Making your Canva designs accessible ensures that all users, including those with disabilities, can access and understand your content. Following these best practices for both digital and print designs will help you create materials that are inclusive and compliant with accessibility standards.
This guide is divided into best practices for the design process itself and how to properly export your finished product.
General Design Best Practices (For Both Print & Digital)
These core principles apply to any design you create in Canva, regardless of how it will be shared.
Use simple, sans-serif fonts.
Why: Sans-serif fonts (those without small lines or "feet" on the ends of letters) are generally cleaner and easier to read, especially for users with reading disabilities like dyslexia.
How-to: In the Canva editor, select your text box. From the font menu at the top-left, choose clear, sans-serif fonts like Open Sans, Lato, Montserrat, Poppins, or Verdana. Avoid decorative or script fonts for body text.
Use high contrast colors.
Why: Sufficient contrast between text and its background is essential for users with low vision or color blindness.
How-to:
- Use Canva’s built-in accessibility checker (File > View Settings > Check design accessibility). It will automatically flag any text with low color contrast.
- For manual checking, use an online tool like the WebAIM Contrast Checker. You can copy the hex codes for your text and background colors from Canva's color picker into the tool to check their ratio.
Reduce movement like transitions and animations.
Why: Flashing or moving content can be distracting and can cause physical reactions (including seizures) for users with motion sensitivities or vestibular disorders.
How-to: If applying animations, select the element or page and click the Animate button. Choose subtle options like a simple Fade, or better yet, select Remove animation. Avoid high-movement options like "Stomp" or "Tumble."
Best Practices for Digital Designs
These practices are crucial for designs that will be viewed on a screen (e.g., social media posts, web graphics, presentations, and digital PDFs).
Add alt text to images and elements.
Why: Alt text (alternative text) provides a textual description of an image for screen reader users, who would otherwise have no way of knowing what the image contains.
How-to: In your Canva design, right-click on an image, graphic, or other visual element. Select Alt text from the menu and write a concise description of the image's content and function. Mark it as decorative if it provides no information and is purely for aesthetic purposes.
Enable closed captions for any videos.
Why: Captions are essential for users who are deaf or hard of hearing. They also benefit users in noisy environments or those who speak a different language.
How-to: When editing a video in Canva, click on your video clip in the timeline. Select Edit video from the top toolbar, then navigate to the Captions tab and turn on Autocaptions. Always review the automatically generated captions for accuracy.
Use descriptive link text.
Why: Screen reader users often navigate by pulling a list of all links on a page. Vague links like "click here" or "learn more" provide no context.
How-to: Highlight the text you want to hyperlink. Click the link icon in the toolbar that appears. Instead of linking the words "click here," use text that describes the destination, such as "View our 2025 academic calendar."
Best Practices for Print Designs
This advice is specific to materials that will be physically printed, like posters and flyers.
Provide the full URL for a QR code.
Why: Not everyone has a smartphone or an app to scan a QR code. Some users may also be wary of scanning unknown codes. Providing a simple, visible URL ensures everyone can access the linked resource.
How-to: When you place a QR code on your design, add a text box directly below or next to it that clearly types out the full web address. Consider using a URL shortener (like Bitly) if the link is very long.
Exporting Your Accessible Design
The way you save your file is critical for preserving accessibility.
Exporting for Digital Use
JPG and PNG (Not Recommended for Text-Heavy Designs):
Issue: These are flat image files. Any text within them is part of the image and is completely inaccessible to screen readers.
How-to: If you use a JPG or PNG (e.g., for social media), you must provide the accessibility information in the platform where you post it. Copy all the text from your design and paste it into the post's description or use the platform's alt text feature for the image.
PDF:
How-to:
- Go to Share > Download.
- For File type, select PDF Standard. This format is optimized for on-screen viewing and preserves links and other digital information. Do NOT choose PDF Print.
- Under Options, ensure the "Accessibility (tags for screen readers)" box is checked.
Important Note: Canva's tagged PDF is a great starting point, but it will likely still need accessibility fixes (like checking the reading order) in a tool like Adobe Acrobat Pro to be fully compliant.
PowerPoint (Not Recommended):
Issue: Avoid downloading projects as PowerPoint files. The conversion process can create significant formatting issues (like breaking text into multiple boxes) and accessibility problems that are very time-consuming to fix.
Exporting for Print
PDF Print:
How-to: For professional printing, you should use the print-optimized PDF. Go to Share > Download, select PDF Print as the file type, and choose the appropriate color profile (CMYK is best for professional printing).
Note: While this file is best for the printer, if you also plan to post this document online, you should save a separate PDF Standard version for digital distribution, following the steps in the section above.
Additional Resources