Accessibility practices and tools: Check your course for accessibility
Use automated tools to scan your Canvas content and documents for common accessibility issues and get quick suggestions for fixing them.
Even when we follow best practices, it’s easy to miss something. Accessibility checkers help you quickly identify issues such as missing headings, unreadable colour contrast, or uncaptioned video. This page introduces the most useful tools available to you, and how to use them effectively.
Top accessibility tools
Tool
What it does
Where to find it
Scans your whole course for issues with headings, alt text, link labels, contrast, and more
In your Canvas course Click 'UDOIT' in the course menu
Inline checker in the Rich Content Editor that flags errors on individual pages or items
Click the accessibility icon (a person with a checkmark) in the bottom right of the editor
Flags issues in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel (e.g., missing alt text or heading structure)
Found under the Review tab in Microsoft Office
Scans PDF documents for missing tags, incorrect reading order, and table structure
Open a PDF in Acrobat Pro. Use the Accessibility Tools panel
Automatically detects if videos are missing captions
In Canvas, go to Panopto Video in your course menu
Provides a visual overview of page structure and contrast issues
Install from WAVE website; use on any web page
When to check
- During course build: Run a UDOIT scan after importing templates or before publishing modules.
- During semester: Re-check when you add new content or resources.
- Before semester launch: Run a final scan on your Canvas course.
- For documents and slides: Use Microsoft or Acrobat checkers before uploading materials.
- For new recordings: Ensure Panopto auto-captioning is enabled and captions are reviewed.
How to fix issues
Most tools offer suggestions you can apply right away. For example:
- Add missing alt text for images
- Re-label vague links like “Click here”
- Change heading text to use a proper heading style
- Upload a caption file to a video
Need help interpreting UDOIT results or fixing errors? Contact TeachWell Consult for support.
Page updated 21/07/2025 (content refresh)