/
ACCESSIBILITY: Canva

ACCESSIBILITY: Canva

 How to use Canva’s Design Accessibility 

  1. Open the document that you'd like to check the Accessibility. 

  2. From the Canva Editor, select File from the top menu, then select Accessibility. 

  3. Select Check Design Accessibility to open the Design Accessibility window on your editor. 

Screenshot of Canva document menu for accessibility check
Screenshot of Canva document menu for accessibility check

 

You’ll see a summary of accessibility issues detected that are grouped by category, and include:  

  1. typography 

  2. color contrast  

  3. alternative text (alt-text) 

Screenshot of Canva summary of accessibility issues
Screenshot of Canva summary of Design Accessibility

1. Typography 

Text with font sizes smaller than 12pt can be difficult to read, especially for people with visual impairments. If small text is detected, you can manually adjust your font size to be 12pt or larger in the editor or by clicking on the  Increase font size to 12pt button within the issue card. 

For some design types (presentations, social media, print, website, and video) you also have the option to select and fix multiple typography issues in a single instance. 

 

2. Color contrast 

Low-contrast text is hard to read for people with visual impairments or color blindness. Low contrast is when the color of text is too similar to its background, such as yellow text on a white background.  

Example of high contrast light text on dark background
ACCESSIBLE: Example of high contrast — light text on a dark background
contrast_low2.jpg
NOT ACCESSIBLE: Example of low contrast — dark text on a dark background

To fix low-contrast issues, click on one of the color options to apply a suggested text color on the issue card. If no suitable colors are found, you can change your font color by:

  1. Selecting the text.

  2. On the toolbar, select “A” icon for Text color.

  3. Choose a color to apply to your text.

Or follow the instructions in this article.

 

3. Alternative Text 

Alt text helps people with low vision or blindness understand the content and context of images. 

To add alt text or mark an image as decorative, follow these steps: 

  1. Locate the issue card for the image without alt text. 

  2. Click the Add alternative text button. 

  3. Enter the appropriate text in the text box or check the Mark as decorative checkbox. (Decorative items are anything that does not need to be announced by the screen reader; such as a background shape or a line that divides content sections.

  4. Click Save to save your changes. 

For some design types (presentations, social media, print, website, and video) you also have the option to select and fix multiple typography issues in a single instance.  

 

Example of Alternative Text for a selected image in Canva
Example of Alternative Text for a selected image in Canva

  

Example of marking an object as decorative
Example of marking an object as decorative

 

Download and check that your document is accessible 

After your Canva document has been made accessible following the steps listed above, you can download the file. 

Here’s how: 

  1. From the top menu, select Share. 

  2. Select Download. 

  3. Choose PDF Standard or PDF Print as the file type. 

  4. Select Download. 

 5. Open the downloaded PDF in Adobe Acrobat and run the Accessibility Check. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer please contact Fredonia ITS to request it.

Accessibility Practices in Adobe Acrobat