At Mesa Community College we are committed to providing all students equal access to information, learning materials, and technology.
What’s Changed? New Requirement:
The U.S. Department of Justice updated Title II regulations (April 2024) requiring all public colleges to make their web content, course materials, and mobile apps meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards by April 24, 2026.
This page outlines what those changes mean for faculty and how the CTL supports you in reaching compliance.
Why Accessibility Matters
Accessibility benefits everyone. Well-structured, readable, captioned, and navigable materials:
Reduce barriers for students with disabilities.
Support diverse learning styles and mobile users.
Improve overall course quality and student success.
Think of accessibility as good teaching practice – not just compliance.
Title II: What Changed
The 2024 Title II rule now clearly defines digital accessibility requirements for public institutions:
Colleges must ensure websites, online learning materials, and mobile apps meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards.
This applies to all newand updated content; legacy materials must be remediated or made available in accessible formats upon request.
Compliance deadline: April 24, 2026.
Exceptions exist for archived or non-current materials, but all instructional content used with active students must be accessible.
What Faculty Should Do Now
Begin identifying and improving inaccessible content.
Use college-supported tools (Canvas > Panorama, UDoIT, Office Checker, Acrobat).
Attend CTL workshops and access self-help guides below.
Plan ahead – remediation takes time.
Files (Word, PowerPoint, Excel and PDFs)
Most of the content that is created directly within Canvas is considered accessible. However, materials (Syllabi, Presentations, Assignments, etc.) created in external tools, such as Microsoft Office Files and Adobe PDFs, should be verified for accessibility. The following resources can get you started in making your files accessible.
Recommendation: Because Canvas is already accessible, create your assignment description and instructions in the rich content editor within Canvas to ensure accessibility. Uploading a Word document will require further intervention to verify accessibility.
Understanding WCAG 2.1 AA
Accessibility standards are organized around four guiding principles—content must be:
Principle
Example for Faculty
Perceivable
Provide alt-text for images and captions for videos.
Operable
Ensure content is keyboard-navigable.
Understandable
Use clear headings, logical reading order, and consistent navigation.
Robust
Use tools and file formats that work with assistive technologies (e.g., screen readers).
Principles of WCAG 2.1 AA
YuJa Panorama (Canvas Accessibility Tool)
Panorama automatically scans your Canvas courses for accessibility issues and provides:
Accessibility Scores for files, pages, and media.
Fix Guides with step-by-step remediation instructions.
Alternative Formats (e.g., audio, ePub, braille-ready).
Canvas Studio makes it easy to create, caption, and share video content that meets accessibility standards. Here’s how to ensure your videos are accessible:
Use Auto-Captions and Edit for Accuracy
Every video uploaded to Studio automatically generates captions using speech recognition.
Always review and edit auto-captions to correct names, technical terms, and punctuation.
Captions should be ≥ 99% accurate for compliance.
Add Descriptive Titles and Summaries
Provide a meaningful title (e.g., “Week 3 Lecture: Memory and Learning”) rather than “Lecture 3.”
In the video description, include a brief overview or transcript link if available.
Ensure Good Audio Quality
Record in a quiet space and use an external microphone when possible.
Clear audio improves caption accuracy and comprehension for all learners.
Provide Alternative Formats When Possible
For key lectures or instructions, offer a downloadable transcript or PDF outline.
Use your Canvas page text area to summarize key points from the video.
Embed Videos Correctly
Use the Studio embed button inside Canvas pages, assignments, or discussions.
Avoid linking directly to external video files that may lack captioning or accessibility features.
Check Color and Visuals
Ensure on-screen text contrasts with the background.
Avoid using color alone to convey meaning (e.g., red = wrong, green = right).
Intro to Canvas Studio
Microsoft Office & Google Docs
Use Accessibility Checkers (found under Tools → Check Accessibility).
Always use built-in styles for headings and lists.
Select captioned media whenever possible or provide an equivalent transcript. See Andrew Kasian in the CTL if you have videos that require closed captioning.
External Links & Tools
Tools
Be selective in your external tools to make sure they meet accessibility requirements. Although you are not responsible for a product’s accessibility standards, you are responsible for picking the product for instruction. Vet software, web tools, and resources for accessibility before incorporating them into assignments, content delivery, etc. Provide alternatives for any products selected that are not accessible.
Example:
Prezi is not accessible so if you are going to use it, provide an accessible PowerPoint.
Links
Be descriptive in providing links. Describe the link content rather than using “click here”, verbs, or other phrases that describe too much about the mechanics of arriving at the link. Use names that describe the link like “Syllabus” or “YouTube” in the link text. This is much more clear to individuals with visual impairments.
