Welcome to Ally Accessibility: a self-paced training course

Wherever you're at in your accessibility journey, this self-paced course can help you learn more about accessibility and discover techniques to apply to make your Canvas courses accessible for all your students. Let's dive in!

Course Objectives

Faculty who complete this self-paced course in its entirety will be able to:

Identify core principles of accessibility
Design an accessible course using Canvas's built-in tools
Use automated accessibility checkers in combination with manual checking to locate and fix accessibility issues in their course
Reflect on inclusive and accessible pedagogical interventions for their course

LEARN IN YOUR OWN WAY, AT YOUR OWN PACE

This course is fully self-paced, meaning you can work through it however and whenever you want. For those who want a schedule, we have provided a Suggested Schedule for working through all parts of the course.

We've designed this course to be both a learning resource and a reference guide. We hope that you work through the modules to learn more about accessibility. We also hope that you bookmark this course and use it as a reference whenever you're developing your courses in Canvas.

A few of the self-paced components are worth highlighting:

Original text and video: While there may be some variation between the text and video in the course, both cover the same material. This means those who learn better by reading can do so, and those who learn better by watching and listening can do so. Or swap back and forth for variety's sake! 🤩
Video playlist: The videos are compiled on a single page so that you can easily work through the videos on their own if you prefer.
Quick Recap: Pages include a one-sentence summary at the end for folks who want to skim.
Further Reading and Resources: Pages include a list of additional resources for you to learn more about the topic.
Quick quizzes: Several topics include quick, 3-question practice quizzes for you to help test and reinforce your learning.

If you come across any terms that you don't understand, you can look them up in our Accessibility Glossary.

RECOMMENDED PATHS THROUGH THE COURSE

All course content is available in Modules. You are welcome to go through all the modules, though we encourage you to follow your own path through the course. The two core modules are the first two: Accessibility Overview and 8 Steps to Make Your Canvas Course Accessible.

It's worth noting that not all content in this course will apply to you and how you use Canvas. For example, if you don't use tables, then you can skip Step 7's information about accessible tables. If you don't post longer content, you likely don't need to read about section headings (Step 2).

We've created a PDF guide to help you determine your best path through the course. We've also included a few recommended paths based on your experience with accessibility and your specific needs.

View the Course Pathways Guide

New to accessibility?

The first course module, Accessibility Overview, will teach you about accessibility more broadly before you dive into Canvas accessibility. We recommend this module for anyone who isn't already experienced with accessibility. After you complete Accessibility Overview, continue on to 8 Steps to Make Your Canvas Course Accessible.

Experienced with accessibility?

If you're highly experienced with accessibility, we recommend skipping the Accessibility Overview module and jumping straight into 8 Steps to Make Your Canvas Course Accessible. You may also want to check out the module Beyond Digital Accessibility: How to Use Universal Design to Engage All Students.

Using this self-paced course as a reference or resource?

We want this self-paced course to be something you turn to whenever you're creating a Canvas course. We've collected everything you might want in one module: Accessibility Resources. You can also download a PDF checklist of the 8 steps to Canvas accessibility featured in this course. If you're looking for a specific piece of content, visit the Course Index and Further Reading, which is organized alphabetically by topic.

Looking for accessibility advice about a specific topic?

The core of this self-paced course is helpful for all courses, regardless of discipline or specific terms. We couldn't cover everything in the main parts of the course, though, so we have included a Special Topics module to cover other areas, such as math equations, complex images, foreign languages, extra time on tests, and more.

You may also want to check out the Course Index and Further Reading page, which is organized by topic.

Want to learn more about accessible pedagogies?

While this course is largely focused on digital accessibility in Canvas, we have included a module about universal design pedagogies called Beyond Digital Accessibility: How to Use Universal Design to Engage All Students. This module covers topics such as inclusive policy writing, trauma-informed pedagogy, and accessible assessment strategies.

ADDITIONAL LINKS

Want to earn a Canvas accessibility badge? Complete the first two modules in this self-paced course, then email eva.snider@bsu.edu to request the badge.
Learn more about the creator and facilitator of this self-paced course at Meet the Instructor.
Learn about the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and how this course helps you meet these standards.
Revisiting this course? Check out our change log to see what has changed since you last visited.
Want to make your Canvas content look like this? Enroll now in our self-paced course, Beautiful Canvas Pages Made Easy.

Take the Feedback Survey

We want to hear from you! If you have completed this self-paced or used it as a reference resource, we'd appreciate it if you took a few minutes to fill out our anonymous feedback survey. Your answers will help us improve our faculty development offerings in the future.

Start the Survey

Creative Commons License

This course is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0. This means you can share, copy, redistribute, adapt, remix, transform, and build upon these materials in any way you wish. You must give appropriate credit to the Division of Online and Strategic Learning at Ball State University. If you build upon these materials, you must redistribute your creation under the same Creative Commons license.

Learn more about this license

If you aren't already enrolled, we recommend enrolling in this course to receive Announcements and add the course to your Canvas dashboard.