The ELMS-Canvas Accessibility Checker tool enables instructors and course designers to maintain the accessibility of page content that was created with the Rich Content Editor. The Accessibility Checker is located on the right side of the Rich Content Editor menu bar, which is visible when in Edit mode.

NOTE: Depending on the size of the browser window, you may have to scroll the menu bar horizontally to view the Accessibility Checker icon.

The Accessibility Checker identifies issues with several common accessibility errors. An explanation about the errors and fields or menus needed to fix the error are provided, along with additional resources about the accessibility guidelines.

The Accessibility Checker verifies the following accessibility rules

Tables

• Table captions: Tables should include a caption describing the contents of the table.
• Table header scope: Tables headers should specify scope and the appropriate structure.
• Table header: Tables should include at least one header.

Headings

• Sequential headings: Heading levels should not be skipped (e.g., H2 to H4). However, the tool does not check if the first header starts with H2 or whether the headings are sequential with the rest of the content in the page.
• Heading paragraphs: Headings should not contain more than 120 characters.

Images

• Image alt text: Images with a blank alt text field will be flagged. Images should include an alt attribute describing the image content. Users can choose to identify image as decorative, which does not require alt text.
• Image alt filename: Image filenames should not be used as the alt attribute describing the image content, however currently the Accessibility Checker does not flag this error. (This will be included in an upcoming release.)
• Image alt length: Alt attribute text should not contain more than 120 characters

Links

• Adjacent links: Adjacent links with the same URL should be a single link. This rule verifies adjacent link errors and combines them into a single link. Users should manually check that the resulting link is logical and fix if needed.

Color contrast

• Large text contrast: Text larger than 18pt (or bold 14pt) should display a minimum contrast ratio of 3:1.
• Small text contrast: Text smaller than 18pt (or bold 14pt) should display a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1.

For more information on using the Accessibility Checker, please read the Canvas article How Do I Use the Accessibility Checker in the Rich Content Editor from Instructure.