UDOIT: Road Map to Accessibility

UDOIT: Roadmap to Accessibility

Digital Content Accessibility

aims to improve technology accessibility standards among all government agencies by enforcing civil rights violations related to accessibility issues. This bill allows individuals to file lawsuits if they are excluded from access to digital content because of a disability. This means your Canvas course content must be accessible by July 1, 2025 to comply with this new law.

IDD Is Here to Help

This spring, we will provide bi-weekly guidance to help you make your courses accessible and more user-friendly. While accessibility is mandated by HB21-1110, these practices are best practices for any online delivery as they reduce barriers and increase a sense of belonging for a variety of learners.

Recommended Approach

We have mapped out the most common accessibility issues and will provide resources to help you address those issues in each of your courses. The sequence of activities below is designed to support your success and minimize stress. It is a good idea to apply these steps to your current courses, but it is also a good idea to begin thinking about your summer courses, which will be the first courses released when HB21-1110 is in full effect. You can follow the same sequence below to take on and complete parts of each course to make them accessible.

Weeks 1-2: Get to Know UDOIT

In these first two weeks, you will familiarize yourself with UDOIT. You don鈥檛 need to make any adjustments to your course yet.

Watch this video: (3:09) to understand what UDOIT can do for your Canvas course content.
Run the UDOIT scan in each of your courses to see what errors and suggestions it flags.
Be aware that UDOIT scans the entire course, whether students can see the content or not. You may want to take some time now to remove extraneous items.

Prioritize your course content

UDOIT will flag anything in your course that has an accessibility issue, but you will not want to invest time in correcting pages or documents you no longer use and that students don鈥檛 see. Now is a good time to do a little course 鈥渃lean up鈥� by removing pages or files you are no longer using. At the end of this term, we will show you how to copy only the content you wish to keep into a new course shell so that you don鈥檛 have to shuffle through old content in the future.

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Weeks 3-4: Page Structure

When setting up content in Canvas pages, you probably structure the information into manageable blocks to help students consolidate their knowledge. While there are many ways to organize information, here are three best practices that will help you accomplish an accessible structure.

Headings define structure. Use headings to break content into logical sections and follow their hierarchical structure.
Use Bold and Italics to emphasize text. Don't use color, which is subjective, or underlining, which suggests a hyperlink is present.
Use color for aesthetics, not meaning. Color should never be used to convey meaning or prompt action. Also, be sure there is enough contrast between the color and the background to enhance readability.

Take Action

Watch this video: (06:58)
Scan and begin addressing errors and suggestions related to color, emphasis, and headings.

Avoid using formatting styles for document structure

Why is it an issue: Bold or colored print used to separate sections of content makes navigation difficult for many and impossible for screen readers.
What to do: UDOIT will provide options such as assign a header level or remove color or emphasis.

Heading levels should not be skipped

Why is it an issue: Headers in web pages - including Canvas pages - are essential for accessibility, acting as signposts for assistive technologies and organizing content logically. A proper hierarchy moves from H1(main title) to H6 (smallest subheading) where all H2s, H3s, etc. have the same level of importance. This heading structure ensures clarity and ease of navigation.
What to do: UDOIT will prompt you to go directly to the page where the error occurs so you can look at the big picture to adjust the heading structure. In Canvas, H1 is already assigned to the top of all pages in code, and so the first visible header you will work with is an H2.

Avoid using color for emphasis

Why is it an issue: Color is subjective, so while it can contribute to the aesthetics of a page it should not be used to convey meaning or as a call to action.
What to do: UDOIT will prompt you to remove the color, or add bold or italics. Remember if you want to add more structure, go directly to the page and apply heading levels to the text as well.

Insufficient text color contrast with the background

Why is it an issue: Some people cannot see faint text.
What to do: UDOIT will flag any color that does not have sufficient contrast for readability. You will be prompted to lighten or darken the color depending on the background, or you can use the color picker to select some pre-approved colors.

Additional resources

Watch (10:27)
WCAG 2.2 (Standards):
WCAG 2.2 (Standards):

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Weeks 5-6: Links and Files Names

This week, we are focusing on text for link and file names to improve the user experience and meet accessibility standards. The criteria for a good link name and a good file name are the same. Names should be (1) Predictable, (2) Purposeful, and (3) Accurate.

