Accessibility Statement

This accessibility statement applies to https://canvas.swan.ac.uk

Canvas has been developed by Instructure and is run by Swansea University. We want as many people as possible to be able to use the website canvas.swan.ac.uk, feel welcome and find the experience rewarding. For example, that means you should be able to

  • Zoom in up to 200% without the text spilling off the screen.
  • Skip to main content on the website.
  • Adjust text spacing without affecting layout or usability.
  • Navigate the website using just a keyboard.

 

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

How accessible canvas.swan.ac.uk is?

The Canvas Learning Management System (LMS) by Instructure has been evaluated externally and by our internal specialist and both certifies canvas.swan.ac.uk is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard.

We know some parts of canvas.swan.ac.uk aren't as accessible as they should be:

  • Not all images have appropriate text alternatives.
  • Some images are not accurately labelled as meaningful or decorative.
  • Some text and controls do not meet contrast guidelines.
  • Headings are sometimes used incorrectly, which can affect screen reader usage.
  • Screen readers do not get warnings of timed tests or quizzes without focus.
  • Screen readers do not get as detailed error messages as visual counterparts in quizzes.
  • Iframes have a generic description, so do not give enough information about content.

A number of third-party plugins known as learning tool interoperability (LTI) are used with Canvas which may not be as accessible as the Canvas application that has been tested for this statement. Please see interactive tools section for full details.

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on canvas.swan.ac.uk in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille you can contact our Transcription Centre:

Email: braille@swansea.ac.uk
Twitter: @SUTranscription

Swansea University Transcription Centre Amy Dillwyn Building, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, United Kingdom

How to find the transcription center: Swansea University Transcription Centre - Swansea University

We'll consider your request and get back to you in 7 days.

Reporting accessibility problems with canvas.swan.ac.uk

We're always looking to improve the accessibility of the Canvas Learning Management System. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we're not meeting accessibility requirements:

Email Customer Services or Call us: +44 (0)1792 295500

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)

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

The university aims to provide professional information and guidance services for disabled students, students with specific needs and/or medical conditions. We can provide support if you would like to visit us or phone us.
Please contact the Disability Service:

Telephone: +44 (0)1792 60 6617
Email: wellbeingdisability@swansea.ac.uk

Technical information about the website’s accessibility

Swansea University is committed to making all its websites accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Compliance status

canvas.swan.ac.uk is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

Non accessible content

Swansea University is committed to sustain the Level AA accessibility. The following information explains any areas of Canvas that to our knowledge are not conformant and what we're doing to make that happen.
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.

 

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

The internal audit evaluated sample content within Canvas and the following criteria were found to be non-compliant.

 

WCAG 2.1 success criterion: 1.1.1 Non-text Content 

Images not marked up correctly 

Images are also not coded properly as meaningful or decorative, for example some icons have been given an alternative description.  

Unhelpful Image Tags

Some image alternative tags have been completed with a generic file name rather than a representative description. 

Images of diagrams and text are present in uploaded learning materials, without any alternative or links to sources.

 

WCAG 2.1 success criterion: 1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded)

Lecture Videos were present that showed diagrams as part of lectures with no additional or alternative ways for a user to access this content.

 

WCAG 2.1 success criterion: 1.2.4 Captions (Live) 

Captioning of live content is currently not available within Panopto. 

 

WCAG 2.1 success criterion: 1.2.5 Audio Description (Prerecorded) 

Videos may not have audio or alternative text descriptions available for visual content. 

 

WCAG 2.1 success criterion: 1.3.1 Info and Relationships 

Headings

The heading order is broken when the status message is used on the dashboard page. 

Only one heading is used on the Panopto Video listing page, even though contents appear to be marked up as headings.

Native App vs Website Experience

The Canvas native mobile uses a reduced accessibility structure resulting in only one heading being available and often no links or landmarks being available in mobile screen readers, although functional this results in a lesser experience on mobile devices with assistive technology.

