Information Hierarchy and Organization

Information hierarchy is a universal design principle that involves the arrangement of elements or content in a manner that reveals an order of importance (either ascending or descending). The page provides information on presenting information in Canvas using visual hierarchies within a page, assignment or other element within their course with consideration to accessibility. 

Headings

LTTOHeading.png

Using the canvas rich-text editor to style the text can help you create a visual hierarchy of text that can be read by most screen readers to assist learners who may be visually impaired. To use these, just select a Heading size you'd like to use — usually you can use Heading 2 for major sections, and Heading 3-5 for subsequent subsections. Using the heading styles creates a visual structure for all students, to let them know that content is broken into sections. 

Sub-headings

Sub headings are also encouraged, as these will allow learners to scan through content to see major sections, with minor sub-sections both visually and through screen reading software.

LTTOSubheading.png

Sub-Headings and Accessibility

Using heading tags is important as it allows those using screen reader software who many have visual challenges to 'read' text in a hierarchical fashion, so structuring content around major topics with sub-topics can help learners jump to specific areas of a page and focus on what they want to. The below structure outlines how this may work.

  • H2: Animals
    • H3: Mammals
      • H4: Gibbons
    • H3: Reptiles
      • H4: Iguanas
  • H2: Plants

 

Indenting

LTTOIndenting.png

 

Text can be indented...

...like this, to bring attention to a quote or other important line of text. Text can even be made bold or italicized to bring extra emphasis to written content.

 

Do not underline text. Underlined text typically indicates a link, so non-linked, but underlined text can create confusion for students.

 

Ordered and Unordered Lists

Just as in other word processing applications, the use of bullets to provide concise and stratified information is a great way to present information.

  • Bullets
    • provide a great way to provide
      • hierarchy.

 

  1. Numbered bullets
  2. could be used to list the
  3. steps involved in completing a task 
  4. within canvas.

 

Emojis

Use of emojis (characters that express emotions or emotional reactions) are very common in day to day online discourse, so using them within the context of Canvas is completely fine — even encouraged for specific uses. 

Emojis 😀can be used anywhere text is present, including module headings (use a  ✅ a  ➜ to mark current modules), rubrics (for assessment criteria levels - 🙁 < 😑 < 🙂 <😃), etc. They are also a good way to highlight text for attention (like the heading above) or to liven up some text 🎉.  But as you can see, from this paragraph, too many used in the wrong context can be visually distracting and make it harder to read and process information. Similar to graphics, using emoji's strategically can communicate information quickly to students.

 

Blended Course? 🚩

One effective use of emoji's in a blended course is to flag pre-readings or pre-class homework.  Make sure you use the particular emoji consistently to convey the same meaning each time it is used. And be careful not to use too many colourful and distracting emoji's, as that could detract from the student experience.

 

Tables

Tables within Canvas also afford the opportunity to present information in a clean and structured manner.

Bears Not Real Bears
Panda Koalas
Sun Bear Gummies

 

Remember to add cell padding under the Table Properties. You can access the table properties by selecting the table and using the table icon drop down in the text editor.

 

White Space

Define, and explain how it improves reading and ability to focus, and process the information.

Explain that default formatting doesn't allow for the formatting conventions we are used to in print, and Canvas behaves inconsistently with white space before/after paragraphs and other elements....

 

Tips:

  • When in doubt, it's better to add more white space, rather than less. 
  • Add an extra space, by hitting the return key or shift +return, at the bottom of the Canvas pages so that when they are viewed in the course, the content is not running to the horizontal line at the bottom of the page. 

 

Optional Readings and Resources

The items below are listed for your reference only, and you are not required to read them.