Predictable links and file names reduce confusion and provide context for the user.
Purposeful names quickly tell the user what kind of link or file they are accessing.
Accurate links and files are up-to-date and are accessible even outside of the Canvas environment.

Take Action

Watch this video: (07:42)
Scan and begin addressing errors and suggestions related to links and file names.

Link has nondescript text

Why this is an issue: Links like 鈥渃lick here鈥� or 鈥渞ead more鈥� or links that are just the URL address lack predictability and context. Furthermore, screen readers read the links exactly as they are written, which causes confusion in navigation.
What to do: UDOIT will prompt you to change the name of the link or file. Select something that will help users quickly understand where the link will take them. Consider these examples.
Wrong:
Wrong:
Better: Click here for more .
Best: Learn more from blog.

Links should contain text

Why this is an issue: If you use an image for a link, and the image does not include text, it is difficult for a user - and impossible for a screen reader - to understand the link.
What to do: If you use an image as a link, be sure it is accompanied by text, and make sure that it is one single link for both the image and the text. UDOIT will prompt you to add text to your link if it is only an image.

Adjacent links found

Why this is an issue: Adjacent links create confusion because they appear to be intended for two different locations.
What to do: UDOIT will prompt you to go directly to the Canvas page where the adjacent links are located. From the Rich Content Editor, the Accessibility Checker icon will identify the adjacent link. Choose 鈥渕erge links鈥� and save. You can then return to UDOIT and mark it as resolved.

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Weeks 7-8: Images and Tables

We are approaching the halfway mark on our road to accessibility, and over the next two weeks, we will focus on visual elements of your course content, specifically (1) images and (2) tables. As you work through images and tables in UDOIT over the next two weeks, remember to consider how the image or table is intended to contribute to the meaning or experience of the course. Also, check out the video UDOIT Launch: Images and Tables to see these examples in action.

Images should either have a descriptive alternative text, or they should be marked as decorative depending on how they contribute to the overall content.

Descriptive Alt Text: Provide relevant details that make a connection to the surrounding content. You don鈥檛 need to describe everything in the image, only those things that are relevant to the meaning of the image in context.
Decorative: Mark images as 鈥渄ecorative鈥� if they don鈥檛 contribute to the meaning or overall user experience.
150 Characters: Good alt text is 150 characters or less. If an image requires extensive description, consider other ways to provide the information to unsighted users (such as a data table).

Tables should only be used for data displays. Don鈥檛 use tables for alignment or other layout structures. Once a table header is defined, assistive technologies, such as screen readers, speak one cell at a time and reference the associated header cells, so the reader doesn鈥檛 lose context.

Take Action

Watch this video: (09:23)
Scan and begin addressing errors and suggestions related to images and tables.

Alt text should not be the image file name

Why this is an issue: A file name is not specific and doesn鈥檛 contribute to the meaning of the image. File names can be confusing and don't convey the purpose of the image.
What to do: UDOIT will prompt you to provide an alternative text or mark it as decorative. Consider your options for the image to the right.
Wrong: AdobeStock_365897724.jpeg
Wrong: Decorative Image
Better: Guide dog
Best: Guide dog wearing harness awaits its handler鈥檚 command

Alt text is more than the maximum allowed characters

Why this is an issue: Screen readers read alternative text in its entirety. Users are not able to pause mid-description without having to go back to the beginning.
What to do: UDOIT will prompt you to make your alt text more concise - less than 150 characters. However, if the image requires a longer description, consider providing another way to deliver that content in addition to the image.

No table headers found

Why this is an issue: A screen reader will read an undefined table left-to-right, row by row. If a header is not defined, the user will easily lose the context of each cell.
What to do (Data Example): UDOIT will prompt you to declare the top row, the first column, or both as headers. Once that is set, a screen reader can reference the associated headers cells as needed by the user.
What to do (Layout Example): Tables should never be used for page layout. If you are prompted to identify a header for a table that does not contain data, select another method for layout such as using heading levels, CSS, or the classroom template.

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Weeks 9-10: Media: Captions Benefit Everyone

During the next couple weeks, we will focus on how to make your course media accessible with captioning. Here is a video resource to help you get started: (5:57)

Did You Know?

