Accessibility Tools for UAF Faculty
Digital course content must be accessible so that all learners have equal access to content at the same time.
When creating new materials for your class, it is important to make them accessible from the beginning. You can accomplish this by learning to use software features to build a structure that is accessible to people using screen readers and other assistive technology. Designing with accessibility in mind allows you to provide usable material so that all students, regardless of ability or disability, can succeed.
Best Practices
- Build document structure using heading styles
- Ensure hyperlinks are self-describing (not the full URL and “click here”)
- Use built-in menu options to create lists and other formatting
- Keep table structure clear and simple
- Use sans-serif fonts such as Arial, Tahoma, or Verdana at a minimum of 12 pt. size
- Ensure adequate color contrast and never use color alone for emphasis. Check out WebAIM’s Contrast Checker Bookmarklet to see if color contrast meets accessibility requirements
- Add alt-text for all non-text objects (images, graphics, etc.), or mark them as decorative
- Ensure video content has accurate captions, and any visuals are described. All the videos you use in your course should have captions
- Ensure audio content has an accurate transcript
- When assigning academic articles, link to them through the university library instead of uploading the PDF.
- Before adopting a digital textbook or online homework system, check that it has an accessibility statement and VPAT available.
- In subject areas that are highly visual or auditory, consult with Disability Services or Instructional Designers to discuss options for proactive accessibility.
Accessibility Checker Tools
Accessibility checker tools identify accessibility problems in existing files such as documents. UA's main accessibility page has more on standards, policies, and additional resources.
Go for better, not perfect. Start with higher impact items like your syllabus and high stakes assignments, then just keep moving forward with steady improvements.
UDOIT
UDOIT Advantage lets users run accessibility scans on demand. It provides a holistic view of accessibility issues across Canvas course content and files – without requiring page-by-page checks.
The UDOIT dashboard for instructors can be enabled by going to Settings > Navigation, and adding it to the left-hand menu of the course. Even when enabled, it will always be invisible to students.
What students see:
A grey box with an arrow icon is present next to documents in Canvas. Clicking on
this icon allows students (and instructors) to download the material in a variety
of alternative formats. Depending on the document type, available formats include:
optimized PDF, HTML, audio (mp3), ePub, and plain text. Alternative formats are only
as good as the document they’re created from – if the original document is not accessible
the generated alternative will not be legible.
Course Accessibility Checker
The Course Accessibility Checker is a course-level tool that enables instructors to identify, remediate, and validate accessibility issues across Canvas-created content. It streamlines accessibility compliance with live, on-demand reports, built-in remediation guidance, and content previews.
Microsoft Office Accessibility Checker
Microsoft Office includes a built-in accessibility checker that allows users to check their documents for issues and offers suggestions on how to address accessibility problems.
Grackle for Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets
Grackle is an accessibility checker extension used to check Google Docs, Google Slides, or Google Sheets for accessibility issues.
- Install Grackle Docs, Grackle Slides, and/or Grackle Sheets as an Add-on, then log in using your alaska.edu account.
- Inside a Google Docs, Google Slides, or Google Sheets file, click the Add-ons menu and choose Grackle, Launch and log in using your UAF credentials.
- When the accessibility check appears, click an error to learn how to fix it.
If you are logged in, Grackle can also export the corrected file to PDF. Some Grackle fixes (e.g., table tags) only appear if you make the accessibility fixes in the Grackle Docs tool, then Export to PDF through Grackle.
Foxit PDF Editor
PDF files are no longer the recommended file type for posting documents to Canvas. Many experts agree that posting files created in productivity software like Microsoft Office or Google Docs is preferred due to the improvements in the accessibility of the tools, their accessibility checkers, and the ability for students to change fonts, increase size, or otherwise modify the document to be easier for them to read.
Foxit PDF Editor is a full featured software application for creating, editing, and checking PDF files for ease of access. Download and install Foxit PDF Editor.
- Foxit Tutorials: Includes tutorials on accessibility tools
- WebAIM PDF Accessibility
- Evaluating PDF Accessibility with Foxit
Captioning Tools
Multimedia options can be used in creative ways to reach students who may not be able to access materials in the traditional sense. Recording and sharing video presentations or demonstrations can be an effective way to deliver content or assess student learning. Go to the video accessibility page for more information and resources on these tools.
All video content must include accurate captions and any visual-only material should be described in the audio. There are several tools faculty can use to caption videos.
Kaltura
All videos and audio in Kaltura are automatically captioned. The accuracy of automatic captions is generally around 85%, so it’s good practice to edit the captions for accuracy and timing, to ensure your videos are fully accessible. Once the automatic captions have been completed, you can edit them for accuracy in MediaSpace or in Canvas.
- The Ultimate Kaltura How-To
Use our UAF guide to review Kaltura’s automatically generated captions and correct caption text, repeated errors, and caption timing. - Upload and manage captions
Use Kaltura’s instructions to upload and manage caption files, including downloading, replacing, or deleting caption files. - Upload and manage extended audio descriptions (EAD) in Kaltura
Use Kaltura’s instructions to upload, download, or delete an EAD .vtt file. See the documentation below for UAF-specific instructions for accessing the captions editor. - Edit captions and extended audio descriptions (EAD)
Use our institutional guide for the correct, locally supported process for editing captions or EAD content. Where our instructions differ from Kaltura’s general documentation, follow this guide.
YouTube Captions
UA faculty, staff, and students can log in to YouTube using their UA username and password because it is part of our Google Suite of tools. When you upload a video to YouTube, captions will be auto-generated within about an hour. You must edit the automatically generated YouTube captions to be sure they are accurate.
Edit captions in Zoom
Edit captions in Canvas Zoom tool
Other Accessibility Tools
Helperbird is a browser extension tool designed to make websites, PDFs, and documents easier to read and use. Helperbird Unlimited is free for UA faculty, staff, and students! It offers a range of features to support individual needs. Take a look at this Helperbird All-In-One Accessibility Tool Tutorial from UA Disability Services for more information about using Helperbird.
You can Install the Helperbird browser extension in Chrome, Firefox, or Edge, or by visiting your browser’s extension store. Just search for 'Helperbird' and click 'Add to Browser.' Once installed, you'll see the Helperbird owl icon in your toolbar. Click it to open the side panel with all the features of Helperbird.
When you install it, it initially shows that you have a “Free” account. To activate the upgraded version:
- With your Helperbird extension panel open, click where it says “Free” at the top, or scroll down to open Settings from the bottom. Your Helperbird account page will open.
- In the Login with your Google account section, use your UA login to sign in.
- Refresh the page, and it will now show “Unlimited”