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Fix Your Content Day Canvas Challenge: Describing Images

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Fix Your Content Day Canvas Challenge: Describing Images

April 1, 2025: 24-hour Challenge

TLOS Accessible Technologies (AT) invites all Virginia Tech canvas course instructors to make digital content more accessible. TLOS will conduct preliminary scans of Canvas courses in all departments prior to the April 1 Fix Your Content Day, then again on April 2 after the event concludes, to measure our collective impact in adding alternative text (“alt text”) to images.  

Why It Matters

Adding alt text to images ensures everyone can access and engage with visual content. Alt text is a crucial aspect of adhering to accessibility standards, like the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1 AA), which is the minimal standard for ADA Title II compliance.

Simple Steps to Fix Images in Your Canvas Courses:

  • Run the Ally Course Accessibility Report in the Canvas course navigation pane. If the Ally Course Accessibility Report is not present, you can manually enable the report.

  • Under the Remaining Issues section, select “The image does not have a description.” 

  • Ensure each image’s accessibility gauge is green. If it’s yellow or red, select the gauge to add alt text. 

  • Add alt text manually, use the built-in AI auto-generate feature, or mark specific images as purely decorative (which don’t require alt text).  

  • That’s it! You have completed the challenge. If you want to continue working toward decreasing our total number of inaccessible images— perhaps those within your presentations or documents that Ally also identified—check out the helpful resources below.

Need Help? 

At Virginia Tech, we uphold the Principles of Community, fostering a supportive learning environment for all. This is more than just an April 1st challenge—it’s about shared responsibility and working collectively to remove barriers for students. Small changes, like adding alternative text to images, have a big impact in reducing barriers within our digital environment.