 

WCAG 2.1 success criterion: 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence

Inbox tab order out of context 

The Inbox is usable with a keyboard but has a tab order which displays a control out of context to the user's vision.

Calendar view unavailable  

The calendar has no only has support for the Agenda view, which means the calendar view has an impacted meaningful sequence.

 

WCAG 2.1 success criterion: 1.4.1 Use of Color 

Turnitin Errors 

Error messages in the Turnitin Submission dialog can only be identified by color. 

 

WCAG 2.1 success criterion: 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) 

Turnitin uses the message "You have no active papers in the assignments" which currently fails contrast guidelines. 

 

WCAG 2.1 success criterion: 1.4.12 Text Spacing

Text styles cannot be done to text content on New Quizzes.

 

WCAG 2.1 success criterion: 2.1.1 Keyboard 

The calendar page has a number of views including calendar and agenda. The calendar view does not support full keyboard navigation to move through the month. Users are warned of this and offered an agenda view. 

 

WCAG 2.1 success criterion: 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context)

Abbreviations for Link name 

Some links use abbreviations rather than state the full link text title.

Generic External Tool Link Naming convention

Links for tests are labeled generically as "External Tool Link" on the Canvas Native mobile app.

 

WCAG 2.1 success criterion: 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks

Panopto does not have a skip to main feature. This means users must tab multiple times to reach video content.

 

WCAG 2.1 success criterion: 2.1.1 Timing Adjustable 

The Canvas Quiz does not support adjustable timing for a timed quiz. Instructions state users that need more time will be given it, but no controls or ability to extend the time are offered. The quiz also submits once the time allotted has elapsed. 

 

WCAG 2.1 success criterion: 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks 

Panopto site does not have a skip to main feature. This means to reach the video content with keyboard navigation multiple tabs are required. 

 

WCAG 2.1 success criterion: 2.4.3 Focus Order 

Broken Tabs  

The course overview page has tabs for  "Course Content" heading that are not required and break focus order.

Turnitin Headings

Turnitin requires users to tab through all submission options to reach desired option. For example, when choosing Upload Submission, it requires tabbing through Text Input and Cloud Submission to reach form fields of Upload Submission. 

 

WCAG 2.1 success criterion: 2.4.6 Headings and Labels 

Heading used for styling 

Headings are used purely for styling on course pages and on the Turnitin Assignment page.

Missing Heading 

The Turnitin Assignment page has a missing heading.

Images within Heading Tag 

Some course pages have embedded an image within a heading tag.

 

WCAG 2.1 success criterion: 2.4.7 Focus Visible

Panopto allows video thumbnail or text link to be clicked on to open up the content. The thumbnail does not have a focus ring.

 

WCAG 2.1 success criterion: 2.5.5 Target Size

Both Turnitin and Panopto do not rescale or reflow when used on mobile phones. The results in a pointer size being below the required 44pt. 

 

WCAG 2.1 success criterion: 3.1.1 Language of Page 

Canvas uses En-GB as page language, whilst Turnitin uses En-US this may impact screen reader users as dates may announced differently. 

Some pages use Welsh and English, but do not have the relevant lang attribute with HTML tags.

 

WCAG 2.1 success criterion: 3.3.3 Error Suggestion

Inbox Error Message 

Some error messages within Inbox message compose dialog boxes are generic "required field" rather than specific errors.

Quiz Error Highlighting 

Classic quizzes only state 2 questions have not been completed with no highlighting of fields with errors.

New Quizzes have more detailed error messaging and state the questions that have not been completed, but have no highlighting of fields with errors.

 

WCAG 2.1 success criterion: 4.1.1 Parsing 

Canvas features a consistent error in HTML pages due to <div> tags being within a <button>. However, when tested this did not seem to affect assistive technologies. 

 

WCAG 2.1 success criterion: 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value 

Iframe Titles 

Iframes for LTI do not use a title that describes content accurately, all LTI’s are described as “tool content”.  

Buttons used for content 

The announcement pages use buttons to show a tooltip. This impacts on keyboard navigation and results in increased tabbing within these pages. 

