Accommodations in Canvas

Supporting students with disabilities through academic accommodations ensures equity, inclusion, and access at PSU. Accommodations remove barriers, foster belonging, and support student success. This article focuses on how to use the technical settings in Canvas to implement common academic accommodations for students. 

Each term, faculty receive a Faculty Notification Letter when a student activates their accommodations. This letter lists approved accommodations (e.g., 1.5x extended time) but does not include medical information. Faculty and students are jointly responsible for discussing how accommodations will be implemented, but faculty may not request diagnoses or documentation. These conversations should be handled privately and respectfully, such as over email or in a one-on-one meeting.

If you use timed quizzes or exams in Canvas, you may need to provide extra time for completion. You may also need to adjust availability and/or due dates.

Use the Moderate Quiz page to manage specific student quiz accommodations. The process and options vary depending on whether you are using Classic Quizzes or New Quizzes.

In Classes Quizzes, use the Moderate This Quiz page to update the settings for individual students. Changes must be made for each quiz.

• extra attempts 
• extra time (only available for timed quizzes)
• unlock future attempts

In New Quizzes, use the Moderate tab on the Build page to update the settings for individual students:

• additional attempts 
• extra time or no time limit
• reduced answer choices

You can assign different due dates to assignments, discussions, and quizzes for students with accommodations without changing the due dates for the rest of the class.

• Assignments
  • Assign access to a specific student or a group of students in Assignments
  • Adjust availability dates in Assignments
• Discussions
  • Assign access to a specific student or a group of students in Discussions
  • Adjust availability dates in Discussions
• Quizzes (both Classic and New Quizzes)
  • Assign access to a specific student or a group of students in Quizzes
  • Adjust availability dates in Quizzes

Accommodations may require small but important adjustments in Canvas to ensure students are not penalized for extended due dates, flexible attendance, or other approved accommodations. Review these settings in your course gradebook:

• Add alternative due dates for individual students using the +Add option in assignment and quiz settings.
• Remove or override late submission deductions for accommodated students.
• Excuse assignments that should not count toward the student’s grade.
• Manually adjust scores if Canvas applied automatic deductions that should not apply.
• Verify “Missing Submission” policies don’t automatically assign zeros for excused work.

Ensuring students can access course content in formats that work for them is critical. The least restrictive formats include:

• Pages built directly in Canvas
• Google Docs (shared with view access)
• Word documents (Canvas has a built-in viewer)
• Links to external pages and resources

Avoid scanned, unformatted PDFs whenever possible.

Whenever possible, create course materials directly in Canvas using the Rich Content Editor (RCE). The RCE generates accessible HTML content and includes a built-in accessibility checker.

• Use the Accessibility Checker in the Rich Content Editor
• Manage alt text and display options for images embedded in the Rich Content Editor

While this list is not exhaustive, it covers many of the most common and high-impact practices:

• Use built-in heading structures (H2, H3, etc.) to organize content.
• Use built-in list functions for ordered (numbered) or unordered (bulleted) lists.
• Add brief, descriptive alternative text to every image you use in Canvas, documents, or slides.
• Only use videos with accurate captions
• Create descriptive hyperlinks (e.g., “Canvas Accessibility Checker” instead of “click here”).

Students with accommodations may need captions, transcripts, or alternative access for video content.

• Use MediaSpace to host and share videos you create.
• Edit captions in MediaSpace.
• Avoid using the Canvas recorder as the available tool does not include adequate captioning options. 

Some students may need to attend class remotely as part of their accommodation plan. You can use Zoom within Canvas to broadcast live sessions or record them for later viewing.

• Schedule a Zoom Meeting in Canvas
• Join a Zoom meeting from a general pool classroom

When communicating about accommodations, always use private channels rather than public course areas. Canvas provides built-in tools to keep communication confidential. 

• Use Canvas Inbox to send private messages.
• Use assignment comments to respond to submissions.

If you have questions about how to implement an accommodation in your course, you can contact the DRC or the Office of Academic Innovation directly for support. While the DRC focuses on student support, OAI offers faculty consultations and usability reviews, as well as resources on accessibility. OAI can help troubleshoot, clarify course design ideas, and collaborate on solutions that uphold both student access and course integrity. Submit a request here.