By default Canvas will include the image file name as the alt text for screen readers. This is NOT a sufficient replacement for a well defined alternate text for the image. You may edit the alt attribute by selecting the image and clicking the “Embed image” tool from the toolbar above the content area and replacing the text in the “Alt text” field. In addition, you may edit the alt attribute directly by entering the HTML Editor scrolling to the desired image and modifying the code to include the alt attribute. The following shows a few example names that will be accessible to screen readers.
Example names:
Bicyclist.
Man riding bike.
18th Century Man riding Bicycle.
Extraneous information such as color is only necessary if it is pertinent to the explanation of the image. Charts and graphs should be described with a caption outside of the alt attribute of the image.
Tables
There are two different tables used in making course materials: data and layout tables. It is important to consider accessibility when creating tables so that screen readers and other accessibility software can make sense out of the material.
Here are some quick guides:
Keep it simple! Do not create unnecessary rows and columns as screen readers will read every column and row whether they are being used for content or not. This can be very confusing. It’s best to AVOID layout tables!
Make sure that data is tabular by putting information in a logical order in the table. Screen readers will ignore the table and move from left-to-right on a page. So what makes sense to a visual reader in a table may not make sense read out loud by a screen reader.
Use row and column headings.
Example:
Here is a model of how a screen reader will interpret text/images in a table.
1 – Week
2 – Assignments
3
4 – Due Date
5 – Week 1
6 – Planning for a successful semester
7
8
9
10 – Must complete a goal statement
11
12 – January 5
A screen reader will interpret the content from left to right like this:
“Week Assignments Due Date Week 1 Planning for a Successful Semester Planner Image Must Complete a Goal Statement January 5”
Consider the usability of your table from left-to-right to make the content readable for all learners.
Formatting and Design Semantics
Semantics refer to the related meaning associated with text or design elements, i.e. what an element looks like conveys meaning. Semantics are important for accessibility because they convey meaning to all readers and provide consistency in design. In essence, semantics ensure that a piece of text that looks like a heading is in fact a heading regardless of if a person can see the element or not! Here are some tips.
Use Headings and Styles to convey importance. Headings convey meaning because they are hierarchical and give structure to a document. For example: H1 headers are the most important header on the page, H2 is a subheading of H1. You should always use headers in a logical order. Use the built in headers in Word, PowerPoint and Canvas to save yourself time.
Styles convey meaning such as “emphasis”, “intense emphasis”, “strong”, “quote” and more. These meanings are conveyed to the visual reader through visual cues and to the screen reader from semantically coded cues. Use the built in styles in Word, PowerPoint and Canvas to save yourself time.
Use standard accessible fonts. In Canvas use the default fonts provided. Do not copy and paste non-system fonts into the Canvas content editor as they most likely will not display properly on another computer that does not have the non-system font installed and may not be accessible. Limit the number of fonts you use and avoid small font sizes for design and accessibility reasons. Do not use the appearance of the font (color, shape, font variation, placement) to convey meaning. Recommendation: Use Verdana, one of the most popular fonts designed for web viewing. It is simple and the characters are not easily confused for one another. Other Considerations: Use of bold, underline and italics should be limited and consistent with web style guidelines.Learn more about Resources for Web Style.
Do not embed text in graphics or images. If you use text in graphics/images make sure that you provide alternative text for users. Screen readers will not be able to read text in images.Example:
This text is embedded in the image. A screen reader would not be able to read the text. Provide an alternative text or caption so that screen readers can read the image text to students with visual impairments.
Use of Contrast. Text is easier to read when there is a high degree of contrast between the text and the background. Black text on a white background is the standard for both print and the web, however, this may not be the ideal for all users.
Good
Black on White
Good
White on Black
Bad
Maroon on Black
Bad
Green on Red
Web Content
To ensure equal access, all required course materials provided in web links are expected to meet AA Standard of Compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. All internal and external course links (both inside and outside of Canvas) should be evaluated by the WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool.
All MCC internal web site errors that can’t be easily repaired at the staff level should be sent to Nathaniel Keen. All faculty website errors should go to the CTL.
Be Proactive
It is important to recognize that there is no way to foresee every need that may arise in a class, but being proactive will make your teaching experience much more rewarding as you work with people with disabilities. Try to find tools and supplements that are accessible to all students. If you would like help in determining if a tool or application is accessible please contact Jeff Anderson, or Megan Garvy from the CTL.
