Accessibility Tips

Accessibility Tip – Use Permalinks, Not PDFs

📅Week of Sept 8, 2025

When adding research articles from the TWU Library to your Canvas course, use the permalinks rather than uploading a downloaded PDF. Permalinks provide students with the most accessible version, support the library’s usage tracking, and help students become more familiar with research databases.

How to Use Permalinks Instead of PDFs

Accessibility Tip – Share PowerPoints, Not Flattened PDFs

📅Week of Sept 15, 2025

Uploading PowerPoint slides as PDFs flattens the content into images, making it impossible for students using screen readers or text-to-speech tools to access the text. Instead:

• Upload the PowerPoint file directly to Canvas, or

• Share a cloud link (OneDrive or Google Drive). If using Google Drive, adjust the sharing link so it downloads and opens in PowerPoint instead of Google Slides.

Google Drive link example:

Before: https://drive.google.com/file/d/FILE-ID/edit?usp=sharing
After: https://drive.google.com/uc?export=pptx&id=FILE-ID

When creating accessible slides:

• Start with a built-in slide template. Place text in the designated placeholders so it’s correctly tagged as titles, headings, or body content.

• Add images only in placeholder areas and provide alt text.

• Avoid inserting extra text boxes. These aren’t tagged in the reading order, so screen readers may skip them or read them out of sequence.

Learn more: Microsoft guide to accessible PowerPoints. 

Accessibility Tip – Use Descriptive Link Text

📅 Week of Sept 22, 2025

Avoid “click here” or “read more.” Instead, use meaningful text that tells students where the link leads.

✅ Example: Instead of “Click here for the syllabus,” write “View the Course Syllabus (PDF).”

Descriptive links improve navigation for screen readers and make your course more usable for everyone.

Learn more: Adding Descriptive Links in Canvas 

Accessibility Tip – Use Canvas Headings

📅 Week of Oct 6, 2025

In Canvas Pages, use built-in heading styles (Heading 2, Heading 3, etc.) instead of bolding or enlarging text.

Headings create a logical structure that allows students using screen readers to navigate easily and helps everyone scan the page quickly.

Learn More: Canvas Accessibility: Headings

Accessibility Tip – Avoid Color-Only Meaning

📅 Week of Oct 13, 2025

Don’t rely on color alone to convey information (e.g., “items in red are required”).
Add another cue, such as bold text or an asterisk.

✅ Example: “Required fields are marked with an asterisk (*) and highlighted in red.”

Learn More: Don't use color alone to convey meaning when creating accessible documents

Accessibility Tip – Caption All Videos

📅 Week of Oct 20, 2025

Always use captions for lecture recordings and embedded videos.

Captions support students who are Deaf or hard of hearing, English learners, and anyone studying in a noisy or quiet space.

✅ Use Panopto’s auto-captioning, then review and correct for accuracy. Alternatively, consider using a commercial captioning service that offers a captioning rate of 99% accuracy.

Learn More: Editing Captions in Panopto

Accessibility Tip – Use High Contrast Text

📅 Week of Oct 27, 2025

Ensure text stands out clearly from the background.

✅ Dark text on a light background (or vice versa) works best.

Avoid using color combinations like red/green or blue/purple that are hard to distinguish for color-blind users.

Learn More: Accessible color contrast requirements with examples

Accessibility Tip – Use Lists for Structure

📅 Week of Nov 3, 2025

When presenting steps or related items, use Canvas’s built-in numbered or bulleted lists instead of typing numbers manually.

Lists help screen readers convey sequence and improve visual clarity.

Learn More: Introduction to Accessible Lists and a screen reader demo

Accessibility Tip – Check PDFs for Accessibility Without Acrobat

📅 Week of Nov 10, 2025

Before uploading a PDF to Canvas, make sure it’s accessible to all students — especially those using screen readers.

✅ Here’s how to check accessibility without Adobe Acrobat Pro:

• Start with the source file: If your PDF was created from Word, PowerPoint, or Google Docs, run the built-in Accessibility Checker before exporting. This ensures proper tags and reading order carry over.
  
  

• Use Microsoft Edge: Open the PDF and press Ctrl + Shift + U to activate the Read Aloud feature. If it skips or reads out of order, the PDF may be untagged or image-based.
  
  

• Use Ally in Canvas: Ally identifies inaccessible PDFs and recommends fixes. Re-upload an improved version once corrected.
  
  

• Try free web tools: PAC PDF Accessibility Checker can check tagging and structure for free on Windows devices.
  
  

⚠️ Tip: When using Word to create a PDF, always use the "save as PDF" then select the " .

📘 Learn more: Checking PDFs for Accessibility

Accessibility Tip – Provide Audio Transcripts

📅 Week of Nov 17, 2025

When posting audio content such as podcasts or narrated slides, include a written transcript.

Transcripts allow all learners—especially those with hearing loss or limited bandwidth—to access your content.

Learn More: How to record and transcribe audio in Microsoft Word 

Accessibility Tip – Use Tables Only for Data

📅 Week of Nov 24, 2025

Avoid using tables for layout. Use them only for data, and identify column and row headers.

✅ In Word, PowerPoint, or Canvas, select “Header Row” to properly tag the table for screen readers.

Learn More: Canvas Accessibility: Tables