Have you noticed the trend? In September, we introduced the Content Audit Tool (CAT) to target unused artifacts. In October, we deleted old courses in Canvas and aging media in Kaltura . The downsizing has begun, and the benefits are real:  Usability improves when relevant material is easier to find  Accessibility efforts are not wasted on out-of-date content The institutional dividends are legion:  a reduced security exposure a lower administrative burden   But decluttering is more than a one-time initiative; it's an ongoing mindset. Like moving from a large rural house to a small urban apartment, your lifestyle needs to adapt. And so it is with learning technologies. Here are some recommendations for adapting to living in a digital world where content has a lifecycle. Maintain a Canvas "Foundation" Course Does this sound familiar at all to you?  At the start of the term, you click Import Existing Content , and pull all of last semester's materials into y...

When creating video content for your course, accessibility should remain a central consideration. Accurate captioning and appropriate audio description not only promote equitable access to course materials, but will also be required for compliance with the University’s updated digital accessibility policy beginning in April 2026. Proactively addressing caption quality now will help guarantee that your content remains accessible and meets policy guidelines. It is essential to order or edit captions for any video you require students to watch in your course. If you are linking to videos you do not own, take the time to carefully review the existing captions for accuracy, completeness, and timing. Auto-generated captions are often a starting point, not a finished product. If the captions are inaccurate and you are unable to contact the owner to correct them, the video should not be used in your course. Providing content that is inaccessible to some students creates unnecessary barriers ...

Extra Points contributors are interviewing University of Minnesota instructors working to comply with the updated digital accessibility policy effective April 2026. These blog posts highlight the approach they take as they lean into the challenge of revising their course content to be digitally accessible. This post highlights Dr. Vanessa Lee, Professor of Psychology in the College of College of Liberal Arts, Twin Cities Campus. Interviewer: When did you first start hearing about digital accessibility?   Vanessa Lee (VL): I think I first started hearing about digital accessibility in the spring of 2024. However, it wasn't until the summer of 2024 that the emails started coming in, urging me to really begin this work. Interviewer: What were your initial thoughts, feelings and concerns about the need to make your course materials accessible? VL: My first reaction was that this is a good and important thing to do for my students. I was already having to make various accommodatio...

  Extra Points contributors are interviewing University of Minnesota instructors working to comply with the updated digital accessibility policy effective April 2026. These blog posts highlight the approach they take as they lean into the challenge of revising their course content to be digitally accessible. This post highlights Dr. Olivia Crandell, Assistant Professor, Center for Learning Innovation, Rochester. Interviewer: When did you first start hearing about digital accessibility?  Dr. Olivia Crandell (OC): I think I first heard a general announcement in the fall of 2024, likely in a campus-wide email. However, I didn't give it serious attention until it was actually brought up in a department faculty meeting. It's been about a year since I have had digital accessibility seriously on my radar. Interviewer: What were your initial thoughts, feelings and concerns about the need to make your course materials accessible? My initial thought was that this would be a lot o...

Extra Points contributors are interviewing University of Minnesota instructors working to comply with the updated digital accessibility policy effective April 2026. These blog posts highlight the approach they take as they lean into the challenge of revising their course content to be digitally accessible. This post highlights Deanna Koepp , Associate Professor of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development in the College of Biological Sciences , Twin Cities.  Interviewer: When did you first start hearing about digital accessibility?  Deanna Koepp (DK) : I sort of knew in the background that digital accessibility was a thing, but I didn't truly focus on it until last summer. That's when I received a notification from CBS (College of Biological Sciences) about an approaching compliance deadline in April. I went to a workshop by the IT people in CBS where digital accessibility suddenly moved from a vague awareness to an urgent, concrete task. Interviewer: What were your initial...

When creating instructional videos for your courses, accessibility should be a central consideration. This includes ensuring that videos meet visual contrast standards, that captions are accurate and properly synchronized, and — critically — that key visual content is accessible to learners with low vision through audio description. What is Audio Description? Audio description is the practice of narrating key visual elements to ensure that learners who are blind or have low vision can fully engage with educational content. However, its value extends far beyond accessibility for students with disabilities . Consider, for example, a student listening to a video lecture while commuting—without visual access to the screen, they miss important contextual cues. Similarly, a student watching a lecture on a small phone screen may struggle to discern critical visual details. In both cases, audio description can bridge the gap, providing access to integral information that might otherwise be ...

