Accessibility
Accessibility Tips for Canva
Last modified 3/15/2024
Canva is a service that allows you to create and edit documents, presentations, posters and more. Use these tips to help create accessible documents and presentations in Canva.
Creating Inclusive Documents, Presentations, Social Media Graphics, Flyers & Posters in Canva
Start with Templates
Canva has a variety of templates designed with accessibility in mind. Start designing by selecting these templates.
Use High Contrast Colors
Ensure that there's enough contrast between text and background colors to make it easy to read, especially for people with visual impairments.
Check Contrast with WebAim Contrast Checker
Use Accessible Fonts
Stick to standard fonts like Arial, Helvetica, or Calibri, as they are easier to read for everyone. Avoid fancy fonts and keep the font size at a readable level.
Canva: How to choose the right fonts
Provide Alternative Text for Images
Adding alt text to images help screen readers describe non-text elements to visually impaired users. In Canva, right-click on the image and select "Alternative text" to provide descriptions for screen readers.
Avoiding Text in Images
Avoid including important text within images. Instead, incorporate text directly into your design or include it in the alt text to ensure it's accessible to all users.
Keep Text Simple and Concise
Use clear and simple language to convey your message. Avoid using jargon or complex sentence structures that might be difficult for some people to understand.
Organize Content Properly
Use headings, subheadings, and bullet points to break up your content and make it easier to navigate. This helps users with screen readers to understand the structure of your document. The + icon appears on every line of the page and can be used to structure the entire document correctly. Simply click on the + icon to access options for formatting headings, lists, and more.
Canva: Adding and Editing Text
Headings
The first line of text automatically becomes the document title, which can be edited in the top navigation. Make sure to structure your document using H1, H2, and Paragraphs. Your main title should always be H1, and you can use H2 for subheadings. Remember, only one H1 heading is allowed per document.
Lists
Want to create lists? Simply click the + icon and choose "Numbered Lists" for numbered items or "Bulleted Lists" for bullet points. Or, you can start with "1." for numbered lists or a dash and a space for bullet points.
Tables
Tables can be tricky for screen reader users. It's best to avoid complex tables altogether. If you must use them, keep them simple and straightforward. Tables will likely need to be remediated as a PDF.
Provide Descriptive Links
Links in Canva are clickable by downloading your design as a PDF or by presenting it. When adding hyperlinks, make sure the link text is descriptive and meaningful. The text should clearly indicate where the link will take the reader. Avoid using generic phrases like "click here" or "read more". When adding links, whether it's a webpage, phone number, or email address, ensure they're linked correctly. For email addresses, use "mailto:sampleemail@gmail.com", and for phone numbers, use "tel:3091234678".
Enable video captions
Enhance accessibility for multimedia content by providing captions and transcripts for audio elements. Canva enables adding captions to video uploads.
Provide Accessible Versions
If you're sharing your document online, consider providing accessible versions in alternative formats like PDF or plain text for users who may have difficulty accessing the Canva document.
Canva PDF accessibility features
Create Accessible PDFs in Acrobat
Use the Design Accessibility Tool
The Design Accessibility tool, is a checker you can use to find out what accessibility issues are present in your design so that you can fix them without needing to be an accessibility expert. Design Accessibility doesn't guarantee accessibility compliance, but will help note common accessibility issues.
Design Accessibility will check for:
- Typography
- Color Contrast
- Alternative Text
Tips for using Canva with Assistive Technologies
Find helpful hints for navigating Canva with common assistive technologies, like screen readers.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Canva has keyboard shortcuts to help you design on your device.
Using Canva with a screen reader
- When creating a new design, there is a search box where you can search for templates. Sometimes Canva will put suggestions to narrow down the search, but these aren’t actually templates. Rather, they are suggestions to narrow down the templates to choose from. To get to the actual templates, look for the options that are labeled as links. Those are actual templates that can be used.
- When creating a new document in Canva there is a unlabeled edit box on the page. This is where you can write document text.
- Sometimes there appears to be placeholder text in the document text field. While it may seem confusing, this is the correct box for document text.
- While the video templates make one think you can record video, they aren’t for actual recordings. Rather, the video templates allow you to design video style presentations.
- You can select a screen reader language.
Have a tip you want to add? Contact the Web Accessibility Coordinator at: webaccessibility@ilstu.edu.