Accessibility of Canvas LTI
While various Canvas plugins or Learning Tool Interoperability (LTI) apps can significantly supplement learning experiences, many LTIs are currently not built to be accessible for persons with disabilities to use. Some inaccessible LTIs are like buildings with stairs at every entrance. They are impossible for a wheelchair user to enter and use. Other inaccessible LTIs may technically be usable in that they have a wheelchair ramp for their metaphoric building but they are still problematic because the ramp is on the exactly opposite end of the building from the main entrance and the vague signage directing wheelchair users to the ramp is poorly placed. Such LTI can rarely be accessed and used in a timely manner, assuming that the vague signage was even decipherable at all.
To help faculty keep from grading students on their ability to access course content in addition to their ability to acquire skills and knowledge, Clemson Online has evaluated the accessibility of LTIs currently available to all faculty and have provided the findings below. These results came from testing the LTI with the following tools:
- 2020 assessment - NVDA, FireFox, Paciello Color Contrast Analyzer
LTI Rankings
To help measure the severity of the accessibility barriers, we've given each LTI one of the following rankings:
- Critical - Not recommended for use.
- For LTI with the rank "1 Critical*", you can usually still use the tool, you just may need to use the website instead of the LTI to achieve some common tasks. The only current exceptions to this are Ensemble Quizzing, Turnitin, and UDOIT. With Ensemble, the quizzing interface has all of the same problems on the website as the LTI. With Turnitin, the Critical barriers are in a portion of the interface that most users won't be interested in accessing. With UDOIT, there is no alternate website but this LTI is only available to faculty, no one is required to use it, and it is the only tool we currently have for testing course accessibility at the course level.
- Survivable - Not generally recommended for use but those who are currently using it may continue use while the vendor addresses the identified issues are addressed.
- Provisionally Good - Recommended for small scale adoption while we conduct additional tests.
- Good - Recommended for use.
- Untested - We cannot make recommendations until we have the opportunity to test.
Faculty should avoid using "Critical" ranked LTIs as a core components in their courses. Those who choose to use such LTIs at a course level should have an equally effective alternative access plan prepared before students are expected to engage with it.
LTI Accessibility Findings
Click here to skip table and read about improving or requesting LTI.
 LTI Name |
Status |
Barrier Description |
|---|---|---|
| Campus Lab Rubrics | 1 Critical |
We were unable to test student access to Campus Lab Rubrics. Faculty using screen reader programs or keyboard only navigation will be unable to activate important buttons or quickly and efficiently navigate the interface. |
| Cengage (Mindtap) | 1 Critical |
Faculty and students using screen reader program will likely have difficulty navigating the Cengage interface quickly and efficiently. Faculty using screen reader programs to navigate will likely be unable to identify important buttons. If the ebooks and course materials connected to the course through the Cengage LTI are not accessible, there may be additional access problems. |
| CrossList Assistant | 2 Survivable |
Faculty using screen reader programs or keyboard only navigation may have slight difficulty navigating the CrossList Assistant interface quickly and efficiently. Also, if the Confirm button is pressed for a course that does not have CrossList eligible sections, users are given a blank screen instead of an error message. |
| DropBox | 1 Critical* |
Faculty and students using keyboard only navigation to add a Dropbox file to the course through the Dropbox LTI will likely find it very difficult to identify the appropriate file as the "keyboard cursor" or focus indicator is often not visible. The best possible workaround is to go to the Dropbox website, get the document's link from there, and insert it into in the course. This said, we the accessibility of the Dropbox website has not been tested yet. |
| Ensemble Video | 1 Critical* |
Students using screen reader programs to complete Ensemble Quizzes will likely have a hard time quickly and efficiently navigating the interface as well as recognizing when questions are ready to be answered. Faculty using screen reader programs or keyboard only navigation will be unable to activate important buttons or quickly and efficiently navigate the LTI interface. Getting the URL or embed code from Ensemble and inserting that into the course will likely be easier than using the LTI. |
| EvaluationKit by Watermark | 5 Untested |
[To be updated at a later date] |
| Evolve by Elsevier | 2 Survivable |
