The University of Michigan is committed to providing equal access to information and services for all students, faculty, and staff. It is important to be an advocate for accessibility in your setting. Utilizing tools like UDOIT helps to facilitate the process of making course material more accessible. Since Canvas is the learning management platform used by the University of Michigan, it is important to fix any problems that students may face on your course site. Even fixing simple errors like contrast errors can have a significant impact on your students’ interaction with your Canvas site.

Why from the Beginning? Can't it Wait?

There is a common misconception that because there is an office tasked with helping students who have needs, there is no reason to think about implementing accessibility in our course designs until we are informed that a student with needs is enrolled in our course. Unfortunately, there are three substantial problems with this perspective:

Making courses retro-accessible can take even more time, effort, and cost than if accessibility was incorporated in the original design.
Students with disabilities may join your class too suddenly for you to have time to make your course retro-accessible.
- Students with disabilities can enroll in your course at the last minute.
- Students in your course may, in the middle of the semester, suffer from a sudden illness or accident that leaves them disabled (temporarily or otherwise).
- Students may not realize they have a disability until something in their courses causes them to discover it.
- Students who may be trying to get away from the stigmas of their disability may try to conceal their disability until the course work becomes too difficult.
Students with disabilities are not the only students who will benefit from a course that's designed with accessibility standards.