Digital Accessibility Tip: Copying from Word into Canvas

What happens when I copy from Word into Canvas?

Converting Word documents into Canvas pages, assignments, or other content can be really valuable for students navigating Canvas courses. Students using the Canvas mobile app often have trouble accessing Word files from their mobile devices; these issues are less likely to occur when the content is built in the Canvas Rich Content Editor (RCE). It can also make things easier on the instructor by eliminating many of the steps needed to update content or instructions.

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COLRS Winter Intersession Support

COLRS Winter Intersession Support

  • No office hours will be held on December 24 through January 1.
  • COLRS is closed on December 25 and January 1.
  • The COLRS team will be rotating coverage to provide support for faculty teaching Winter Intersession courses on December 24, 26, 27, 30, and 31.
  • Please email the COLRS inbox for assistance! We are happy to schedule Zoom meetings with you, as well.

Happy holidays!

The COLRS Team

~Carrie, Emily, Scott, and Taylor

PowerPoint Accessibility

PowerPoint's structure and the ease of adding content to slides prompts special accessibility considerations. The best way to make an accessible PowerPoint is to keep these in mind as you are first creating the document, as it is common to have to recreate slides otherwise. This page details the PowerPoint-specific accessibility concerns. Be sure to review the issues listed on the Microsoft Office page as well.

Writing Good Alt Text

What is alt text?

Alternative text (alt text) is text that describes the content of an image that can be read by a screen reader. It's important to consider what elements of the image are important to include in context. A portrait photo of a historical figure may just need that figure's name as the alt text, while a piece of art may need its primary features denoted, and a diagram or graph may need its contents fully described.