SLU Checklist for Accessible Online Course Materials
The Saint Louis University Distance Education Office offers resources to help ensure that SLU instructors are designing their online course materials with accessibility in mind.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 guarantee protection from discrimination and equal access to opportunity for people with disabilities. To help reduce barriers for students with disabilities, the Saint Louis University Distance Education Office, in collaboration with the Distance Education Committee, developed an updated checklist to guide instructors in designing accessible online course materials. Accessibility considerations related to overall course navigation and design are embedded in the SLU Distance Course Design Rubric. Instructors teaching online should aim to meet the expectations described in the checklist below.
Checklist for Accessible Online Course Materials
The updated SLU Checklist for Accessible Online Course Materials is organized by course material type and general readability considerations for those materials. The checklist applies to a course's Canvas site and the materials contained within the site. It does not apply to webpages or publisher materials that are external to the Canvas site (unless those materials are created by the course instructor). The Distance Education Office created a Canvas site dedicated to the Checklist for Accessible Online Course Materials that includes detailed instructions on making your digital materials more accessible.
Note: the focus of the checklist is online course materials, not online courses; thus, the checklist and resource site provide guidance for making any course's materials located in Canvas more accessible.
SLU's Canvas Resource Site for Making Online Course Materials Accessible
- PDFs are searchable and able to be read logically by screen readers, consistent with Optical Character Recognition standards (vs. scanned image files).
- Hierarchy/reading order of information presented is indicated by using heading styles (vs. relying solely on visual formatting differences).
- Lists are formatted using the bulleted or numbered list function in the tool used to create the content.
- Links are created by hyperlinked and underlined text instead of copied URLs.
- Links make sense out of context and describe the content/destination being linked (instead of more generic language on its own, such as “Click here.”)
- Tables are used for tabular data, not for visual layout purposes.
- Tables include a title and summary description of the data presented.
- Column and row headers are assigned in all tables.
- Complex tables with merged or split cells have been broken down into smaller, simpler tables.
- Images include alternate text (alt-text) that provides a concise description of the image; for images that function as links (e.g., to content, to sections of a Canvas site), the description explains where the link goes.
- Other non-text visual elements (e.g., charts, graphs) provide a description of the information conveyed by the visual.
- Images are static (i.e., they do not blink or flash).
- Images and other visual elements do not rely solely on color to convey information.
- Videos include synchronized captions.
- Audio files contain associated transcripts.
- [If applicable] For any synchronous meetings or class sessions, live captioning is activated through web-conferencing technology (e.g., Zoom).
- Text does not rely on color alone as the only visual means of conveying information.
- Text is highly contrasted with its background (e.g., dark text on a white background or vice versa); red/green and yellow/blue color combinations are avoided as contrasting colors.
- All text appears in a font size of at least 12-point.
- Simple, sans serif fonts are used throughout the content.
- Only hyperlinks appear with underlined text formatting.
- Large blocks of information within the course site are divided into manageable sections, with ample white space around and between the blocks.
Tools for Increasing Accessibility of Online Course Materials
| Tool | Description | Support Resources |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe Accessibility Checker | The adobe accessibility checker can be used to identify and correct issues in PDF files. | Adobe Pro: Create and Verify PDF Accessibility |
| Ally | Ally is a tool integrated into Canvas that identifies common accessibility issues and provides prompts on how to address them. | AskSLU: Ally for Instructors |
| Canvas Accessibility Checker | Canvas has its own built-in tool that identifies some common accessibility errors, such as color contrast, images without alternate descriptions, and missing headers. | Canvas Basics Guide: How Do I Use the Accessibility Checker in the Rich Content Editor? |
| MS Office Accessibility Checker | All MS Office products (such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint) have a built-in, easy-to-use accessibility checker. | Microsoft: Improve Accessibility with the Accessibility Checker |
| Panopto Captioning | Panopto provides automatic captions that can be edited and downloaded to use as a transcript. | Panopto: Learn About Accessibility Features |
More Instructor Resources
Distance Education Office: For questions specifically related to the checklist or other distance education course expectations, please contact the Distance Education Office at distance.education@slu.edu.
Reinert Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning: The Reinert Center staff are available to assist with pedagogical support and inclusive learning strategies, including accessibility and universal design for learning (UDL).
Center for Accessibility and Disability Resources (CADR): CADR is available to answer questions about accommodations, including how to implement student accommodations in your course, how to navigate discussions about a student's accommodations, and how to address accessibility issues that might arise in your course.
Submit Your Course For Recognition
If your course meets all the items on the SLU Checklist for Accessible Online Course Materials, you have the option of submitting it for an Accessibility Review with the Distance Education Office. Successful courses will receive a letter recognizing your commitment to creating accessible online course materials!