DocAccess in Canvas - PDF Transcription Tool
DocAccess is a new digital accessibility tool that converts online PDF documents into accessible text transcriptions. This tool has been integrated into both Canvas and our university's website. While this page focuses on using DocAccess in Canvas, the tool's interface and capabilities are identical in both places.
The DocAccess transcription does not replace, remediate, or modify your original PDF document. Instead, the transcript is added to the PDF viewer as an alternate reading mode that can be toggled on and off at any time by the viewer. The transcription is created as text-based HTML, designed to meet ADA accessibility guidelines and work with screen readers.
As with all automated tools and AI-tools, it is recommended that you check the results yourself to verify that they are accurate depicitons of the original content.
Creating a DocAccess Transcription
It only takes a single click to request a DocAccess transcription for a PDF. First, locate the PDF in your course.
If you directly opened the PDF from a module or another page in your course, click on the Request Accessible Version button at the top of the PDF viewer.
Alternatively, if you are looking at your course's Files page, click the grey DocAccess icon next to the PDF's publish status icon. Green icons mean that an accessible transcript was already generated by DocAccess.
The file will take at least few minutes to transcribe, depending on how big the PDF is and how many PDFs are already queued up for DocAccess transcription. It is recommended that you preemptively request transcriptions for all of the PDFs you plan to use, then come back later to verify that they finished transcribing. Once the transcribing is finished, you will need to refresh the page in order to see the update.
Once a PDF has been transcribed with DocAccess, anybody who opens the PDF will have access to the transcribed version alongside the original version. You can swap between versions with the toggle at the top of the PDF viewer interface.
Editing the Transcript in Canvas (Beta)
DocAccess transcripts can be edited by any instructor or TA within the Canvas course. To make changes, open the PDF and click the Edit in Workbench button at the top of the PDF viewer. This will open the transcript editor in a new tab.
From there, click the part of the transcript you want to modify and use the text box on the right to describe the change. For example, you can ask DocAccess to adjust font size, correct transcription errors, or rearrange content if sections were placed out of order. Click the Send button to submit your change, at which point DocAccess will process and update the trancription. Once you are finished making your changes, click the Save button on the upper-right to publish your changes.
Accessibility & PDF Remediation
DocAccess creates an accessible transcript of your PDF that is designed to meet ADA guidelines for long-term federal and accreditation accessibility requirements as long as the transcription is available alongside the original version. However, this does not remediate the PDF itself or make the original copy accessible.
If DocAccess becomes unavailable in the future, you will remain responsible for providing an accessible version of the PDF. To prepare for that possibility, use the download button in DocAccess to save a copy of the accessible transcript. This downloaded version can serve as a backup and may provide an easier starting point if the document requires long-term remediation.
Privacy and Ownership
DocAccess does not require accounts for anyone other than administrators and does not collect or sell personal information. Any data collected is anonymized and retained solely to support the functionality of transcribed PDFs.
PDFs may be removed from DocAccess records by a DocAccess administrator. To request the removal of a PDF, please contact the TechBar.
If UW-Parkside chooses not to renew its DocAccess service agreement in the future, all university PDF transcriptions and related data will be permanently removed from DocAccess servers within 30 days of the contract's expiration.
For more information, please review the DocAccess Privacy Policy.
Considerations and Limitations
- DocAccess is an experimental, AI-powered accessibility tool with a newly developed Canvas integration. As with all AI-powered tools, you may occasionally encounter an instance where the generated transcription produces unexpected results.
- The DocAccess transcription should include the complete word-for-word text of the original PDF, along with AI-generated descriptions of its images. If a transcription contains inaccuracies, download the transcribed version, make the necessary corrections, and upload the revised file to your Canvas course. Alternatively, you can copy and paste the transcript into a Canvas page if that format is easier to edit and maintain.
- As with many Canvas integrations, DocAccess currently treats our two Canvas domains, uwpks.instructure.com and uws.instructure.com, as separate environments. DocAccess works with either domain, but a file transcribed through one domain will not appear when accessing Canvas through the other domain. To access the existing transcription, switch to the domain where it was originally created. Otherwise, you will need to transcribe the file again.
- Many Canvas integrations, including DocAccess, are not supported in the Canvas mobile app. To access DocAccess transcriptions on a mobile device, use Canvas through your device’s web browser instead.
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DocAccess recommends limiting PDFs to 1,000 pages or fewer, as larger files may present stability issues. As a general best practice, lengthy PDFs should be divided into smaller, more manageable chapters.
- DocAccess is currently available for our live courses (for credit courses) and sandbox courses. It is not yet available in our other instances of Canvas, such as the Continuing Education or Training & Development instances, though we are working with the DocAccess developers to see if this will be a future possibility.