Purpose
Accessibility ensures that all students- regardless of ability or circumstance- can fully engage with course materials and activities. This Accessibility Toolkit helps faculty design courses that are inclusive, equitable, and compliant with accessibility standards and provides practical steps for creating course content so every student has a fair opportunity to succeed.
Process
If you trying to decide how to review, triage, and revise your course materials to make them inclusive to all learners, you have landed in the correct place! Let’s talk about how to begin working through your course content:
Prioritize Your Courses
Identify which courses have priority on your list:
- Courses with a documented accommodation (urgent need)
- New development (let’s not make more to fix)
- Top 30 Courses (highest enrollment): Make note of which courses that you teach that are on the University’s Top 30 course list.
- Online courses (everything is online)
- Courses you are teaching this semester
- Existing courses (all modes)
You could make an argument to switch items 2, 3, 4 and 5 around, depending on your context. Check out the scenarios below!
Run your Anthology Ally Course Report
Anthology Ally audits your course content to identify barriers for students. The Ally Course Accessibility report identifies content that can be improved to increase accessibility. It provides an overall score for your course and identifies specific items to focus on that will make the biggest impact on your course.
- On the Canvas left navigation, click on the Ally Course Accessibility report.
- Find the overall score for your course and identify the biggest issues.
- Make a short list of the top issues in your course. Those are the items you will focus on first.
If Ally is not enabled in your course, you can enable it by:
- Selecting Settings from your Canvas Course left navigation.
- Across the top, find Navigation.
- Scroll to the bottom to find Ally Course Accessibility Report.
- Click the three dots to the right of the report and select enable. It should then appear in the top list.
- Scroll to the bottom and click Save.
If you are unable to enable Anthology Ally, you can ask for assistance via the Anthology Ally Contact Form. For guidance on using Anthology Ally, visit the Anthology Ally Instructor Quickstart Guide.
Scenario 1
You are about to begin the Spring semester.
- You don’t have any students needing an accommodation this semester
- You are moving a course online (sync or async) to serve students at multiple campuses for the Summer.
- You teach one course on the Top 30 list next Fall.
Scenario 1 Possible Plan
- Schedule a conversation about accessibility with the instructional designer supporting you with the transition of your course online.
- Run the Anthology Ally report on your Top 30 course. Identify the biggest issues and decide what you will work on first. If you have questions about what to do first, check out the Current Me-Future Me list.
If the Top 30 Course Initiative is focusing on your course (i.e. instructional designers are reaching out to provide dedicated support), tap into those resources. If folks are going to help you, use that support.
If you would happen to receive a request for accommodation, that course would push these priorities down.
Scenario 2
You are about to begin the Spring semester.
- You teach a Top 30 course this semester.
- You teach an online course in the summer.
- You teaching 2 sections of a course that isn’t on the Top 30 list this semester. You are concerned about making a specific type of content item in the course accessible.
Scenario 2 Possible Plan
- Run the Anthology Ally Course Accessibility Report on your Top 30 course. Identify the tasks that you can complete while you are preparing your course materials this semester. Use the Current Me-Future Me list to help guide this work.
- Reach out to your local instructional designer about the online course and have a conversation about any content items that might not be accessible.
- Reach out to your local instructional designer for a consultation on the content item you have questions about.
Make a Plan
In a previous step, you were directed to the Ally Course Accessibility Report in Canvas. You will likely notice old content items that are being marked as having barriers. You will also likely notice that there are two issues that exist in many content items: alternative text and headings. These three tasks will likely be the first accessibility tasks that you complete in your course content.
- Delete old content
- Add alternative text to images in your course.
- Style headings correctly.
Beyond those three tasks, you will want to focus on core accessibility barriers first and work on more advanced content items later. For a prioritized list of content types to work on, visit the Current Me-Future Me list.
To understand what is entailed in the items in the list, it is recommended that you visit the Accessibility Checklist and/or register for the Accessible Skills Challenge, Level 1 or the Accessible Skills Challenge, Level 2.
Make Note of Textbooks and Third-Party Technology
Textbooks and third-party technologies that we use in our courses present a special case for accessibility.
Third-party technologies: If you are bringing a third-party technology into your course, you can access the University’s Courseware website to determine the results of accessibility testing. For an overview of how to use the website, visit the Need to Know page. If the technology is not on the list, you can submit it to be reviewed.
Textbooks: There is not a list of accessible textbooks listed anywhere. The Courseware website lists various textbook platforms that are considered accessible. (Please note that the accessibility of a specific textbook on a platform might vary.) You can gauge the relative accessibility of a textbook by running the Wave tool while you have the textbook open. This is especially helpful for an OER textbook that is hosted on a website.
Training Resources and Groups
Accessibility Weeks
Watch for information about the Accessibility Weeks event happening the last week of January and the first week of February!
Accessible Skills Challenge
The Accessible Skills Challenge is an option if you are looking for small actionable tasks each week that will teach you the skills you need to make your course more accessible.
Raise Your Ally Score Sessions
You might also find the Raise Your Ally Score sessions helpful! You can use the time to work with others or to ask questions.
Accessibility Training and Groups
If you are looking for information about what is required for your course materials, check out the flexible training opportunities listed on the Accessibility Training and Groups page.