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Training Opportunities

Canvas Accessibility Course for Content Editors

This is a five-module course that covers the basics of digital accessibility, aiming to increase understanding of accessibility issues and how to resolve them. Please fill out the Canvas Accessibility Training form (login required) to get access.

Accessible Purchase Process Training

 An in-depth, step-by-step walk through of the accessible purchasing process is available as a self-paced, Canvas training course. This training takes roughly 45 minutes to complete and explains the process, offers case studies and provides resources to help follow the process. Access to the course is available upon request.

Siteimprove Webinars and Training Resources

Siteimprove also offers free, in-depth courses on accessibility that are based on “user” type. You can access these courses under the "Help Center and Academy" section on the Siteimprove dashboard.

LinkedIn Learning

Northwestern University students, faculty and staff have unlimited, on-demand access to a variety of online training courses on accessibility at no cost. Follow the links of selected courses below – you will need to login with your University email/netID if you are not already logged in via single sign-on – or go to the main LinkedIn Learning page and search “accessibility” for more courses (check the Northwestern Human Resources website for the main login link).

  • Creating Accessible PDFs – depending on your level of familiarity with accessibility, you may want to skip right to the tactical PDF accessibility modules.
  • Creating Accessible Documents in Microsoft Office - This 25-minute course covers the basics of accessibility in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
  • Experiencing an Inaccessible Website – Skip to “Why Accessibility Matters” for a brief walk-through that demonstrates the difficulty people encounter when trying to navigate an inaccessible website via a keyboard and screen reader.
  • Experiencing an Accessible WebsiteSkip to “Why Accessibility Matters” to learn how someone would navigate the same website showcased above, in the inaccessible site video, once the proper accessibility fixes have been made.
  • Accessibility for Web Design - This two-hour course, targeted to those fairly new to the field, covers the basics of accessible web design.
  • UX Foundations: Accessibility - This popular course looks at making websites accessible from a user experience perspective, focusing on how someone with a disability might use a website and what that means in terms of design. It also introduces participants to different assistive technologies that might be used to access a site.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Course instructors can learn about guidelines and strategies for implementing Universal Design for Learning to make classes accessible to all students -- those with disabilities as well as other students who experience other challenges in courses. Learn more about Universal Design for Learning.

The Universal Design Online content Inspection Tool (UDOIT) is a Canvas learning app that enables instructors to identify accessibility issues in their Canvas course. Download and install UDOIT.

Office for Civil Rights Resources on Website Accessibility

A new series of "how-to" videos on website accessibility by The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights that covers a variety of topics on digital access in education, including how people with disabilities use technology, applicable Federal regulations, and identifying and remediating barriers to access. 

Third Party Accessibility Services

PDF Remediation Services

 Captioning

 Accessibility Testing