We were unable to test student access to the Evolve LTI. Faculty using screen reader programs or keyboard only navigation may be unable to quickly and efficiently navigate the interface. If the ebooks and course materials connected to the course through this LTI are not accessible, there may be additional access problems. |
| Google Apps / Google Drive | 1 Critical* |
We need to conduct additional test on the different file types, but it appears so far that Google/Word Docs are the most accessible and Google Slides/PowerPoint are the least. Google Sheets/Excel and PDFs are expected to be somewhere in the middle but we have not tested them yet. Faculty and students using screen reader programs to access files that are embedded in Canvas are likely to have some difficulty navigating and consuming the content within the embedded Google files. Faculty using screen reader programs or keyboard only navigation may find it difficult to select files to insert into the course and difficult to quickly and efficiently navigate the LTI interface. Getting the URL or embed code from Google Drive and inserting that into the course will likely be easier than using the LTI. |
| iClicker Registration | 5 Untested |
[To be updated at a later date] |
| iClicker Sync | 5 Untested |
[To be updated at a later date] |
| Library Resources | 3 Provisionally Good |
With the exception of some minor navigation issues, the Library Resources LTI was accessible for persons using the technology we used to test it. |
| Macmillan Learning (Sapling) | 1 Critical |
Faculty and students using keyboard only navigation to explore and use the Macmillan (Sapling) LTI will likely be unable to complete many tasks as the "keyboard cursor" or focus indicator is often not visible. They may also have other difficulties with quickly and efficiently navigating the interface. Students using screen reader programs and keyboard only navigation will likely be completely unable to complete drag-and-drop assessments, chemistry drawing assessments, and assignments involving math. If the ebooks and course materials connected to the course through this LTI are not accessible, there may be additional access problems. |
| McGraw Hill Campus | 5 Untested |
[To be updated at a later date] |
| McGraw Hill Connect | 1 Critical |
Faculty and students using screen reader programs will find the McGraw Hill Connect interface nearly impossible to navigate. Faculty and students using keyboard only navigation will have fewer barriers to navigation but will still be unable to quickly and efficiently navigate the interface and may be unable to complete tasks if met with an “Oops! Your pop-up blocker is preventing[...]” error message. Students using screen reader programs or keyboard only navigation will likely find it impossible to complete assessments. If the ebooks and course materials connected to the course through this LTI are not accessible, there may be additional access problems. |
| McGraw Hill SimNet | 1 Critical |
Students using browser magnification, screen reader programs, and/or keyboard-only navigation may experience difficulty navigating the McGraw Hill SimNet interface. Additionally, students using screen reader programs, and/or keyboard-only navigation may be unable to access some features. Faculty using keyboard only navigation will likely be unable to navigate the interface as the "keyboard cursor" or focus indicator is not visible. Faculty using screen reader or keyboard only navigation are also unable to activate some controls. If the ebooks and course materials connected to the course through this LTI are not accessible, there may be additional access problems. |
| Merlot | 1 Critical |
Students using screen reader programs or keyboard only navigation may have difficulty navigating the Merlot interface quickly and efficiently. Faculty using screen reader programs will likely be unable to access certain buttons. If the materials selected in Merlot are not accessible, there may be additional access problems. |
| OneDrive | 1 Critical* |
We have not yet tested the accessibility of the embedded version of each file type in Canvas but have tested the process for adding and accessing files. Faculty and students using screen reader programs are will generally be unable to access some of the information in the OneDrive login process. However, it is possible for them to login. Also, after they've gone through the login process, they may hear a "Your session has expired" message that they should ignore. Faculty using screen reader programs or keyboard only navigation have to use an unintuitive method for selecting files to link or embed in Canvas. Instead of checking the checkbox, they have to move the "keyboard cursor" or focus indicator to the file's name then press the keyboard command for checking the checkbox. |
| PackBack | 5 Untested |
[To be updated at a later date] |
| Pearson MyLab Econ | 1 Critical |
