Accessibility statement for Canvas at Imperial College London

This accessibility statement applies to Canvas Learning Management System, which is run by Imperial College supplied by Instructure INC. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this platform. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts 
  • zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen 
  • navigate most of the website using a keyboard or speech recognition software
  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and Voice-over) 

We have 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 Canvas is

Some parts may not be fully accessible due to: 

  • Some parts do not respond to voice commands.
  • Some table and dialog elements lack correct markup.

You can find the details of inaccessible content below under “non-compliance with the accessibility regulations” section.  

Feedback and contact information

If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact [insert support team email-this is the canvas team or whoever can offer tech support to the users with additional needs rather than generic tech support]

We will consider your request and get back to you in seven working days. 
 

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).

Technical information about Canvas accessibility

Imperial College London Instructure INC are committed to making its platforms accessible in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Compliance status

Canvas has been tested against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines WCAG 2.2 AA standard.

WebAIM, an independent authority in web accessibility, evaluated a representative sample of the Canvas

Learning Management System (LMS) by Instructure web content (frequently used aspects of Canvas were evaluated in both Student and Instructor roles. This sample includes but was not limited to general navigation, course content, New Quizzes, grading, communication, and administration. It was found to be conformant with majority of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Version 2.2 Level A and AA.

Canvas is partially compliant with the  Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

  • When tabbing pages that contain filter elements, the filters can be extensive and require multiple tabs to reach the content on the other side of the filters. This may be confusing and frustrating for screen reader users. This fails WCAG 2.2, 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks criterion.  

Disproportionate Burden

N/A

Content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

PDFs and other documents 

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they are not essential to providing our services. Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.  

Live video 

We do try our best to add captions to live videos as much as possible, even though live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations. 

What we are doing to improve accessibility 

Imperial College London is continuously working on improving accessibility levels on its platforms including the courses on Canvas. We have developed templates with accessibility in mind; we offer workshops and training sessions to all our course creators and encourage using automated and manual accessibility testing for all new course content.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 23/09/2026.

It was last reviewed on following dates:

29/11/2025 and 10/11/2023.

This platform was last tested on 26/06/2025 against WCAG 2.2 AA criteria. Manual and automated testing by Instructure and by WebAIM with supported screen readers (VoiceOver, NVDA, JAWS) and other accessibility technologies. Testing is regularly conducted using automated tools, assistive technology (such as screen readers, keyboard testing, etc.), and coding best practices. Third party accessibility evaluation occurs regularly with internal audits conducted with each release. Mechanisms are in place for logging and fixing accessibility defects.

 

For more information you can read the Canvas Accessibility Standards and features .