Screen reader

What are screen readers and why are they important for accessibility? 

Screen readers are assistive technology tools designed to assist individuals with visual impairments or blindness in accessing and navigating digital content. When a screen reader is active, it reads aloud the content displayed on the screen, allowing users to hear the text, links, buttons, menus, and other elements present in applications. This makes the content accessible for people with visual impairments or blindness. 

There is a built-in Canvas screen reader available in the webbrowser, called "Immersive Reader". You can find this function in the top right corner of your Canvas pages. However, this function is only available in Pages and the Syllabus (it cannot be used in Assignments, Discussions, Quizzes or Announcements). Therefore, people with visual impairments or blindness will need to use other tools.  JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver and Talkback are external screen readers that are compatible with Canvas. 

We recommend that you use the "Immersive Reader" function in Canvas yourself to experience how your Canvas course is experienced by your students with visual impairness or blindness. How is it to depend on a screen reader? Is everything understandable? What are aspects to keep into account? You will find out best when you try it yourself!

To ensure that a Canvas course is accessible and works well with screen readers, it's essential to follow best practices for web accessibility:

• Use headings to organise content.

• Describe images with alternative text.

• Use descriptive text for hyperlinks.

• Use tables to structure information.