Faculty and students using browser magnification, screen reader programs, or keyboard only navigation will likely be unable to navigate the MyLab Econ interface quickly and efficiently. Faculty using keyboard only navigation may be unable to navigate some of the interface because the "keyboard cursor" or focus indicator is not visible. If the ebooks and course materials connected to the course through this LTI are not accessible, there may be additional access problems. |
| Pearson MyLab Engineering | 1 Critical |
Faculty and students using browser magnification, screen reader programs, or keyboard only navigation will likely be unable to navigate the MyLab Engineering interface quickly and efficiently. Faculty using keyboard only navigation may be unable to navigate some of the interface because the "keyboard cursor" or focus indicator is not visible. If the ebooks and course materials connected to the course through this LTI are not accessible, there may be additional access problems. |
| Pearson MyLab Math | 5 Untested |
[To be updated at a later date, but we expect similar results as other MyLabs] |
| Pearson MyCommunicationsLab | 5 Untested |
[To be updated at a later date, but we expect similar results as other MyLabs] |
| Pearson MyMarketingLab | 5 Untested |
[To be updated at a later date, but we expect similar results as other MyLabs] |
| Pearson MyMedicalTerminologyLab | 5 Untested |
[To be updated at a later date, but we expect similar results as other MyLabs] |
| Pearson MyPsychLab | 5 Untested |
[To be updated at a later date, but we expect similar results as other MyLabs] |
| Pearson Revel | 1 Critical |
Faculty and students using screen reader programs or keyboard only navigation will generally be unable to access all features and tools. Faculty and students using browser magnification may also struggle to quickly and efficiently navigate the Pearson Revel interface. Additionally, faculty and students with color deficient vision may have difficulty differentiating between some statuses conveyed through color. If the ebooks and course materials connected to the course through this LTI are not accessible, there may be additional access problems. |
| Photo Class Roll | 2 Survivable |
When faculty use browser magnification in the Photo Class Roll, they can lose access to the Print button. Also, faculty using screen reader programs will not hear the student's name when their "keyboard cursor" or focus indicator lands on the student photo. |
| Purchase Course Materials | 4 Good |
The Purchase Course Materials LTI redirects users to an external website. The website is outside of the scope of our accessibility assessment so we have marked this LTI as Good. |
| Research and Adopt Course Materials | 4 Good |
The Research and Adopt Course Materials LTI redirects users to an external website. The website is outside of the scope of our accessibility assessment so we have marked this LTI as Good. |
| Respondus Monitor / Respondus Lockdown Browser | 1 Critical |
Students using screen reader programs will generally be unable to use Respondus Monitor, but they can usually use Lockdown Browser. Faculty with color deficient vision, using screen reader programs, and/or using keyboard only navigation may have some difficulty setting up a Respondus assessment. |
| RPNow | 1 Critical |
Students using screen reader programs are unable to use the drop menus for identifying the course and exam. Also, certain information in the onboarding process cannot be accessed by screen reader programs. Students using screen reader programs or keyboard only navigation may also find that it is not easy to quickly and efficiently navigate the header region and payment interface. Faculty using screen reader programs or keyboard only navigation may find it impossible to reach or activate certain settings. Faculty with color deficient vision may struggle to read buttons and see certain status icons. Faculty using screen reader programs or keyboard only navigation are also likely to experience some difficulty navigating the interface. We were unable to test the proctoring results interface. |
| SCORM | 1 Critical |
Faculty and Students using screen reader programs or keyboard only navigation may find it impossible to navigate and interact with SCORM content. |
| SlideShare | 1 Critical |
Faculty using screen reader programs or keyboard only navigation will likely have difficulty navigating embedded Slideshare presentations. Faculty using screen reader programs or keyboard only navigation will likely be unable to select a presentation to embed through the LTI. |
| TEDEd | 2 Survivable |
Faculty and students with color deficient vision may struggle to add a TEDEd video to the Canvas course via the LTI. Additionally, faculty and students using screen reader programs or keyboard only navigation may have slight difficulty exploring the video player. |
| Turnitin | 1 Critical* |
