Accessible Basics for bCourses

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This course is designed as a stand-alone resource for accessibility support for Instructors, Graduate Student Instructors, Instructional Designers, and staff at UC Berkeley. It facilitates course development that can positively impact the way content creators approach teaching and learning. The goal is to share best practices leading to the creation of accessible instructional materials within bCourses - the locally branded instance of the Canvas Learning Management System. To facilitate this goal, the site is illustrated using multiple modalities such as audio, images, text, screenshots, and video narrations to offer multiple forms of representation for course content and reach diverse learning needs and preferences. The course navigation and concepts are presented consistently to encourage predictability and ease of use.

(Please note, throughout this course, the terms “bCourses” and “Canvas” are used interchangeably.)

By engaging in this course, users can acquire the following skills:

Provide alternative text that allows the content and function of images to be read to those with visual or cognitive disabilities
Add captions to your video files
Use color strategically
Include "headings" in your content to improve layout, organization and semantic structure
Add title attributes to iFrames so screen reader users can properly identify the name and role of embedded content such as YouTube videos, Qualtric surveys, or audio players
Add content to bCourses without "inline styling" which often prevents consistent layout or the ability to zoom text
Create self-describing links contextualizing the destination of the hyperlinked text
Utilize numbered and bulleted lists to add identifiable subsections
Identify strategies for accessible multimedia creation
Create accessible data tables

Those with CalNet authentication can also self-enroll into this course and utilize Ally in bCoursesto generate alternative formats for course pages and download files.

Getting Started

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bCourses A11y Basics