Inspire Blog Tag: accessibility

Link Accessibility – FAQs

The golden rule of link accessibility: links should be descriptive! For foundational information on the why and the how, see OSU Digital Accessibility – Links.)  Let’s dig deeper into a few common questions: Can I use “click here” or “this” for my link text? This practice is not ideal, and it’s best to avoid it. While WCAG does permit it when surrounding context provides enough information, you would not be creating a good experience for your audience. That type of text is not descriptive enough to show the user where the link will go, and it’s especially problematic if this text appears multiple times! Think of people skimming the content – whether visually or via assistive technologies. It’s much more … Link Accessibility – FAQs
by · March 30, 2026

Alternative Text – FAQs

Accessibility is a hot topic these days, and alt text is one of its most significant building blocks. There are many comprehensive resources and tutorials out there, so I won’t get into what alt text is or how to write it (if you need an intro, start here: OSU Digital Accessibility – Alternative Text for Images). In this post, I’ll address a few issues where guidance is less clear-cut and that have come up in my conversations with instructors. Does alt text have a character limit? You’ve done the work and written a detailed alt text that you’re proud of. You hit “done” and, much to your frustration, the Canvas editor is flagging your image and saying: “Alt attribute text … Alternative Text – FAQs
by · February 2, 2026

Student Voices Support Quality Standards in Online Education

This post was written in collaboration with Mary Ellen Dello Stritto, Director of Ecampus Research Unit. Quality Matters standards are supported by extensive research on effective learning. Oregon State University’s own Ecampus Essentials build upon these standards, incorporating OSU-specific quality criteria for ongoing course development. But what do students themselves think about the elements that constitute a well-designed online course? The Study The Ecampus Research Unit took part in a national research study with Penn State and Boise State universities that sought student insight into what elements of design and course management contribute to quality in an online course. Data was collected from 6 universities across the US including Oregon State in Fall of 2024. Students who chose to participate … Student Voices Support Quality Standards in Online Education
by · August 18, 2025

Make Your Canvas Pages Accessible in a Few Simple Steps!

One of the major advantages of digital learning is that we can ensure our materials are accessible to all students. As such, at Ecampus, we are striving – and encouraging others to strive – for universal design, that is, design that anyone can use comfortably regardless of any impairments. In past posts, we have covered various ways of improving accessibility in a course, including how to fix PowerPoint or Word files. Today I’d like to focus on making Canvas pages accessible and making use of the on-page Accessibility Checker available in the Canvas Rich Content Editor. Common Issues Here are the main things you can do to ensure your Canvas pages (including assignments, discussions etc.) are accessible: Find and Fix … Make Your Canvas Pages Accessible in a Few Simple Steps!
by · December 5, 2022

Make Your Word Documents Accessible for All

In this post I’m returning to an important topic: accessibility. In a previous blog my colleague Susan Fein explained how everyone benefits from more accessible materials and that a large number of our students have some degree of disability. Word documents are ubiquitous in our courses, as well as for other work-related activities. If a Word document is designed for digital consumption – such as posting in the Learning Management System or on a website – it needs to comply with accessibility standards. Fortunately, Word includes excellent tools for making your file accessible! I will first go over the main accessibility features, and then show you how to implement them in the video below. Accessibility checker: Word includes a tool … Make Your Word Documents Accessible for All
by · May 9, 2022