A common misconception of Closed Captioning is that it is only for d/Deaf or hard of hearing users.
Over 50 percent of Millennials and Gen Z report that they prefer to consume their media with captions on.
Empirical research confirms that consuming media with captions improves literacy skills, non-native language skills, ability to stay focused, and comprehension.
The time you invest in reviewing and updating your captions for course media will have a significant impact on many of your students.

Captioning Media - Prioritize Your Content

One of the challenges of providing accurate captions is you only have control over captioning the content that you create. Videos that you get online from sources like YouTube or Vimeo are likely captioned, but the captions are not necessarily accurate, especially if they have been auto-captioned. While we are still waiting for legal guidance on what鈥攊f any鈥攍egal liability we have for external sources that are inaccessible, we do have several suggestions for how to efficiently and accurately caption the videos you create.

What to look for in UDOIT

Some potential errors or suggestions you will see in UDOIT related to captioning are:

Closed captions cannot be checked. This is a suggestion in UDOIT. If you can confirm that the video in question is accurately captioned, mark this issue as resolved. If you cannot, leave it for now. Please note: Vimeo videos in the Canvas Student Start Here module will be flagged under this category. IDD has verified that the captions are accurate, and you are safe to mark these as resolved.

Closed captions were auto-generated. This is likely a YouTube video that has been flagged. If you created the video, you can correct the captions using this guide: YouTube Captions. If it is not your content, leave it for now.

External content may be inaccessible. Although the name makes it sound external, this most likely refers to a video loaded directly to a Canvas page or a Panopto video. Loading a video directly to a Canvas page takes a lot of computing power and requires you to create your own captions file, so your most effective option is to either load your videos to Panopto first or create your video in Panopto. After Panopto auto-captions your video, use this guide: Panopto Captions to make corrections. Then add your videos from Panopto to your Canvas pages.

Again, it is important to prioritize the media content you have created. We will provide additional guidance about external sources as we receive it.

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Weeks 11-14: File Accessibility

We are now entering a challenging part of our road to accessibility. File accessibility poses a unique challenge because we are often not the owners of the original content and therefore do not have much control over the document. We also tend to use a lot of different file types in our courses, so with that in mind, please consider that you have many options to help you get your files accessible.

Take Action

Here are two video resources to help you get started:
- (7:37)
- (10:54)
Scan and begin addressing file issue in UDOIT. Guide: What can I do about my files in UDOIT?
Prioritize your content consider removing files that are no longer in use from your Canvas shell or not copying them forward for future courses. This video demonstrates how to select specific content to move into your new course shell: (8:48).

What to look for in UDOIT

Older File Format. This flag prompts you to make a simple conversion from .ppt or .doc files to .pptx or .docx files, which are more accessible. (guide).

Missing Title. You can add the title to your PDF file by selecting document properties from the Menu and adding a title. (guide).

Scanned File. When you Review a scanned file in UDOIT, you can choose among a variety of Alternate Formats including having UDOIT create a Canvas page based on the original file. (guide and 4 min video).

Untagged File. UDOIT provides an Auto Tagged PDF as one of its Alternate Formats. It will require your review in Acrobat, as it doesn't tag everything accurately, but it is a good start.

Additional Resources

- (guide). Improve accessibility with the Microsoft accessibility checker.
- (PDF). This 5-page guide, created by Rocky Mountain ADA Center, identifies some of the basic requirements for creating and updating accessible presentations.
- (24 min). This LinkedIn Learning resource provides a brief overview of the many accessibility features in Microsoft Office.
- (10:28). LinkedIn Learning resource is part of a PowerPoint course that focuses specifically on the accessibility tools available to you as you create PowerPoint presentations.
- (web guide). This Adobe Acrobat guide identifies most accessibility issues that are likely to occur in PDF files. This is an extensive resource, but the first two sections address checking for and fixing accessibility issues in Acrobat.
- (web guide). Although it is not ideal to scan documents, sometimes it can't be avoided. This guide explains how to use Acrobat's Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to make PDF scans readable.
- (5hr 33min). This extensive LinkedIn course covers more than you need to make your PDFs accessible, but you can select what topics you want to see demonstrated from the table of contents.

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Weeks 15-16: Strategies for Moving Forward with Accessibility

As you wrap up your semester, now is the time to run UDOIT on your upcomming courses, if you haven鈥檛 already.

