Scope of statement

The University of York is committed to making its Canvas VLE site accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Canvas is the VLE or virtual learning environment which is used for York Online programmes. You will use Canvas for accessing module content and resources, submitting work, working collaboratively with other students and so on.

Compliance status

The content presented on these websites and the mobile application are partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard, due to the areas of non-compliance listed below under ‘non-accessible content’.

Accessible Content

The software underpinning Canvas is supplied by Instructure, who state in their accessibility statement that their platform meets WCAG 2.1 at the A/AA level (accessed 13/09/2024). The statement provides detailed information on accessibility features of Canvas, including which areas of WCAG 2.1 are supported or partially supported by the Canvas platform. As confirmed by our testing, the Canvas platform allows its users to:

• Zoom in up to 400% magnification without the text spilling off the screen
• Navigate the content using just a keyboard
• Navigate the content using speech recognition software
• Listen to the content using a screen reader

Accessibility is prioritised when materials are developed and created in Canvas by University of York staff. For example we adopt the following good practices when creating materials in Canvas or uploading documents and adding other content to it:

• Using logical header hierarchies to structure content and not skipping header levels
• Using other in-built styles for formatting e.g. lists
• Supplying appropriate alternative text descriptions of images
• Ensuring that videos have accurate captions, transcripts and (where possible) slides included
• Adding accessible maths content
• Creating a good experience for screen reader users, e.g. avoiding long titles and full URL links where possible

Although our aim is for all of the learning content to be accessible to all users and conform to WCAG 2.2 at the AA level, we are currently aware of some non-accessible content which we will work to address within the next 12 months. If you become aware of any non-accessible materials in our Canvas platform, please alert us using the contact details below (under ‘How to make contact to report accessibility issues’).

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible and non-compliant with the accessibility regulations:

• Tables - there are some instances of tables with merged cells, and no set header rows, captions or summaries
• In some cases lists may not have list formatting applied, or a single bullet point may have been accidentally used (i.e. list formatting is applied when there isn’t a list)
• File names of module documents and names of embedded video files may not always be fully transparent and meaningful
• Captions are checked for accuracy, however with multiple content creators uploading videos, it is possible that some inaccurate captions remain
• Slide decks are not always included with videos that use them, and where they are included, may not be fully accessible
• The pages of learning materials use headers which are decorative and repetitive of the page name, many of these are hidden from screen reader access, however some may be accessed causing repetition
• Landmarks are generally working as expected, however the immersive reader button always appears outside a page’s landmarks
• Although most links are working as expected and formatted in line with WCAG 2.2, there is a small number that may be tagged as ‘none’ or ‘not follow’ for screen reader users
• Although ALT text should always be applied where relevant, there may be occasions where there is insufficient detail supplied or the description is too long (over 120 characters)

How to make contact to report accessibility issues

If you have problems using the Canvas VLE, any files within it or any other content added to it:

1. Contact your module tutor in the first instance. You can find out who your module tutors is within the ‘Getting Started’ area of your module. Your tutor should be able to answer questions about accessibility or direct you to the right person who can.
2. Failing this, you should email your department accessibility contact. To find out who your department accessibility contact is, please ask the York Online Support Team via the following email address: york-online-admin@york.ac.uk
3. Consider speaking to your student reps to highlight issues to your department.
4. You can further escalate any issues to vle-support@york.ac.uk and we will get back to you within 3 working days.
5. You can raise a complaint using the University's complaints procedure.

Enforcement procedure

• The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’).
• If you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

Accessibility advice for students

Students can use other university services and resources to improve the accessibility of their learning experience, for example:

• Accessing our Canvas screen reader user guide (designed to be used in conjunction with this statement) should help users to get started with screen reader access
• Making use of the Immersive Reader tool where it is available in Canvas (at the time of writing this cannot be used for module homepages or quizzes/exams). A button can be found at the top of relevant pages - this tool allows screen reading, text manipulation and translation to name just three features
• Using our Library Accessibility Services, including methods for the creation of alternative formats
• Investigating the Texthelp suite of tools, which are provided by the University. Both Read&Write and EquatIO in particular could be very useful for supporting accessibility in your studies
• Seeking advice from our disabilities advisers if you need specific academic support and adjustments

Preparation of this accessibility statement

• The statement was last reviewed on 16/09/2024. This is version 6 of the statement. Version 1 of this statement was prepared on 06/08/2019.
• This statement has been prepared by sampling and testing our learning materials in Canvas in both mobile and desktop environments. User testing with screen reader users has also been carried out and tests applied via accessibility checking software.