UDOIT is integrated with UW Canvas as a course accessibility assistant. UDOIT scans your Canvas content and Files that you have uploaded to search for accessibility issues. It will identify critical, moderate, and minor issues and will provide scores for each Category and Issue Types associated with the categories. It will also provide recommendations for remediating issues that are found in the scan. We recommend running TidyUP before UDOIT in order to ensure that you are not remediating unused content.

In this article:

• About
• Guides
• FAQs

About

UDOIT looks for items in Canvas content that do not meet accessibility standards, and file issues that may cause trouble for students using assistive technologies. It does this by scanning the HTML of your Canvas Content, looking for items that do not meet accessibility standards:

• Errors are issues we can confidently determine need to be resolved for accessibility.
• Suggestions are items that may need your attention, but your human insight is needed.
• Files in your course (Documents, PDFs, PowerPoints, etc.), looking for issues that make it difficult for students to use assistive technologies to navigate your files.

Guides

Cidi Labs, the company that offers UDOIT Advantage, has both a short video tutorial and written guide for how to get started with this tool.

For more information, explore the Cidi Labs UDOIT User Guide.

FAQs

• What does UDOIT scan?
  UDOIT scans most Canvas course materials, including pages, assignments, and files. There are a couple exceptions:
  • Due to API limitations, UDOIT does not scan quiz questions or question banks for classic quizzes. It can only scan the quiz description.
  • UDOIT does not currently scan New Quizzes. For more information on New Quizzes and UDOIT, see the following Cidi Labs article: Does UDOIT scan Canvas' New Quiz questions and item banks?
• What issues does UDOIT detect?
  While UDOIT does not cover every type of accessibility issue in the formal Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) criteria required for ADA compliance, many of the issues it checks for are based on WCAG standards. To see how we check for WCAG Guidelines, see the following Cidi Labs article: WCAG Guidelines Mapped to UDOIT Issues
• When should I be using UDOIT vs. Ally or another accessibility checker?
  You can use both Ally and UDOIT to identify and resolve accessibility issues in your course. While these tools have heavy overlap in what they do, they also each have unique strengths when it comes to making course content more accessible. We recommend testing both tools in your course to take advantage of the strengths of each.
  • Ally is particularly helpful for identifying issues with embedded content such as images or linked files. The dial icons on each piece of content make it easy to spot accessibility issues directly on the page they appear.
  • PDFs can be especially difficult to make accessible, since they are challenging to edit and often require additional software to make them ADA-compliant. UDOIT can help you convert scanned PDF files of course content into Canvas pages, which are much easier to modify to meet accessibility requirements. (Note: for course readings, please be mindful of copyright restrictions when using this feature.)
• Am I required to use UDOIT or to act upon the recommendations it provides?
  No. This tool is one of several that UW-IT is offering instructors to help with ongoing work to improve the accessibility of course materials. Its use is recommended, as it's likely to save time for instructors and staff who are working to make their courses more accessible, but you are not required to use it if you have other methods of addressing accessibility requirements for your course.
• Who can access UDOIT?
  This tool is only visible to teachers, designers, and Canvas administrators. Students and observers will not be able to access UDOIT or see the results of a course scan.
• I don't see UDOIT in my course. Where can I find it?
  If UDOIT isn't already visible in your course navigation menu, you may need to customize your course navigation to include it.
• What happens if I add material to the course after running UDOIT?
  The first time you access the tool, UDOIT will scan all of the content in your course. This full scan of the content may take a few minutes to complete. In subsequent uses of the tool, UDOIT will scan new and updated content to complete the scanning process more efficiently.
• What are Issue Types and the Scorecard?
  The Scorecard provides a summary of the types and numbers of accessibility issues UDOIT has identified in your course. For each Issue Type that appears on the scorecard you will see:
  • a link to start fixing issues of that type
  • an Issue Count stating how many issues have been found
  • a Score for all associated issues
    If you see N/A in the Score column, it means there is no data to show, because your course does not have a situation where those issue types would apply.
• UDOIT is showing a lot of issues with my course. Where should I start?
  It's totally normal to see a high number of issues on your first scan. However, many issue types can be fixed quickly - sometimes in a matter of seconds.
  • We recommend starting with the major issues which will result in the largest accessibility score improvements.
  • Consider picking a single issue type to work on at a time, such as adding image alt text or improving color contrast. If you have a lot of individual cases of that issue type, you may be able to find shortcuts to solve these more quickly as you go.
  • You may not be able to solve every issue that UDOIT identifies on your own. That's okay. If you're stuck solving a particular issue, leave it alone for now and move on to other issues that are easier to address. Focusing on tackling the simple issues first will make it easier to seek targeted help later for more challenging issues.
• I'm running into issues using this tool. Where can I get help?
  The UW Learning Technologies team can help interpret UDOIT results, offer basic fixes, and direct you to additional support resources. Email help@uw.edu with a link to your Canvas course and a description of what you need help with.