The PVAMU Center for Instructional Innovation and Technology Services (CIITS) works with University faculty to make the content delivered through the University Learning Management System (eCourses – powered by Canvas) meet accessibility standards set in Section 508.

eCourses supports the use of assistive technologies such as screen readers, text magnifiers and speech-to-text solutions. The CIITS will assist as necessary in the process of formatting page layout and course content to function effectively with assistive technologies built in to eCourses and with assistive applications used by students.

The CIITS instructs faculty to save Word files as PDF documents or HTML pages. PDF documents work better with screen readers than Word. HTML documents also work well with screen readers and other assistive technologies. HTML documents can be created using the page building function in eCourses.

The links below point to valuable resources that instructors and course designers can use for making web pages accessible. The General Strategies link will provide a list of strategies to be taken into account when building course content for online delivery. The Accessibility-Check Web Sites page lists several web sites that allow users to check web pages for possible accessibility issues. The Transcription Services page lists web sites that offer audio and video transcription services.

Accessibility: Information Resources Management

Web Style Guidelines

Accessibility Checklist

Accessibility-Check Web Sites

Audio and Video Transcription and Captioning