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Online Course ADA Checklist

Checklist for ADA Compliance in Course Materials

To comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, the following checklist will guide you through the steps necessary to ensure any course material placed in Canvas is accessible.

Course Layout

  • Course and content layout is organized and consistent to provide easiest access to materials.
  • Pages minimize scrolling.
  • Content pages have text clear enough to read.
  • Tables are not used to format or arrange text and images.
  • Alternative text format is available if tables are used for organized items in a row or column such as a course calendar or due dates.

Course Menu

  • High contrast between text color and background for best readability Note: Choose dark text on a light background.
  • Patterned buttons are not used. Note: Patterns are difficult to read.

Course Links

  • Provide wordings for the links. Avoid using “click here” for the links.
  • Use text descriptions for the links.
  • Buttons and tools not used are hidden or removed Note: Since Screen readers read every link on a page, it is important to turn off unused icons and tools so that students do not need to listen to unimportant links from their screen reader.

Documents

  • If PDF is used, a Word or plain text version is also provided or made easily available.
  • All other instructional materials that may be needed in an editable format such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoints should be accessible.
  • Linked titles for documents attached in Bb include the file extension in the title such as doc or rtf.
  • Summaries are provided for data tables.
  • Data tables include identifying headers.
  • Class Syllabus includes ADA (Accessibility) Statement for students.

Text and Color

  • Use Arial font for easy readability.
  • Fonts should be a minimum of 12 point.
  • Avoid blinking or moving text.
  • Use dark font colors on lights backgrounds (preferably use black text on a white background).
  • Avoid extremely bright colors as a background color.
  • Avoid overuse of all CAPS, bold or italics.
  • Avoid font to convey meaning. Example: avoid the use of “all items in RED are required”.
  • No yellow-blue or red-green combinations. Note: Color blind students will not be able to read these combinations.

Graphics and Images

  • Images are clear.
  • Use of animated images are limited to only those that contribute to the learning experience – supporting the course content.
  • Avoid animated or blinking images, text or cursors. These can cause seizures for some people.
  • ALT tags are provided for all images descriptive of the context of the image in relation to the course Note: To create an “alt tag when adding an embedded image in Bb, click the image icon in the text box editor, browse for image file, In the Insert Image options box that appears, enter a description of the image in the Alt Text line, and then click Submit.
  • Provide ALT tags for images within Word or PowerPoint before uploading them to CanvasNote: After inserting an image in Word or PP, right-click the image box, select Format Picture, on the Format Picture Dialog box, select Alt text, enter the alternative text, and then click OK.
  • Enter “null” in the ALT tag field if images do not have meaning in the course (such as a decorative image) Note: To create a null ALT tag, use alt=”” with no space between the quotes).
  • If images are used in assessments, a description of the image is included in the question or answer text.

Audio

  • Audio quality is clear.
  • Audio file length is adequate to meet the goals of the activity without being too large to restrict users’ ability to download the file on the computes with lower bandwidths.
  • A written transcript is provided with all audio files.
  • Audio file length is adequate to meet the goals of the activity without adding unnecessary information.
  • Audio player required is compatible with multiple operating systems and requires only a standard, free plug-in.

Video

  • Video quality is clear.
  • Video file length is adequate to meet the goals of the activity without being too large to restrict users’ ability to download the file on computers with lower bandwidths.
  • Provides closed-captioning for all videos.
  • Video player required is compatible with multiple operating systems and requires only a standard, free plug-in.

CFCC Resources:

Accessibility Tutorial

This video will assist instructors with creating accessible  Microsoft Word, Google Doc and PowerPoint documents
Running time: 13:29

Accessibility Basics Quiz
Accessibility Checklist — ADA Compliance for Online Courses

Additional Resources:

Make your Google document accessible
National Center on Disability and Access to Education Cheatsheets
Good and Bad Color Contrast
How it looks with color blindness
How To Edit Automatic Captions in YouTube
Google Accessibility All Products
WAVE-Web Accessibility Checker

Free Screen Reader Downloads:

NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA)
ChromeVox (for Chrome and ChromeOS)
VoiceOver (Mac, iPhone, iPad)
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