Alternative Formats in Canvas: Making PDFs More Accessible

Graph of alternative format downloads by Geneseo users from 8/24 to 9/7/2020

When Geneseo’s Canvas added the accessibility program Blackboard Ally in March 2020, a host of new tools became available for both faculty and students. Over the next few weeks, we’ll explore what new powers you have for making course content both more accessible and more useful.

One new item is Alternative Formats, which gives download options without any extra effort on a faculty member’s part. While it’s primarily intended for student use, it offers clear advantages to faculty, as well. And, as you can see, our Canvas users are already putting it to work.

graph showing how many times the alternate formats window was launched, and how many items were downloaded, each day between 8/24 - 9/7
Two weeks into the semester, Geneseo Canvas users have downloaded alternative formats of course files almost 1500 times.
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