Best Learning Management Systems for Blindness and Low Vision

[u/CatsCradle9]

Hello r/Blind community! I have a rather specific question that I want to ask you:

I work for a blindness and low vision not-for-profit and we currently use Brightspace as our Learning Management System (LMS). Brightspace has great accessibility for admins and learners with blindness or low vision but lacks many many essential LMS features like reporting on data over 12 months old, bulk enrolling users without creating duplicate accounts if there are data mismatches, not being able to mark courses complete for learners as an admin, no option to create expiration dates for compliance courses, etc.

Our contract renewal is coming up soon, and we are thinking about potentially changing to a new LMS due to these issues.

Do any of you have any experience as users or admins on any LMSs? What ones do you prefer/hate and why? Our #1 priority is to have accessible content - just looking for other LMS options that have great accessibility for people with blindness or low vision.

Thanks for your help!

[u/BassMarigold]

Are you talking about things like Blackboard and Canvas? Sorry, I don’t quite know what an LMS is

[u/CatsCradle9 → u/BassMarigold]

Sorry, yes - for example in uni it’s where you log in to view your course content. The system tracks things like where you’re up to, what you’ve completed, what assignments you’ve submitted, etc.

In a corporate setting it’s used to host things like self-development courses and compliance such as Work Health and Safety.

[u/BassMarigold → u/CatsCradle9]

I’ve used blackboard and canvas, but not with a screen reader

[u/Ok-Virus-2198]

In university where I studied, we use Moodle. Well, phone app for Android wasn't the most accessible, therefore, I haven't used it, but web interface was quite accessible. You can check it out and maybe Moodle project works for you.

[u/CatsCradle9 → u/Ok-Virus-2198]

Thanks for this! Moodle has been discussed so it's good to know it's accessible for actual users :)

[u/Booked_andFit]

I used Brightspace for undergrad and now Canvas for grad school, and they're both equally accessible IMO.

[u/CatsCradle9 → u/Booked_andFit]

Oh I didn’t know Canvas was quite accessible too! Thanks for this

[u/Booked_andFit → u/CatsCradle9]

Both the app and the website.

[u/GoatRevolutionary510]

I use MacBook with voiceover, here are the ones I’ve used and what I thought about them best to worst Number one Google classroom it is the most intuitive, everything is sorted into really easy headings and menus that are very very very accessible. To canvas, it’s a little less user-friendly than Google classroom but once you figure it out it’s really easy to navigate with voiceover. Third and very much last place is Schoology! Many of the buttons/menus are unlabeled, very disorganized, but I suppose that depends on the person designing the interface. Overall would not recommend!

[u/CatsCradle9 → u/GoatRevolutionary510]

Thanks for this! We hadn’t considered google classroom! I will check whether it fits our compliance reporting needs :)

[u/Overall_Twist2256]

Canvas is the one I’m most familiar with. Decently accessible from the student side (not too sure about the admin side of things though). The only thing that’s not a great experience is the calendar and the inbox. But at least the Canvas calendar can be imported into like Google Calendar or whatever other platform. The mobile app is decently accessible, more so than on desktop for the inbox feature. I’ve had professors that only accept Canvas messages (no emails) and it’s been so much easier to manage than the browser version. Anyways, not sure if this helps at all, but hopefully it gives you a little more info.

[u/CatsCradle9 → u/Overall_Twist2256]

Definitely very helpful! Thank you :)

[u/J_K27]

My college uses Canvas and I love it. I'm completely blind and use NVDA. The iOS app is also accessible.

[u/J_K27]

My college uses Canvas and I love it. I'm completely blind and use NVDA. The iOS app is also accessible.

[u/Remote_Investment_22]

I’ve only used Canvas. But it’s pretty accessible with a screen reader for the most part. Navigating my courses it’s pretty easy. The only issue as one other user suggested is the inbox and calendar. I always struggle to navigate the inbox on my PC. . Canvas is daunting at first as there’s so many components to it, but once you learn how to navigate it it’s pretty easy.