Accessible Learning

Cal Poly is committed to creating a culture of access for an inclusive learning environment. This means ensuring that all campus electronic and information technology resources, including course materials, are fully accessible to all students, including students with disabilities.

The CTLT provides workshops and resources to help faculty create accessible course content, including electronic documents, videos, and Canvas content. Research shows that all learners benefit from educational materials that are well-designed with accessibility in mind.

The Student Experience

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Course Content Accessibility All digital course materials must be fully accessible to every student, to comply with Title II of the ADA. This extension is not a pause or reduction in expectations—maintaining momentum is essential given the scale of our digital content. The mandate includes all course materials in Canvas to ensure every student has equitable access to learning.     There is no rollback of the rule or its requirements. WCAG 2.1 AA (June 2018) remains the standard. This includes: Videos → accurate captions are required (and transcripts are strongly recommended) Audio-only content → transcripts required PDFs and documents → must be properly structured, readable by screen readers Images → need meaningful alt text Canvas pages → proper headings, lists, color contrast, link text, etc. Multimedia (interactive tools, embeds, apps) → must be accessible or have an accessible alternative

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Faculty Associates for Accessible Course Materials (Winter 2026)

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Policy & Mandate Overview

The U.S. Department of Justice requires all public entities (including CSU campuses) to make their digital content and instructional materials accessible to people with disabilities under Title II of the ADA. The new federal accessibility regulation (requiring WCAG 2.1 AA standards) takes effect for large public entities like CSU on April 24, 2026. CSU campuses are currently updating their instructional materials accessibility policies (EO 1111, Code Memo AA-2013-03) and must demonstrate progress toward full compliance.

For Cal Poly, this means that all instructional materials (no matter where or how you share them)—including Canvas content, SharePoint, Google, documents, PDFs, images, videos, websites, and required software—must be created or updated to be accessible. This work includes policies, training, course review, and the use of accessible technologies now, not just by the 2026 deadline, and is a continued requirement into the future.

Making course materials accessible isn’t just a legal requirement—it’s central to Cal Poly’s commitment to equity and student success. CTLT is committed to supporting Cal Poly's adherence to laws and policies by providing support and resources for accessible course materials.

 

 

Quick Start Checklist

	TidyUp Unused Items Remove unused files and course content in Canvas with TidyUp. The tool scans your course for unlinked or outdated materials so you can safely remove them and improve your accessibility score.
	Scan Courses with Access4All Use the Canvas plugin Access4All (CidiLab’s UDOIT) to scan your course for accessibility issues. This tool gives you a scorecard, shows the most important issues, and guides you in fixing them so you can work toward a 100% accessibility score.
	Fix Canvas Content When creating pages, assignments, quizzes, or announcements in Canvas, use the built-in Accessibility Checker. It scans your content for common issues (like missing alt text, skipped headings, or poor color contrast) and gives you prompts to fix them right away. Watch Demo Video.
	Fix or Convert PDFs If you have the original file, use the program’s built-in Accessibility Checker to fix issues, then re-save it as a PDF. If you don’t have the source file, no longer have access to it, or the materials are from the library, refer to this resource.
	Remediate Presentations and Documents Use Microsoft’s built-in Accessibility Checker to make your Word documents and PowerPoint slides accessible. You can also follow step-by-step guides here.
	Caption All Videos Upload your videos and recordings to OneDrive (or another supported platform) and enable captions so they are ADA-compliant. For guidance, see Video Creation and Captioning.
	Add Alt Text to Images Add alternative text (alt text) to all images in Canvas using Image Options. Tools like Access4All and built-in accessibility checkers will flag images missing descriptions.
	Rescan Your Course After Changes After making updates, run a "Full Rescan" with Access4All in Canvas to check your course again. This ensures all changes are captured and your accessibility score moves closer to 100%. Refer to this guide.

 

Workshops, Guides, Self-Enroll Courses, & Resources

Check our Accessible Learning Resource Hub: 

 

Contact Us

If you have additional questions about making instructional materials accessible: