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Canvas Accessibility

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What is Accessibility?

The purpose of accessibility, in Canvas' case, Digital Accessibility, is to promote equity.  Here, you will find basic principles to ensure accessibility in Canvas.

While the number of students with documented disabilities is known, the students who remain under diagnosed or undiagnosed will remain unknown.  In keeping with the UIW Mission statement of striving for inclusion amongst a student body of diverse backgrounds, and abilities, all digital assets should/will be created and revised in accordance with the guidelines developed by the world Wide Web Consortium (W3C) an international community of experts who work on standards for the web.  

W3C created the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. (WCAG). The purpose of WCAG is to provide a single, shared standard for web accessibility that can be used by governments, businesses, and organizations around the world to make their websites and web-based applications more accessible to people with disabilities. WCAG provides a set of clear and specific guidelines that outline how to make web content more accessible, as well as a set of success criteria that can be used to evaluate the accessibility of web content. 

Accessibility Terminology Open

Four Principles of Accessibility

There are four principles of accessibility that lay the foundation for anyone to access and use web content. The four principles were defined by WCAG as guidelines for making digital content more accessible, as well as a list of success criteria for evaluating accessibility. These criteria are referred to by the acronym "POUR."

Perceivable Open
Operable Open
Understandable Open
Robust Open

The 5 Categories of Canvas Accessibility

When designing your course, faculty should consider all of their students' needs. All students should have equal access to their course learning content. By following these these 5 categories, faculty will make their courses more accessible:

Category 1 - Use Alternative Text for Images Open
Category 2 - Use Descriptive Text for Links Open
Category 3 - Use Headings Open
Category 4 - Use Video Captions Open
Category 5 - Use Tables for Data and Information Open

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Anthology Ally - What is it?

In our ever-evolving digital age, ensuring that all students have equal access to course materials is paramount. As educators, you constantly seek ways to promote inclusivity and adaptability. With this in mind, we're excited to introduce you to Ally, by Anthology - a transformative tool designed to bridge the accessibility gap in digital education.  Please visit our Ally page by clicking the Ally banner above.