Thoughts on the new Accessibility Checker to be released in beta on Jan 30, 2026?

I guess I stopped getting release notes since the Instructure conversion to this new platform, but my Canvas Admin just forwarded the latest, which includes information about a new Accessibility Checker. While I appreciate the effort behind this, the timing is terrible as far as introducing this to our faculty, who are already learning 3 other checkers (Canvas rich content editor, Ally, and DesignPlus) as we prepare for the ADA Title II requirements deadline of April 24, 2026. Our Spring semester starts on January 26.

Does anyone have advice/thoughts on how to introduce this new tool to faculty? My biggest concern is that it too closely resembles Ally and I foresee lots of confusion for folks who are new to this work and might get lost between the two tools.

Accessibility Checker release demo video

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AmberNeyses

We're in a similar boat. We aren’t in the early adopter group for this new checker, and honestly, we haven’t heard much about it yet. With the ADA requirement looming, our focus has been entirely on working with faculty to fill in the gaps where their courses are currently lacking.

We are currently reviewing our toolset as well, but like you, our priority is to avoid bombarding faculty with new requirements and tools right as the semester kicks off. We’re leaning toward sticking with waiting until the 'beta' dust settles since we have Ally and DesignPLUS (and Canvas RCE).

AMye1

Thanks so much for this heads up, sbj! I'm also (re)learning to navigate this new reconstructed platform. The demo was helpful although very brief.

sbj

EDIT: we asked, and our CSM has let us know that the RCE checker will remain in place "at this time."

I have also asked, but have not gotten an answer yet, whether this accessibility checker will replace the RCE checker that exists today.

here is the discussion about the new accessibility checker.

sbj

We're trying to decide how/when to introduce this to our instructors. We have spent the last 2+ years intensively promoting the use of the Ally checker, DesignPlus checker, and the Canvas RCE checker. Everyone is stressed about the looming April 24 deadline, and I can't imagine promoting another new tool to learn right now. Instead, we'd love to do a soft launch and get instructor feedback and maybe launch it over summer, but that seems challenging. According to our CSM:

"The default functionality for production will be enabled and unlocked a the root account on 2/21. This is an account level feature option and not a course level feature option. Account level feature options do not allow you configuration at the course level, so if you disable this feature at the root or sub-account level the Accessibility course navigation item and tool will not be visible to any courses in that account or sub-account."

I will be interested to hear how other campuses roll this out, and what feedback you get from your instructors.

JACOBSEN_C

We're about in the same boat, I think. Our plan is to leave it disabled but unlocked - so instructors can choose to enable it or not in their courses - until "the market" demands otherwise. We'll have the usual suspects piloting it as well, I'm sure. (Fun referring to it as "the market" having had discussions/arguments(?) in the past that education isn't a business or industry but something else entirely. Guess i'm that guy now… Ha!)

Settings interface showing feature list with status options. "Accessibility Checker" is highlighted with a dropdown menu displaying "Enabled, Disabled, Lock" options.

sbj

Sadly, that won't work. I just asked our CSM about your plan:

"… that idea will not work. This would only work if the feature option was a course level feature option. We have corrected the release notes to indicate this won't be configurable at the course level."

This has not been a smooth rollout …

JACOBSEN_C

Ha! Well……………. maybe we'll have to try to put a strip of electrical tape over it and forget we saw it………

Akos Farago

@sbj I am copying here our reasoning behind the decision (this is now added to the product blog). We know this might not work perfectly in every situation, and we’ll definitely keep an eye out on this specific concern.

I no longer see a course-level flag. Is this intended?

Yes, this is intended. The flag is controlled at the account or sub-account level, rather than on a per-course basis. While course-level flexibility can be useful, configuring the flag at the sub-account level still provides flexibility for larger institutions. This design assumes that the preferred accessibility tool is selected at the account or sub-account level, rather than varying by individual course and that it is expected to be uncommon for instructors to be recommended to use different tools across courses within the same sub-account.

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