POUR Principles

Introduction

Accessible online courses help students access materials, navigate activities, and demonstrate what they know. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), provide standards for web accessibility. Federal regulations under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) require public universities to make their web content accessible using WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards.

WCAG organizes accessibility around four core principles: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust (POUR). These principles help you identify and address accessibility barriers as you design, develop, and teach your course, from organizing course materials to ensuring compatibility with assistive technologies.

A Closer Look

Each POUR principle addresses a different aspect of accessibility. The following sections explain what each principle means and offer practical ways to apply it when developing and teaching your online course.

Perceivable: Help Students Access Information

The “Perceivable” principle means that students should be able to access the information in your course regardless of how they access it. For example, students may view or hear course materials or use assistive technology to access them. Considering these different ways of accessing information can help you identify and remove barriers to learning.

How to Support This Principle

  • Add alternative text to images, charts, and graphics that students need to understand the content or complete an assignment. Decorative images do not need alternative text.
  • Provide captions for videos and transcripts for audio. Captions and transcripts support students with disabilities and can also help students who study in places where listening to audio is difficult, such as public transportation, libraries, or shared living spaces.
  • Use headings and formatting tools to organize documents and course pages. Clear organization helps all students follow your content and makes it easier for students who use screen readers to navigate.
  • Use sufficient color contrast and avoid using color alone to communicate important information. This helps students who are color blind. According to the U.S. National Eye Institute, about one in 12 men is color blind.

Operable: Make Your Course Easy to Navigate

The “Operable” principle means that students should be able to navigate and interact with your course materials using different tools and methods. Course activities and digital content should not create barriers for students who use keyboards, screen readers, or other assistive technologies.

How to Support This Principle

  • Use consistent navigation and page layouts throughout your course.
  • Use descriptive link text that tells students where a link will take them.
  • Make sure documents, websites, and activities can be accessed using a keyboard.
  • Avoid unnecessary time limits or interactions that require precise mouse movements.

Canvas includes many accessible features and tools, but customized course elements may require additional attention. Work with your instructional designer or media team member to check that customized content, including interactive activities created with AI, can be navigated using a keyboard.

Understandable: Communicate Clearly and Consistently

The “Understandable” principle means that students should be able to understand the information in your course and what they need to do to complete required activities. Clear communication and consistent course design help students focus on learning instead of trying to interpret unclear instructions or unfamiliar layouts.

How to Support This Principle

  • Write clear instructions and use plain language.
  • Define unfamiliar terms or concepts when you introduce them.
  • Provide clear expectations for assignments, assessments, and course activities.

Organizing course content in a consistent and familiar way can make it easier for students to understand what they need to do. Canvas allows you to structure course content consistently. You can also use plain language practices to make written instructions clearer—for example, using short paragraphs and lists to organize assignment instructions, and avoiding jargon, clichés, and unnecessarily complex wording.

Robust: Create Content That Works as Technologies Change

The “Robust” principle means that course content should work reliably with current and future technologies, including assistive technologies. The goal is to create course materials in ways that remain usable even as the technologies and platforms students use to access them change. Using standard features and built-in accessibility tools can help make your course materials more likely to remain accessible over time.

How to Support This Principle

  • Use built-in accessibility features in tools such as Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat, and your learning management system.
  • Use heading styles, lists, and tables correctly instead of manually formatting content.
  • Check documents and presentations with accessibility checkers before sharing them with students.
  • Review course materials regularly as technologies and platforms change.

Accessibility is part of the ongoing work of developing and teaching an online course. Use the POUR principles as a way to consider accessibility throughout course development and revision. Small, consistent improvements can help remove barriers and make course materials easier for more students to access, navigate, understand, and use.

Additional Resources