When adding hyperlinks, use meaningful text rather than generic phrases like “Click here,” “More,” or simply pasting the full URL. Clear link text helps all readers understand where the link will lead. For screen reader users, posting a raw URL can be particularly problematic—screen readers will read the entire address aloud, which can be long and confusing. Many screen reader users also navigate by pulling up a list of all links on a page. If those links are labeled only as “Click here” or “More,” the list becomes meaningless, offering no clue about the destination.
Link text clearly describes the destination or action
Link text does not include full URLs in visible link text
All links on a page are unique
Link text avoids vague phrases like “click here” or “read more”
Link text is concise and avoids being overly long
Avoid using the word "link" (Screen readers will automatically announce the word “link” before reading the hyperlink text)
✅ Download the accessibility guidelines.
✅ The course syllabus provides further details.
❌ Download here / Click here / Read more / Learn more / More info
✅Take time to read the accessibility guide.
❌https://www.accessibeykzlX7iXwD2vaREme
✅ Lonigan, E. (1939). The effect of modern technological conditions upon the employment of labor. The American Economic Review, 246-259.
❌ Lonigan, E. (1939). The effect of modern technological conditions upon the employment of labor. The American Economic Review, 246-259.
✅ Week 1 Lecture Slides
✅ Week 2 Lecture Slides
❌ Lecture Slides
❌ Lecture Slides
About: Below is a quick overview, notes, and introductory learning links related the tools available for identifying and fixing accessibilities issues in Canvas. Please see Accessibility Tools for Canvas by UW IT for more details and recommendations. Our team encourages each user to experiment with the different approaches and tools to come to the best solution for their workflow and course. And as always, contact us for any consultation needed!
About: Entire site scans are great for a comprehensive look at all the issues on your site and track your improvements through the scores generated. One recommended strategy is to choose one of the accessibility core areas and use the tools' filters to target a selected one of them at a time. These tool are accessed by clicking the link on your course navigation menu. If not present, this article will show you how to enable: Manage Course Navigation Links.
UDOIT is the only site scanning tool that will identify issues with links. However, it only flags full URLs used as links: It will not flag expressions like "click here" or other issues described above.
💡 Tip: If your site has a large quantity of URLs used as links, UDOIT can be handy to fix those and you can do the rest manually or with DesignPLUS.
About: These three tools to do scans, not of an entire course, but on individual items of Canvas content such a page, assignment description, announcement, etc. They can be accessed anytime you are in Canvas Edit mode. Many users find these tools useful for quick clean ups of selected content and in tandem with site scanning tools. Making a habit of using these to check and fix content every time you're working in Canvas will go a long way in the ultimate goal of creating content that's accessible for all from the start!
DesignPlus is the only one of these tools that will identify issues with descriptive link text including full URLS, repeated link text, and non-descriptive terms like "Learn more."
About: DesignPLUS is a powerful tool in the iSchool technology suite that the TLT uses for customizing Canvas sites and creating templates. It is available for anyone to use and also has its own accessibility checker. If you have enabled ("unhidden") the DesignPlus sidebar, you can use its accessibility checker.
Webpages
(Vendor): How To Unhide the DesignPLUS Sidebar
(Vendor): DesignPLUS User Guide
Canvas has native features for fixing virtually all of the accessibility core issues--and avoiding creating those issues from the start when you are aware of them.
It is recommended to visually scan all site content (not just pages) and fix links. This feature in Canvas makes it very easy to edit link text.
In Edit mode, click the link and then "Link Options." This will provide a window to quickly replace the link text.
Use the Search box (top-right of all Canvas pages) and enter "www" and any terms that you may have used repeatedly on your site such as "Learn more" and then fix using the method above.