This post summarizes the session, Create Accessible Canvas Content, from January 9, 2025. Session facilitators–DM Lavoie, from the Office of Digital Accessibility, and Rebecca George-Burrs, from Academic Technology Support Services–teamed up to demonstrate how to apply the 7 Core Skills of Digital Accessibility in the Canvas Rich Content Editor (RCE). Use the table of contents to navigate to each of the core skills in this article: Use Headings to Format Text Format Accessible Lists Use Accessible Color Contrast Write Accessible Link Text Create Accessible Tables Use Alternative Text (alt text) for all Images Use Accessible Media Overview In order to meet the expanded Title II of the ADA , the UMN community is working to make our digital content accessible. For those using Canvas, the RCE provides tools to create accessible Pages, Announcements, Discussions, Assignments and Quizzes throughout a course site. In fact, the RCE provides ways to use all 7 Core Skills of Accessib...

As a University of Minnesota instructor, you have likely heard about the new accessibility requirement for course materials outlined by the Department of Justice in their clarifications on Title II of the ADA : all content in course sites with student enrollment–such as academic courses, professional development sites, or resource sites your department created– must be digitally accessible by April 2026. This new requirement comes at a time in education where instructors are busy on multiple technological fronts (can we have a blog post without mentioning AI?). Yet here we are at another intersection of technology and teaching. This intersection brings about good for all learners. Research shows that making content accessible helps all of your students, not just those who use adaptive technologies to access content. While the task to meet the April 2026 deadline may seem overwhelmingly large, academic technology staff and the Office for Digital Accessibility are breaking it down in...

Overview Academic Technology Support Services (ATSS) and the Office for Digital Accessibility (ODA) tested the usability of the Canvas: Remove Course Content article text and video with UMN instructors. Participants identified three key findings: time commitment, rationale, and archiving. The project team addressed the findings by making targeted changes to the article. Usability partnership & study process For this study, the Canvas: Remove Course Content article was selected for two reasons:  instructors and staff are preparing to meet the April 2026 digital accessibility deadline ATSS had heard from the academic technology community that some instructors are confused about removing vs. deleting content from a Canvas course With the University of Minnesota Usability Services team, our project team developed a focus question to guide our study: What motivates people to improve the accessibility of their course? We then determined the criteria for participant recruitment, ...

This post summarizes the August 2024 Canvas Gradebook Set-up session facilitated by Academic Technology Support Services (ATSS). During the session, ATSS consultants presented an overview of getting started with the Canvas Gradebook and its settings, discussed streamlining grading throughout the semester, and shared resources for advanced tips and tricks. Key Takeaways The role of the Canvas Gradebook in addressing access and inclusion Challenges facing students: academic stress, student mental health, transparency, anxiety about grades and class performance Challenges facing instructors: burnout, grading and time commitments, transparency in grading practices and assessments, ungrading We do not intend to imply that simply using the Canvas Gradebook will single-handedly eliminate the previously mentioned issues. However, we bring them to think about a small change that could be taken to set yourself and your students up for a semester with more ease.  Canvas Gradebook settings A...

If you have not logged into Canvas since May 2024, you will notice much has changed. Let's catch you up: some things are gone (Flip), some things are improved (Discussions), and others moved to a different location (Turnitin). This post is excerpted from  a group presentation  (Video 1:06:57) at the August 7th Canvas Investigations . Timestamps next to headings will link you directly to that topic in the recording. The most important take-aways are highlighted in yellow . DoJ Ruling on Accessibility 2:29 In April, the clock started to count down two years for us to ensure all web content is accessible. The newly formed  Office of Digital Accessibility  (ODA) will guide us. Watch for messaging on the  3 Rs—Remove, Revise, Right First . The easiest and most impactful thing instructors can do now aligns with Remove — be selective when importing content from old courses . Discussions/Announcements Redesign 4:09 Canvas Discussions  have changed in appear...