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Teaching and Learning Resource Center

Converting Documents into Canvas Pages

Converting documents shared in modules into Canvas pages is a recommended approach to ensure better accessibility. PDF files often encounter issues when accessed online, making them challenging for users with disabilities. Additionally, Word and PowerPoint files aren’t always adaptable to viewing across different browsers and devices. Turning your documents into a Canvas page is a great tactic for enhancing the accessibility of your course.  

You can use Ally’s Alternative Formats an an optional way to convert your documents into Canvas pages through a fairly simple process. Note this will not work for large, image heavy documents. 

  1. In the Files section of your course, locate the file you want to convert to a Canvas page
  2. You can access the Alternative Formats for the file in two ways: 

    1. Click on the three-dot icon under the Actions column and select Alternative formats from the menu. 

      Step 2 in the process of remediating documents with Ally. Click the three period button and then click Alternative Formats.

    2. Or, click on the name of the file to open a preview page and click on the Ally icon in the upper right corner. 

      Remediating Documents step 2b, alternatively you can click the Ally icon in the document itself.

  1. Once the Alternative formats menu is open, select HTML and Download.
Step three, when remediating documents, selecting the HMTL option from the list of file types.

  1. Locate the HTML file you just saved to your computer and open it with a basic text editor like Notepad (Windows) or Text Edit (Mac). Select all of the text in the document and copy it to your clipboard. 
  1. Create a new page in your course and click on the HTML Editor icon. 

Step Five when remediating documents with ally, creating a new page in your course and clicking the HTML editor button

  1. Paste the HTML text you copied in step 4 onto the page and then click the HTML Editor icon again switch back to the regular editing interface. 

Step six, inside the HMTL editor, pasting the text copied in step four into the page and then closing the editor

  1. Now you can work through the accessibility issues using Ally and the Canvas Accessibility Checker. 

Step seven, working through the accessibility issues with Ally and the Canvas accessibility checker.

  1. If your document had tables, you’ll need to adjust the table properties so that it is visible. Click on your table and then click on the Table Properties icon. 

Step eight, click the table button to adjust the table properties.

  1. In the Table Properties menu, set the Border width to 1 and then click save. 

Step 9, adjusting the border width in Table properties menu

  1. Once you are satisfied with the accessibility and formatting of your page, click save. Locate where you have shared the original file in the course and replace the file with your new page. 

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