Canvas accessibility for instructors
Update to Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Accessibility isn’t just the right thing to do for you students. Digital accessibility, like physical accessibility provided by ramps and curb cuts, is now the law.
On April 24, 2024, the Federal Register published the Department of Justice’s final rule updating its regulations for Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The final rule has specific requirements about how to ensure that web content and mobile applications (apps) are accessible to people with disabilities. (Fact Sheet: New Rule on the Accessibility of Web Content and Mobile Apps Provided by State and Local Governments)
What the Title 2 digital accessibility update means for Canvas content
The purpose of the update to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is to help ensure that people with any of a wide range of disabilities can easily access the same web content and online services provided by state and local government and public educational institutions that those without a disability can. Your Canvas courses are websites and anything you put in Canvas is web content. Web content must meet the new accessibility standards if
- students or the general public can access it online,
- it’s currently being used (not archival content), and
- it’s part of the work you do at IU.
According to the IU Accessibility website, for something to be considered accessible, it must be:
- Equally integrated (provided at the same time and not separate)
- Equally effective (provides equal opportunity or outcome)
- Substantially equivalent in ease of use (should not be more difficult)
According to the Title 2 update, content in Spring 2026 Canvas courses and beyond must be accessible, whether or not you have a student with an accommodation request. There will no longer be an option to wait for an accommodation request to make your Canvas course site meet basic accessible guidelines. Accommodations apply when the basics of accessibility are insufficient to meet the specific need of the student. You will still receive accommodation requests for extended time on assessments or specialized accommodations such as a sign language interpreter, a Braille textbook, or tactile graphics as needed.
