Accessibility

Accessibility statement for Canvas 

This accessibility statement applies to Canvas, Newcastle University’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), located at https://canvas.ncl.ac.uk/. At Newcastle we are working to ensure our online resources comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1). The Canvas software is created by Instructure. You can find further information on how Canvas meets accessibility standards from their online guidance.  

How accessible is Canvas 

The majority of content on Canvas has been uploaded by University colleagues. While most of this content should be accessible, there may be some exceptions due to the range of files and content that may be added.  

We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to: 

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts 

  • zoom in without the text spilling off the screen 

  • navigate the website using just a keyboard 

  • navigate the website using speech recognition software 

  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader  

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below. 

We know some parts of the content within Canvas are not fully accessible: 

  • Not all images have appropriate text alternatives. 

  • Some images are not accurately labelled as decorative. 

  • Some resources are only available in PDF format 

  • PDFs may not have headers to facilitate navigation, and the formatting of the alternative text may be inconsistent 

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability. 

What we are doing to improve accessibility 

We are striving to improve the accessibility of the content within the Canvas environment. The University has developed a co-ordinated approach to raise awareness of accessibility issues across academic units and professional services staff. Additionally: 

  • The University has invested in Ally for Canvas. This allows users of the site to download alternative versions of the content, including audio, electronic braille, ePub, and tagged PDF. 

  • The University has invested in Sensus Access, a tool that converts uploaded content into alternative formats. 

Captions on pre-recorded video within Canvas 

The University aims to provide machine generated captions for pre-recorded videos and live videos stored for 14 days or more, made using centrally supported services, primarily ReCap (Panopto), Zoom, Microsoft Stream, Microsoft Teams and Microsoft PowerPoint. The captions will appear as text at the bottom of the video which you can switch on and off.    

The accuracy of machine generated captions varies depending on the audio quality, topic, and speaker. Therefore, you should not rely solely on the captions when viewing video content and use them alongside other learning resources such as accompanying PowerPoint slides and wider readings to ensure you understand the topic and terminology used.     

If you require accurate captions as part of your reasonable adjustment please contact disabilityadvisor@newcastle.ac.uk.   

If the video provided as part of your programme for 2020-21 does not have the captions you require, please contact the content creator.   

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations 

PDFs and other documents 

Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services, and forms published as Word documents. 

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018.  

Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish should meet accessibility standards. 

Live video 

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations. 

Feedback and contact information 

If you need information on this website in a format that is not automatically generated by the Ally accessibility tool, please contact the IT Service Desk. 

Reporting accessibility problems with this website 

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact the IT Servicedesk. 

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).