Landmarks on Quizzes are too generic 

The quizzes use Question Landmark multiple times with no added detailed to denote question 1, 2, 3 etc.

 

WCAG 2.1 success criterion: 4.1.3: Status Messages 

Timed Quiz Status Messages 

Quiz question pages are timed, but do not have status messages or alerts to start timer has started. The quiz also auto submits and with a message that is difficult to hear as is submitted at same time.

No Announcement stating number of events on specific day

The native app does not state a number of events on a given day, a visual cue is present. Users must swipe through each day and content to understand events.

 

Disproportionate burden

An assessment has been made taking into account the size and resources available to the organization, any content that is judged a disproportionate burden are stated in this section.

Navigation and accessing information

No issues or not applicable.

Interactive tools and transactions

No issues or not applicable.

Interactive tools

The interactive tools and applications integrated with Canvas are known as third party LTI’s and are judged to be a disproportionate burden as the university does not directly develop these applications or the control the way they are integrated into Canvas LMS. The third party LTI’s are separate learning products and value accessibility. These products have made substantial effort to reduce any barriers to users and adhere to guidelines. Some of these products are essential to delivering online learning in courses offered by the university.
A link to each of the applications accessibility features and statements has been linked for reference.

MyMathLab
MyMathLab Accessibility

Koretext
Koretext Accessibility

Pebble+ 2015 and ATLAS 2015
Pebble+ 2015 and ATLAS 2015 Accessibility

Numbas
Numbas Accessibility

Learn Science
Learn Science Website

McGraw-Hill Connect and Create
McGraw-Hill Connect and Create Accessibility

Planet eStream V6
Planet eStream V6 Accessibility

Turnitin LTI
Turnitin LTI Accessibility

Office 365
Office 365 Accessibility

Vimeo
Vimeo Website

YouTube
YouTube Accessibility Support

Leganto
Leganto Accessibility

OneNote Class Notebook
OneNote Class Notebook Accessibility

Panopto
Panopto Accessibility Features

Zoom
Zoom Accessibility

EvaSys
EvaSys Accessibility

Unitu
Unitu Accessibility

The university understands its duty of care to provide services that are accessible to all and when engaging with third party products, we ensure they meet an acceptable level of compliance. If you feel there are barriers with any of the interactive tools, please contact us and we will work with the providers to address this.

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

An assessment has been made taking into account the size and resources available to the organization, any content that is judged out of scope of the regulations are stated in this section.

PDFs and other documents

Some older PDFs used with module content may not meet accessibility standards. They may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader as they are provided by third parties.

Lecture notes are provided as power point files which in some cases do not meet accessibility standards as they contain images of text or diagrams that are not designed in an accessible way. The university is committed to providing accessible content for all users. Replacing this content will take time, resources and training. A program of training and awareness raising with content editors and teaching staff has been undertaken.

The university offers a transcription service to remove any barriers and support students with additional needs. They provide transcripts of module handbooks, PowerPoint presentations, handouts, journal articles, extracts and full books in electronic formats, large print, braille and accessible pdf files. We can also produce tactile diagrams.

Any new PDFs, powerpoint files or Word documents we publish will strive to meet accessibility standards.

 

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

Our Canvas Accessibility Roadmap shows how and when we plan to improve accessibility on canvas.swan.ac.uk.

 

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 23/01/2023 It was last updated on 23/01/23.

The website canvas.swan.ac.uk was last tested on 09/01/2023. The test was carried out by our internal usability and accessibility specialist.

The Canvas Learning Management System (LMS) has been evaluated by a third-party authority WebAim. A Canvas Accessibility WCAG Report is available from Canvas that summarizes the accessibility conformance of the application.

A number of third-party LTI’s are integrated into Canvas which may not be fully compliant to WCAG 2.1 AA Standard. Canvas have stated that they are working to maintain a conformant Learning Management System (LMS) and have a process of internal audits, logging and resolving measures in place.

We used a consistent process and approach to deciding on a sample of pages to test. This is available in How we tested Canvas