Overview

Here you will find a series of resources that help faculty make their courses and course materials more accessible, in accordance with Universal Design for Learning, as well as Canisius's commitment to inclusion and Cura Personalis.  

Student Accessibility Support: Accommodations and Services

Here is the public-facing guide maintained by the Accessibility Support Office.  It's a great place to start, since this tells students, parents, and prospective students what their responsibilities are, and what they can expect as far as support for documented disabilities at Canisius, in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.  As a faculty or staff member, you can get a good idea of how Accessibility Support works for students (and you) in supporting our commitment to inclusion.  

Resource: Accessible Text

This online, self-paced lesson covers various ways we can ensure our text documents - syllabi, course instructions, articles, and so on - are accessible to a broad range of students.  

Resource: Accessible Video and Images

Images and video require steps to make them accessible for students.  This short lesson explains how to do this.

Resource: Accessible Classroom

Often, preoccupation with technology has accessibility conversations focused on text, images, or videos on the internet.  But what we do in our classrooms is at least as important for inclusivity.  This lesson supplies essential tips for ensuring that our classes are places where all can achieve.  

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WCAG2.1 Checklist

Additionally, WCAG2.1 is built around a few core principles, using the acronym POUR:

1. Perceivable (Can users see or hear it?)

   1. Alt Text: Every meaningful image must have a text description for screen readers. Decorative images should be "hidden" from screen readers.

   2. Captions & Transcripts: All pre-recorded videos must have accurate captions and text transcripts. Live videos also require captions under Level AA.

   3. Color Contrast: Text must stand out against its background with a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 (or 3:1 for very large text).

   4. Reflow (Responsive Design): Users should be able to zoom in up to 400% without having to scroll horizontally to read a line of text.

2. Operable (Can users navigate it?)

   1. Keyboard Only: Every button, link, and form must be usable with a keyboard alone—no mouse required.

   2. No Keyboard Traps: Users must be able to move focus into and out of any element using only the keyboard (tabs shouldn't get "stuck" in a menu).

   3. Adjustable Timing: If a page has a time limit (like a logout timer), users must be able to turn it off or extend it.

   4. Seizure Safety: Content must not flash more than three times per second.

3. Understandable (Is the content clear?)

   1. Predictable Navigation: Menus and icons should appear in the same place and behave the same way across the entire site.

   2. Error Assistance: If a user makes a mistake on a form (e.g., leaves a required field blank), the error message should clearly explain what is wrong and how to fix it.

   3. Language Setting: The website's code must specify the language (e.g., English or Spanish) so screen readers use the correct pronunciation.

4. Robust (Does it work with assistive tech?)

   1. Clean Code: The site must use well-formed HTML so it doesn't "break" when interpreted by different browsers or screen readers.

   2. Name, Role, Value: Interactive elements (like a "Submit" button) must be coded so a screen reader can tell the user exactly what the element is and what it does.

Helpful Tools

Some tools/extensions can help for web-based content:

• WAVE Evaluation Tool: Used to accessibility in-browser. WAVE is a web accessibility evaluation tool developed by http://WebAIM.org . It provides visual feedback about the accessibility of your web content by injecting icons and indicators into your page. No automated tool can tell you if your page is accessible, but WAVE facilitates human evaluation and educates about accessibility issues. All analysis is done entirely within the Chrome browser allowing secure valuation of intranet, local, password protected, and other sensitive web pages. It opens a sidebar that allows us to see an accessibility score and provides an overlay on the page to see what needs to be fixed if anything.

• DigitalA11y Tublets: Similar to the above.

• DigitalA11y Color Contrast Checker: A color-picker checker to see if there is enough contrast between a background and foreground color.

Note that the above tools are meant to assist and help-- they may miss some things or may be inaccurate. Additionally, the above tools will not automatically make the changes for us. We need to do that ourselves.

If you are a Canisius University faculty member, you can earn a MicroCredential in Accessibility!  This can be useful for portfolios, and reflects your commitment to innovative, inclusive teaching and learning.  Contact coli@canisius.edu to request access to the microcredential program.