By April 2026, all Western courses will need to meet updated accessibility standards at the AA level, as required by the ADA. Although these new guidelines might feel overwhelming at first, Western provides plenty of resources and support to help faculty make their digital content accessible. These changes, guided by the Department of Justice, aren’t just about compliance but also making sure every student can benefit from course materials. By following accessibility best practices like clear formatting and captioned videos, we not only meet university policies but also demonstrate our commitment to creating an inclusive learning environment for everyone.
WWU’s Center for Instructional Innovation’s recent video series on LLATCH and CATCH and the Pope Tech Accessibility Dashboard, offer an essential guide for faculty and staff navigating the world of accessible course design in Canvas.
What is Pope Tech, and Why Does It Matter?
Pope Tech Dashboard and Accessibility Checker are powerful accessibility tools integrated into Canvas. Pope Tech scans course content, identifies accessibility issues, and provides actionable feedback. And now with Dashboard, faculty can do this on a per course basis, and track where their course fall within accessibility.
Making Your Courses Accessible: Pope Tech Dashboard & Error Alerts in a Nutshell
Ensuring accessibility in online courses doesn’t have to be overwhelming. The Pope Tech Accessibility Dashboard, now paired with the Errors and Alerts Walkthrough, gives faculty a fast, practical guide to making Canvas courses more inclusive.
Pope Tech is your built-in Canvas assistant for accessibility, scanning your content and flagging issues that might keep students from fully engaging. From the dashboard, faculty can spot and fix problems in tandem with the Accessibility Guide directly on Canvas pages.
Bottom line: With just a few clicks, you can identify accessibility issues, find avenues to correct them, and ensure courses meet ADA requirements (as well as making them more welcoming for all students).
But, don’t know where to start? Look at LLATCH and Color Contrast in your courses to build your confidence before tackeling a mountain of errors.
Accessible Courses Made Simple: Pope Tech, LLATCH, and Dashboard
“LLATCH and Accessibility Dashboard” video zeroes in on practical steps for faculty: spotting errors, fixing color contrast, adding alt text (with help from WWU’s Alt Text Generator – DATG), organizing headings, and correcting file type issues. The walkthrough shows how to rescan your course after changes and encourages thinking “accessibility first” when building content.
Document Accessibility Demystified: LLATCH and Remediation in Canvas
Struggling with inaccessible documents in your Canvas course? Trying to understand why PDF’s are such an accessibility problem? This video can help spot remediation issues, and practical steps for making Word documents, tables, and PDFs accessible. It also folds in the WWU DATG Alt Text Generator and Sensus Access at WWU. But what about a PDF that isn’t accessible, and you don’t have the original and is a critical document? Some beginning guidance on Acrobat Pro for advanced PDF fixes.
Media Accessibility Made Easy: CATCH, LLATCH, and Video in Canvas
If you use media in your Canvas courses, the CATCH – Media and Video LLATCH guide breaks down how to make your video and audio content more accessible. It covers everything from captioning and audio descriptions to transcript tools and readability best practices. At WWU, Panopto makes it easier to add or edit captions and even supports Audio Descriptions (helpful when visual elements in a lecture aren’t fully explained out loud.)
But what about media outside of Panopto, like YouTube videos or other web content used in your course? Even if you didn’t create the video, you can still make it more accessible. Simple AI tools can help you pull transcripts, generate captions, and ensure that your students aren’t left guessing.