
The Ally Course Accessibility Report should be enabled by default and visible in the course navigation for all new courses. Courses that were originally developed before Ally was enabled and copied to current quarters may not have the course report option visible in the course navigation.
If you don’t see “Ally Course Accessibility Report” in your course navigation, go to your course Settings, choose the Navigation tab, and drag the “Ally Course Accessibility Report” item from the lower “hidden from students” section to the upper course navigation section. This option will not be shown to students, so you don’t need to worry about them seeing this in the course navigation.
Viewing the accessibility report
Once the Ally report option is visible in your navigation, simply click on that to view the report for your class. The first screen will show an overall score at the top of the page, followed by a breakdown of the types of content in your course.
Next are buttons to start working on either the easiest issues to fix or the lowest scoring content. Below that is a list of all issues found in the course, ranked by severity and how many items have that particular issue.
To improve your course score, just pick something to work on and follow the instructions. If you have questions or something doesn’t seem to be working how you expect, please reach out to your Accessibility Liaison or Accessible Technology for assistance!