Compliance Deadlines

One of the simplest accessibility improvements is also one of the most effective. When you use your LMS’s built-in heading styles — Heading 1, Heading 2, and so on — instead of simply bolding text or increasing font size, you create a structure that screen readers can interpret.

As the University of Arkansas notes in its guidance to faculty, this means using semantic formatting that carries meaning rather than formatting that is only visual.

Headings do more than organize content on the page. They help students scan, navigate, and absorb material more easily — especially in longer documents and module pages. In that sense, headings act like a built-in table of contents for your course content.

Alt text is a brief description that allows screen readers to convey the purpose of an image to students who cannot see it. Without it, charts, diagrams, and photographs may be inaccessible to part of your audience.

Portland State University describes alt text as short image descriptions for visuals like diagrams or photos so students using screen readers can understand the image’s purpose. Effective alt text is specific, concise, and grounded in context — it should describe not just what the image is, but what role it plays in the course material.

AI tools in platforms like Microsoft Copilot and some LMS integrations can now generate draft alt text, which can save time. But UCLA’s teaching guide recommends reviewing AI-generated descriptions carefully, especially for discipline-specific visuals, charts, and technical content.

Captions support students who are deaf or hard of hearing, multilingual learners, and anyone studying in a noisy environment or reviewing content at reduced speed. Under WCAG 2.1, accurate captions are required for all prerecorded video content.

Most institutions now use platforms such as Kaltura, Panopto, or Canvas Studio that can auto-generate captions, which is a helpful starting point. But auto-generated captions still need human review. Georgia Tech’s faculty guidance notes that auto-captions often reach only about 80 percent accuracy, especially when videos include technical terminology, proper nouns, or discipline-specific language.

Even a quick review can make a meaningful difference in usability and comprehension.

Color contrast has a direct impact on readability for students with low vision, color blindness, or visual fatigue. WCAG 2.1 requires a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 between text and background for standard body text.

Common choices like yellow text on a white slide or light gray text on a pale background may look clean, but they can make content difficult or impossible to read. WebAIM’s Color Contrast Checker makes it easy to test color combinations and see whether they meet accessibility standards.

It is also important not to rely on color alone to communicate meaning. If red text signals a due date or green indicates a correct answer, add a label, icon, or other visual cue so that information is not lost for students who cannot perceive those differences.

Links that say “click here” or “learn more” create unnecessary barriers for screen reader users, who often navigate by pulling up a list of links out of context. A page full of identical phrases provides little useful information.

Instead, make link text descriptive enough to stand on its own — for example, “Download the course syllabus” or “View the Week 3 reading on Blackboard.” University of North Florida’s accessibility digest for faculty offers a simple example: use “Read discussion guidelines” instead of “click here.”

This is a small writing habit that can have a meaningful impact on usability.

“Accessibility is a lifetime commitment.”

Binghamton University Digital Accessibility Coordinator, EDUCAUSE 2025