The Harriet W. Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning
Creating Accessible Digital Learning Experiences
What Is Digital Accessibility?
Digital accessibility means ensuring that anyone can access and interact with the course materials you share online. This includes providing alternative texts for images and captions for video; using proper formatting when adding content to pages in Canvas; and checking that digitized articles and book chapters are accessible to screen readers. For more information, see this course accessibility checklist, which covers the seven pillars of digital accessibility.
How Do I Make My Courses Accessible?
- For Canvas, run the Pope Tech accessibility checker to scan courses for accessibility issues. It will guide you through the remediation process and keep track of your progress.
- Review your course materials and media for accessibility with detailed information found in our Course Accessibility Checklist.
How Do I Learn More and Get Help?
- The Sheridan Center’s Digital Learning & Design team has Accessbility guides that address the most common digital accessibility errors.
- Schedule a digital accessibility consultation to get answers to questions about accessibility and using accessibility tools.
- Join a Sheridan event on digital accessibility best practices.
Why Is Digital Accessibility Important in Teaching and Learning?
Making sure digital materials are accessible benefits everyone. This is especially important as over 20 percent of students have a disability, yet the majority of those students do not receive official accommodations from their university. As an instructor you play an essential role in ensuring all students can access course content without difficulty.
What Are the Digital Accessibility Requirements?
Digital content at the University, such as Brown websites and Canvas course materials, must meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 Level AA standards before being shared with students. This also aligns with federal civil rights laws.
Do you have additional questions about digital accessibility? Then please reach out to dld@brown.edu.