Spring (or Fall) Clean First

Only student-facing content must meet the accessibility requirements by July 1, 2025. If you have been copying over the same course for many terms, now is a great time to remove old pages and files that may not be accessible. You can accomplish this quickly by using the 鈥淪elect Specific Content鈥� option in Canvas when importing content. View: (8:48).

Additional Strategies

Here are some other strategies to help you get your future courses ready.

Request a UDOIT-DEV shell. You can work on making adjustments in this shell prior to your course going live. (Be advised that course schedulers assign courses, so a UDOIT-DEV does not guarantee a teaching assignment.)
Use this Roadmap to address one issue at a time. The Roadmap to Accessibility was designed to scaffold accessibility compliance over time, starting with easiest items to fix. Focus your energy on one accessibility theme at a time; we have provided videos and general guidance along the way.
Connect with your colleagues. Since everyone is working toward the same goal, reach out to your peers to share ideas, strategies, and problem solve. You are not alone.

Accessibility Questions and Answers

You asked, and we have done our best to find answers. Here are some of the most common questions we have heard this term as our campus has worked toward HB21-1110 compliance.

External Digital Content

Q: Do we bear responsibility for the accessibility of external digital content that we use in our courses? Do we bear responsibility for shared student content?

A: 猫咪tv does not have control over outside links or student content. As a result, 猫咪tv wouldn鈥檛 be liable for outside links or student content with inaccessible information.

If the professor required the information in an inaccessible link as a requirement for passing the class, then the students that could not access the information are entitled to accommodation or modification. Accommodation is always an alternative method of compliance with Rules Establishing Technology Accessibility Standards, 8 CCR 1501-11 (Rules). The Governor鈥檚 Office of Information Technology (OIT) understands that compliance with the Rules is difficult and recognizes that 鈥渞easonable accommodations and modifications are an important component of accessibility and provide alternative methods for achieving compliance when a given piece of technology does not meet all of the accessibility criteria.鈥� OIT Guidance on Accessibility Compliance Liability Grace Period.

Bottom Line: If you use inaccessible content and you intend to evaluate students on their knowledge or application of that content, the best practice is to provide alternative instruction that meets the same learning objective.

Level of Compliance

Q: Are we looking for 100% compliance? Will there be a grace period?

A: We have been in a grace period since July 1, 2024, and it鈥檚 unlikely that there will be another one. As for 100% compliance, it鈥檚 important to understand that each situation is unique, and compliance is determined on a case-by-case basis. While we cannot provide legal advice or guarantee specific outcomes, the fundamental goal of accessibility is to ensure that all students have equal access to the content they need to succeed in your courses.

Bottom Line: If you have content that is currently required but not accessible, you have options:

Make the content accessible (e.g., add alt text, use accessible document formats, ensure captions or transcripts for media).
Provide alternative content (e.g., keep the original content available and use UDOIT to turn an inaccessible PDF into an editable and accessible Canvas page option).
Offer an alternative instructional method (e.g., keep the original content available, but ensure that students who cannot access it have another way to achieve the same learning objective).

Assessments That Require Images/Media

Q: How do you handle ALT text or other descriptive summaries for images or media that students must interpret during an assessment?

A: When images, audio or other media are part of an assessment, alternative text (ALT text) or descriptions should not reveal answers that students are being tested on. The purpose of alternative text is to ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to access and interpret the assessment content鈥攏ot to give away the correct response.

The goal is equivalent access, not identical access. For example, in a music course where students are expected to analyze a piece of music (e.g., identifying the composer, instrumentation, mood, or style), providing a full transcription or detailed description of the audio would give away what students are meant to demonstrate through active listening. In this case:

Accessibility is achieved by ensuring that students who are deaf or hard of hearing have an equivalent way to engage with the learning objective.
Instructors are not required to preemptively provide detailed descriptions or transcripts if the media itself is the object of assessment, and no student has requested an accommodation.
However, if a student with a disability requests an accommodation, instructors must be prepared to provide an equivalent alternative format that allows the student to demonstrate the same knowledge or skills.

Bottom Line/Best Practice: If your course includes substantial media content that might require accommodations (such as audio for assessments), it鈥檚 a good idea to communicate this in the syllabus. You might explain that the audio is central to certain assessments and that while preemptive alternatives are not provided (to preserve assessment integrity), accommodations are available upon request and will be designed to ensure equivalent access.

Equation Accessibility

Q: How do we make equations accessible in Canvas?

