Canvas Course Usability
Make your Canvas Course Easier to Use
While it is easy to add your content to Canvas if you follow just a few tips you can make your course content more usable, inclusive, and accessible to make learning easier for all students in your classroom!
Accessibility is required for students with disabilities and many things you do to make your course content more accessible will also make it more usable and mobile-friendly. Every course in Canvas has an Accessibility Report where you can see how accessible your course is and what you can do to improve it!
Below are are simple tasks that you can do or that we can help you with to make your course content more usable.
Navigation and Course Links
Simplify your Course Navigation
By default, Canvas adds extra menu items to your course that you are probably not using. Clean those up to simplify your course navigation.
Check Your Course for Broken Links
Links tend to break in Canvas over time which is frustrating for students. Canvas provides a simple way to check all of the links in your course so that you can fix them and your students can get to the content you are linking to.
Files
Tidy Up Extra Files and Content
If you have used Canvas for more than one semester you likely have extra files and pages in Canvas that you are no longer using. TidyUp! is a tool available in your Canvas course that helps you identify and delete that extra, unnecessary content!
Avoid PDF Files! Convert Your PDF Files to Canvas Pages
PDF files are not very usable, difficult to view on mobile devices, and generally inaccessible to students with disabilities.
Share Files in Their Original Format
It is generally better to provide your Word documents and PowerPoint presentations in their original format instead of converting them to PDF files.
Videos
Caption Your Videos
Captioning your videos makes them accessible to students who are Deaf or hard of hearing AND makes them more usable for everyone - including students who speak English as a 2nd language or anyone who learners better with the captions on.