We’ve all heard about the new accessibility requirements for educational content that became law in April 2026, but you may not be aware of the work Canvas has been doing behind the scenes to assist educators in meeting the new standards. One big example is Canvas’s new full course accessibility checker, which helps instructors ensure that all course content meets these new standards. While most NMC instructors are familiar with the accessibility checker in the Rich Content Editor (RCE), this new tool scans an entire course at once, identifying potential issues that could affect students using screen readers or other assistive technologies. It is designed to make accessibility checks easier and more efficient. One could even argue that it makes accessibility compliance fun!

Using the tool is straightforward. Instructors can click the Check Accessibility button from the course homepage and scan the entire course. Once the scan is complete, the checker lists all issues and links directly to the affected resources. Fixing them is often as simple as clicking a Fix button, editing content, and applying changes, moving sequentially through each flagged item until the course is fully accessible.

In the near future, Canvas will also integrate AI assistance to help create or improve alternative text for images. Instructors will have the option to generate text suggestions with Ignite AI, which can then be edited and applied directly in the course. After completing all fixes, rescanning updates the accessibility report and confirms that the course is compliant. This tool ensures that instructors can efficiently maintain inclusive, accessible courses for all students while keeping the process manageable. Look for this new tool to get unveiled in the next few weeks.

To learn more about using the full course accessibility checker, watch the video above.