CANVAS ACCESSIBILITY STATEMENT

This accessibility statement applies to Canvas, the Glasgow School of Art’s Learning Management System (LMS). 

This website is run by GSA Library Services. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to: 

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts 
  • zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen 
  • navigate most of the website using just a keyboard 
  • navigate most of the website using speech recognition software 
  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver). Users of NVDA are recommended to use Chrome. 

We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand. 

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability. 

How accessible this website is 

 We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible: 

  • most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software 
  • some videos lack closed captions, audio description and do not have another media alternative 
  • there are non-customisable images of text in the course homepages 
  • there is some moving content which cannot be paused, stopped, or hidden 

Feedback and contact information 

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille: 

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 5 days. 

Reporting accessibility problems with this website 

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact LTHelp@gsa.ac.uk 

Enforcement procedure 

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’). If you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS). 

Visiting us in person 

Our ground-floor Service Desk is fitted with a hearing loop. 

Technical information about this website’s accessibility 

Glasgow School of Art Library Services is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. 

Compliance status 

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below. 

Non-accessible content 

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons. 

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations 

Some videos do not have audio description or a media alternative. This fails against WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.3 Audio Description (Pre-recorded) (Level A). We plan to ensure that our videos have sufficient media alternatives by January 2022. As we publish new videos, we’ll make sure that these videos have media alternatives. 

Some images of text exist within Canvas, and the text is not customisable or essential. This fails against WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.5 Images of Test (Level AA). We are trailing a new, fully accessible homepage template from January 2022. 

Gifs within Canvas cannot be paused, stopped, or hide, and autoplay for longer than 5 seconds, meaning that all gifs hosted on Canvas fail against WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide (Level A).  We have informed Canvas of this issue and aim to resolve it through dialogue (date TBC). Until then, we advise staff against adding gifs to Canvas pages. 

Some tooltips in Canvas are not hoverable, which fails against WCAG 2.1 criterion 1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus. Canvas are aware of the issue and will remedy this.  

Generally Canvas can be presented at 320×256 resolution, but some exceptions exist. This fails against WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.10 Reflow (Level A). This issue is known to Canvas and will be remedied soon (date TBC). 

Many of our embedded PDFs are not accessible with a screenreader. Currently, GSA Library Services is offering training to all staff in creating accessible documents to remedy this issue. If you require access to a PDF which is not accessible, please contact LTHelp@gsa.ac.uk.  

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations 

The accessibility regulations 2018 do not require us to remediate inaccessible PDFs if they are not essential to our services and were published prior to 23 September 2018. Some PDFs that fall into this category may exist on Canvas. 

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations. 

Preparation of this accessibility statement 

This statement was prepared on 06/01/2022.  

This website was last tested on 27 July 2021. The test was carried out by Glasgow School of Art Library Services. GSA Library Services used the WCAG Evaluation Methodology to decide on a sample of pages to test. Please contact lthelp@gsa.ac.uk if you would like to know more about the sampling method or our roadmap for fixing accessibility issues.