This webpage contains information about the Accessible Course Content Program at UCSB. The program is designed to offer training, resources, and tools to help instructors ensure that their course content is accessible to all learners, both in the design of new courses and the creation of new course content and by remediating previously-created course content. Based on Universal Design for Learning principles, this program will help you build a successful learning environment.
Accessibility is not only important for how courses appear to people with visible disabilities; accessible course content helps all learners. It is also important for UCSB to meet updated federal regulations.
Learn more about the Course Content Accessibility Program by watching our Info Session video below.
Why Accessibility Matters
Accessibility specialists say that “We’re all temporarily abled.” At some point, we all will lose some of our current abilities.
Accessibility guidelines can be overwhelming, with unfamiliar terms and acronyms. Luckily, Canvas has an accessibility checker in their Rich Content Editor (RCE); it will show you anything that may not meet accessibility standards and help you fix it.
Beyond ensuring screenreaders can recognize images and course organization, accessible courses consider color choices for low-vision and colorblind users. This color-contrast ratio is an often-overlooked aspect of accessibility. Luckily, this is easy to solve if you use the colors recommended in the UCSB Brand Guidelines - pages 46-49.
Overwhelmed? No problem; use a UCSB template. These come in two flavors: Minimal and Deluxe - and have been tested for usability, accessibility and functionality. You can use them right out of the box via the Canvas Commons, or customize them for your specific needs.
Upcoming Accessibility Workshops
Tips for Getting Started
If you want to use your own design and content, your course will be navigable for all users if you use this checklist, adapted from the Canvas Course Evaluation Checklist.
- Images are used to support course content (e.g., banners, headings, and icons) and are accompanied by text descriptions (Alt text) or captions for more complex descriptions. Canvas Guide: General Accessibility Design Guidelines
- Styles (e.g. Paragraph, Heading 2, etc.) are used to format text. Canvas Guide: General Accessibility Design Guidelines
- Tables are used appropriately and are accessible. WebAim: Creating Accessible Tables
- Audio materials (mp3, wav, etc.) are accompanied by a transcript and videos/screencasts are closed-captioned. Panopto: Add Automatic Speech-Recognition Captions
- Text Headers are included within modules to help guide student navigation. Canvas Guide - Add Text Header
- Canvas Pages are used to present content, instead of linking to external URLs or files in the flow of the module.
Remember, good course design helps everyone!
Coming Spring 2026 - Panorama for Canvas
In Spring 2026, UCSB will be enabling YuJa Panorama for all courses in Canvas. Panorama flags issues in course content in Canvas and provides guidance on how to fix them. It will allow instructors to fix many of the most common issues in their course content, directly from within Canvas.
Additionally, it provides a course overview report showing the overall accessibility to instructors for all of the materials in each Canvas course.
