Pope Tech Web Accessibility in Canvas
Pope Tech is now available in all Western Canvas courses.
What is it?
Pope Tech is a quick and easy-to-use accessibility remediation tool in Canvas that allows you to test and repair various accessibility issues in course content. Pope Tech has been brought to Western and integrated in Canvas thanks to the Disability Access Center.
We hope that this tool allows you to make improvements to the accessibility of your course content over time.
Why is web accessibility important?
Incorporating accessibility into Western Washington University’s culture is not only the right thing to do, but also provides many benefits to the campus community. Accessible technologies allow all members of the university to learn, work, and contribute in their own way.
Over 1 billion people in the world live with a disability. Common disabilities include vision, hearing, motor and cognitive disabilities. Assistive technology inside the browser and in other programs such as screen readers has been created to help assist users in accessing web content. Inaccessible course content can be very difficult (or impossible) for users to access, understand, or participate.
Additionally, the U.S. Department of Justice recently updated it 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. These rules apply to course content contained in a learning management system.
For more information, please see Fact Sheet: New Rule on the Accessibility of Web Content and Mobile Apps Provided by State and Local Governments.
What does it look like?
The Pope Tech accessibility testing features are available on any content that is generated using the Canvas rich text editor, such as course content pages, discussions, and quiz/assignment descriptions. A button is available at the bottom right of the rich text editor next to the save and publish buttons.
Demo video for Canvas LMS
Additional resources
Support
For additional support with Pope Tech, please contact Canvas Help:
CanvasHelp@wwu.edu
360-650-7900
Haggard Hall 154