A: There are several ways to ensure that equations are accessible in Canvas, depending on the tools you use and your specific needs.

Option 1: Use Canvas鈥� Rich Content Editor (RCE) with LaTeX
Canvas supports accessible equations using LaTeX within the Rich Content Editor. When you enter equations using LaTeX, Canvas renders them visually and uses MathJax to make them accessible for screen readers. This allows students who rely on screen readers to interpret equations properly.

Option 2: Use Microsoft Word鈥檚 Equation Editor
If you create equations in Microsoft Word鈥檚 equation editor, they are accessible to screen readers like JAWS, NVDA, and Narrator when saved in the correct format. Word uses OMML (Office Math Markup Language), which these screen readers can interpret.

Be sure to save your Word files as .DOCX or export as accessible PDFs (using 鈥淪ave As鈥� with the accessibility options enabled).
Avoid 鈥淧rint to PDF,鈥� as this strips out the accessibility features, making equations unreadable to screen readers
Note for Mac users: VoiceOver, Mac鈥檚 built-in screen reader, does not support OMML, so this method may not work for students using VoiceOver. In those cases, consider using LaTeX in Canvas or other accessible formats.

Option 3: Other Screen Reader Tools in Canvas
猫咪tv provides ReadSpeaker on all Canvas pages, and Immersive Reader is available for many text-based elements in Canvas. These tools can assist students with reading standard text content aloud but may have limited support for complex equations. For best results with math content, use LaTeX or properly formatted Word documents.

Option 4: Provide Narrated Screencasts
For more complex mathematical work (especially where formatting, images, or handwritten notation are essential), consider creating a narrated screencast using a tablet. This allows you to explain and demonstrate equations as you would on a whiteboard, like a Khan Academy-style approach.

This method works well for supplemental instruction or alternative formats when needed.
IDD has the equipment and can assist you by appointment if you would like to explore this option.

We are continuing our search for other ways to more easily show complex mathematical work, including the ability to use images and format worksheets, in Canvas, and we will release updates and new information as we learn more.

Hand-Written Examples

Q: Can I still provide hand-written examples?

A: Posting an image of hand-written examples, particularly in sciences and mathematics is a quick way to provide feedback to students. Unfortunately, they are not accessible to people who use screen readers. There are a couple ways you can provide a comparable experience:

Option 1: Record an audio explanation to accompany the visual explanation. This option is ideal for hand-written examples you have already posted. Use Panopto or the audio recorder from the rich content editor to read aloud what you have written down.

Option 2: Capture your hand-written example with a screencast. This option is ideal for future hand-written examples. Panopto screen capture is integrated into Canvas and you can explain while you are writing. A tablet is the easiest way to capture your writing, but any whiteboard program can capture your notes.

Option 3: Upload your image to ChatGPT with a specific prompt requesting it to create a screen reader-friendly version of your notes. (This works better with neater handwriting.) Please be aware that free versions of ChatGPT use any content you upload as training data. However, paid versions will not use your workspace to train its models.

Here is an example of a ChatGPT prompt: 鈥淚 have handwritten math notes (or solutions) that I鈥檇 like you to transcribe. Please create an exact replica of the content from the image, preserving the original structure, expressions, and order, while cleaning up the formatting and notation where it helps readability. Do not summarize or skip any steps 鈥� include everything that appears, even if the handwriting is messy. Use proper math notation (like 鈭�, 饾憫, 饾憫饾懃, etc.), and only clarify or polish where necessary to make it accessible or easier to follow.鈥�

Bottom Line: You can still upload your hand-written examples. Just be sure that content is also available in an accessible format.

Additional Support

Q: Who is responsible for providing digital content accessibility support?

A: There are several resources available to support you with digital accessibility at UNC:

For accessibility questions related to Canvas or UDOIT, contact IDD by submitting a help ticket at help@unco.edu. IDD can assist with accessibility best practices for online courses and instructional content.
For help creating accessible documents (such as Word, PowerPoint, or PDFs), explore resources and training through
- Cornerstone (猫咪tv鈥檚 training platform available through )
- (which provides additional accessibility resources and guidance).
For assistance with specific student accommodations, including alternative formats or other individualized needs, contact the Disability Resource Center (DRC)

If you are unsure where to start, IDD can help guide you to the right resource.

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