Faculty and students using screen reader programs or keyboard only navigation to access Turnitin's Terms of Service content or the Survey at the bottom of the Turnitin assignment setup will likely find it difficult to access all components available to their peers. Students using browser magnification may find it impossible to access some text leading to the upload button. The upload button may also be difficult to use. Using a combination of smaller browser magnification and an external magnification program installed on the device would let most users overcome this issue. Faculty using screen reader programs or keyboard only navigation may be unable to use drop menus. Most other accessibility issues can be overcome by using the text-only view of the report and using an alternate program (Word, PowerPopint, Excel, Adobe Acrobat, etc.) to provide feedback. |
| 1 Critical |
Faculty and students with color deficient vision will likely struggle to read and engage with the Twitter feed. Faculty using screen reader programs or keyboard only navigation to add a Twitter feed to their course will likely be unable to access and activate the Embed button. |
|
| UDOIT v. 2.6.2 | 1 Critical* |
Faculty using screen reader programs or keyboard only navigation will likely find it difficult to navigate and use components in the UDOIT interface. We are already in conversations with UDOIT about repairing these issues. |
| VoiceThread | 1 Critical |
Faculty and students using screen reader programs or keyboard only navigation will likely find it difficult to navigate VoiceThread's main interface and VoiceThread's Universal mode. Faculty using screen reader programs or keyboard only navigation may find it impossible to setup VoiceThreads and VoiceThread Assignments in Canvas through the main interface and the Universal mode. We did not get to the point of fully testing the student perspective given the significant barriers we found in the faculty perspective. This said, we do know that the student perspective shares some of the same screens. |
| W.W. Norton (Smartwork5) | 1 Critical |
Students using screen reader programs or keyboard only navigation may find it impossible to complete many assessment activities. Students using browser magnification may lose access to the Submit button for assessments too. If the ebooks and course materials connected to the course through this LTI are not accessible, there may be additional access problems. |
| WebEx | 1 Critical |
Faculty using screen reader programs or keyboard only navigation will find it significantly difficult to change the Timezone setting in the WebEx scheduler. Faculty using screen reader programs will likely also find it difficult to navigate the scheduler interface. A little beyond the scope of this assessment, we discovered that the onboarding tutorial cannot be completed by persons using screen reader programs or keyboard only navigation. Additionally, screen reader users will not be able to know what the tutorial pop-ups are pointing to if the text says "Click here to..." as someone with vision impairment will not be able to see "here." |
| WileyPlus | 1 Critical |
Faculty and students using browser magnification, screen reader programs, or keyboard only navigation in the WileyPlus ebook interface will likely discover they cannot access features and tools that their peers have access to. Students using screen reader programs may also find it difficult to complete assessments and homework. If the ebooks and course materials connected to the course through this LTI are not accessible, there may be additional access problems. |
| WIRIS Editor/MathType Editor | 3 Provisionally Good |
Faculty and students with color deficient vision may find it difficult to use a couple of buttons. Also, faculty and students using keyboard only navigation will not see the "keyboard cursor" or focus indicator when it is on the active tab. |
| YouTube | 2 Survivable |
Faculty and students with color deficient vision may struggle to add a YouTube video to the Canvas course via the LTI. Additionally, faculty and students using screen reader programs or keyboard only navigation may have slight difficulty exploring the video player. |
| Zoom | 2 Survivable |
Faculty and Students using screen reader programs may have slight difficulty navigating the Zoom LTI interface. |
Seeking Improvements
Clemson Online and CCIT staff will be in conversation with many of the LTI providers about fixing these issues. If you would like to join these conversations, let them know via IThelp@clemson.edu.
Requesting New LTI
LTI can be turned on at the course, sub-account (department), or account (university-wide) level.
If you have an LTI that you want to turn on for just your course, we recommend that you conduct your own accessibility assessment or contact IThelp@clemson.edu about getting an accessibility assessment. Right now, there aren't many staff who can conduct assessments, so please be patient if you've been promised an assessment and it is taking a while to get the results back.
If you have an LTI that you want turned on for your department or for the university, your request must go through the IT Governance Board review process before it can be turned on. To begin this process, submit a Request IT VMP form. Contact IThelp@clemson.edu if you need assistance filling out the form.