Canva: Design Standards

In order to do this, Canva design practices must comply with the following standards:

• WCAG 2.1 Level AA guidelines for visual and non-text contrast, color use, and legibility.
• Consistency in branding according to Michigan Virtual’s guidelines.
• Accessibility standards for text readability, including font size and type and proper use of alt text for images.
• Adherence to user experience best practices to ensure intuitive navigation and clear information presentation.

• Use high-contrast color combinations that meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA contrast ratios (at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text).
• Maintain consistency in font types, sizes, and colors according to the organization’s branding guidelines.
• Ensure all text is legible, with a minimum font size of 12pt for body text.
• Avoid using important/excessive words in items that will be downloaded as an image unless sufficiently specific alt text is provided.
• Provide descriptive alt text for all images to support screen reader accessibility.
• Structure content in a logical, easy-to-follow manner to enhance user experience following accessibility guidelines.
• Provide proper citation of all items used. Please see the style guide standard on copyright for Canva specific citation examples. 

1. Use the official Michigan Virtual account and designated folder(s) for your course or task. 
2. Be sure the share settings allow Michigan Virtual members to edit and also share with any other appropriate stakeholders.
3. Color and Contrast: Use the WebAIM contrast checker tool to ensure all color combinations used in Canva designs meet the required contrast ratios if they are essential to the understanding of the design to support successful completion by the learner.
4. Brand Consistency: Refer to the Michigan Virtual Branding Guidelines and the “Brand” section of Canva when selecting fonts, colors, and layout styles.
5. Text Readability: Use Canva’s text tools to set the appropriate font size and type and review designs for readability.
6. Alt Text for Images: Developers will need to add alt text wherever the image gets hosted. 
7. Keep the citation information for items used in Canva by adding it to the script, course build, or another designated document for easy reference later. 
   1. If you forget, you can find it in your “Recently Used” section within Canva, but others you share it with will not see the same list of items as you in their view. 
   2. If Canva AI features are used, be sure to note this as well.
8. Content Structure: Utilize Canva templates that support clear and logical content structure, ensuring a user-friendly experience.
9. Videos should have Michigan Virtual Copyright information provided see example here. 
10. Before downloading, use Canva’s accessibility checker by:
    1. Open the design that you’d like to check the Accessibility.
    2. From the Editor, select File from the menu, then click Settings.
    3. Select Check Design Accessibility from the options to open the Design Accessibility window on your editor.
11. When it is downloaded, use the appropriate settings for your task, and be sure to upload it into the assigned folders in Google Drive

*Note: You cannot use an embed link from Canva for courses. This can be a security issue for student information. Use the Canva Accessibility Feature mentioned above, then download and save the Canva item(s) in the course files instead. 

• WCAG Contrast Checker Tool: WebAIM Contrast Checker
• Michigan Virtual Branding Guidelines: Branding Document
• Accessibility Testing Tools: WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool
• Canva Tutorials: Canva Design School
• Canva Accessibility Feature
• Image Attributions in Canva from 11-2021
• Style Guide: Video Content
• Style Guide: Google File Storage
• Style Guide: Language Usage
• Style Guide: Copyright
• Style Guide: Attribution Document
• Style Guide: Color Contrast
• Style Guide: Audio
• Style Guide: Alt-Text
• Style Guide: Animation
• Style Guide: Image Attribution
• Style Guide: Images of Text
• Style Guide: Canva File Management
• Style Guide: File Naming Conventions
• Style Guide: Icons & Images