University of North Texas 
Accessibility and Course Design
Designing Your Course for Accessibility
Accessibility is an essential part of effective teaching and course design. It is especially crucial in online learning environments, where students engage with course materials in a variety of formats and may have diverse needs, abilities, technologies, and learning preferences. Designing courses with accessibility in mind from the start helps ensure that all students can access content, participate fully, and demonstrate their learning without unnecessary barriers.
Small, intentional choices can make a meaningful difference for students, such as organizing content clearly, providing alternative text for images, captioning videos, and using accessible documents. These practices not only support learners with disabilities but also improve the learning experience for everyone by creating courses that are more flexible, usable, and inclusive.
Core Accessibility Practices
Use structured content
Add alternative text for images
- Provide meaningful alternative text that describes the purpose of the image
- Avoid using images with embedded text unless necessary
Create accessible links and text
- Use descriptive link text (avoid “click here” or "https://www..." hyperlinks)
- Keep formatting simple and consistent (avoid excessive bold, color-only meaning)
Provide captions and transcripts
- Add captions to all videos
- Provide transcripts for audio-only content
Choose accessible third-party materials
- Review publisher content, tools, and software for accessibility features
- Work with the accessibility team as early as possible to ensure materials can be used by all learners
Make your documents accessible
- Use built-in accessibility features in Word, PowerPoint, PDF, Excel, etc.
- Apply proper structure (headings, reading order, alt text)
Use Ally in Canvas to Improve Accessibility
Canvas includes Ally, a powerful tool that helps you identify and fix accessibility issues in your course. In Canvas, you can find it on your course navigation menu: "Ally Course Accessibility Report".
- Review this one-page handout on how to use Ally to scan and remediate your content: How to Use Ally in Your Course (PDF)
- If possible, aim for the highest possible percentage score. As an automated tool, it will throw in false positive and false negatives, but the safest approach is aiming for 90-100% or similar.
Make Microsoft Documents Accessible
If you upload Microsoft documents (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, etc.), use the built-in accessibility checker (from Review tab > Check Accessibility) before posting. Here is 3-minute tutorial: How to Use Microsoft Accessibility Checkers (Canvas Studio video).