The Longwood Medical Area (LMA) instructional design and technology staff are joining forces with Digital Accessibility Services to standardize and promote accessibility best practices for Harvard courses taught in the Canvas learning management system.
Through an in-person and virtual workshop series, Harvard faculty and staff members will learn to make their course materials more accessible, with independent work time built in to resolve accessibility issues in real-time with support from staff experts. The ultimate goal of each workshop session is to have every attendee leave with a Canvas course that is more accessible than when they arrived, and that will comply with the Harvard University Digital Accessibility Policy.
The community of practice we build in the LMA will provide ongoing support for building accessible materials as new learning content is created in Canvas throughout the academic year and beyond.
Upcoming events
Join us for a hands-on, half-day workshop covering a variety of accessibility topics.
Printable flyer for upcoming workshops (pdf)
Tuesday, April 23
9:30 AM - 2:00 PM
Online
Register for the April 23 online workshop!
Agenda:
- 9:30 AM – Harvard's Digital Accessibility Policy
- 10:00 AM – Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
- 10:30 AM – Break
- 10:40 AM – Use alternative text effectively
- 11:25 AM – Write descriptive link text
- 11:55 AM – Break
- 12:05 PM – Use color contrast for accessibility
- 12:35 PM – Resources and community building
- 12:40 PM – Lunch break
- 1:20 PM – Student accommodations
- 1:40 PM – End of programming; Q&A
We know you're busy, so feel free to drop in for any part of the workshop!
Wednesday, June 26
9:30 AM - 2:00 PM
Online
Register for the June 26 online workshop!
Tentative agenda:
- 9:30 AM – Video accessibility
- 10:00 AM – HTML tables
- 10:35 AM – Break
- 10:45 AM – Use headings effectively for accessibility
- 11:15 AM – Document accessibility
- 11:50 AM – Section 504: Protecting students with disabilities
- 12:10 PM – Lunch break
- 1:00 PM – Canvas Accessibility Dashboard (Pope Tech)
- 1:45 PM – End of programming; Q&A
We know you're busy, so feel free to drop in for any part of the workshop!
Sign up for email updates on future Canvas accessibility events. You don't need to sign up if you are registering for a workshop - you will be added to the list.
Our team and project
These workshops are funded by the Harvard President's Administrative Innovation Fund (PAIF), and are a joint effort between staff at Harvard University IT, HMS, HSPH and HSDM.
More on our team and project goals
Get in touch
If you have questions or need to change or cancel your registration, email us.
IT Department