Make your Canva design easier to read

Make a practice copy, correct a readability issue and write suitable alternative text. Export a PDF and inspect the actual file.

This video was made by SkrivSikkert, which also sells its own reading and writing tool. Canva has not made, paid for or approved the video. Canva is a trademark of Canva Pty Ltd.

Written steps

  1. Step 1

    A design should be understandable to the person receiving it. This practice copy has deliberate problems: a tiny, pale heading and images without alternative text. We use an invitation and a second page with an informative image. Automatic checks can find some issues, but they cannot approve the complete experience for every reader.

  2. Step 2

    Click File, then Accessibility. Choose Check design accessibility and wait for the results. This example has one typography issue, one colour contrast issue, and two alternative text issues. Read the findings before changing anything. The checker identifies specific elements, which makes it easier to correct one problem at a time.

  3. Step 3

    Open Typography, then the small text size card. Canva suggests twelve points, but that is still too small for this presentation heading. Click Font size, select the current value, type eighty, and press Enter. Check the result in the format your audience will use. A green checkmark alone does not prove that text is comfortable to read.

  4. Step 4

    Go back and open Color contrast. Open the low-contrast text card. Choose the dark-green suggestion. The heading is now clear against the cream background. Check the whole page, not just the flagged text. If colour communicates a status or instruction, also explain it with words or a clear symbol.

  5. Step 5

    Go back and open Alternative text. Under Page one, click Add alternative text. The small leaf is only decoration; all event information is already written in the text. Select Mark as decorative, then Save. Decorative images should not interrupt a screen reader with descriptions that add no useful information.

  6. Step 6

    Open Add alternative text for the remaining image on Page two. Describe its useful content in context: Three pots of herbs on a wooden table in a garden. Leave Mark as decorative off and click Save. Use a short explanation rather than a filename or a long list of details. Check automatic suggestions yourself.

  7. Step 7

    Go back to the overview. The checker no longer lists these issues. Close the panel and return to Page one. Check that the heading fits, the text is clear, and there is space around each element. Also check the information, reading order, and plain language. Those checks still matter when the automatic categories are clear.

  8. Step 8

    Click Share, then Download. Choose PDF with the Digital preset and export both pages. Open Advanced Settings. Leave Flatten PDF off to preserve the document content instead of turning each page into one image. Check the reading-order option against your intended layout. Click Download and wait for the completed file.

  9. Step 9

    Review the actual downloaded PDF. Here are its two pages, rendered from the exported file. Check the invitation text and the image. This export retains selectable text, document tags, and the description we added to the herb image. That is useful evidence, but it is not a complete screen-reader test. Check the final file with the tools your audience uses.

What you need

Open a practice design with deliberately small text, low contrast and missing image descriptions. Automatic checks are not a complete accessibility test. The recording shows the English interface.

Read the video transcript

A design should be understandable to the person receiving it. This practice copy has deliberate problems: a tiny, pale heading and images without alternative text. We use an invitation and a second page with an informative image. Automatic checks can find some issues, but they cannot approve the complete experience for every reader. Click File, then Accessibility. Choose Check design accessibility and wait for the results. This example has one typography issue, one colour contrast issue, and two alternative text issues. Read the findings before changing anything. The checker identifies specific elements, which makes it easier to correct one problem at a time. Open Typography, then the small text size card. Canva suggests twelve points, but that is still too small for this presentation heading. Click Font size, select the current value, type eighty, and press Enter. Check the result in the format your audience will use. A green checkmark alone does not prove that text is comfortable to read. Go back and open Color contrast. Open the low-contrast text card. Choose the dark-green suggestion. The heading is now clear against the cream background. Check the whole page, not just the flagged text. If colour communicates a status or instruction, also explain it with words or a clear symbol. Go back and open Alternative text. Under Page one, click Add alternative text. The small leaf is only decoration; all event information is already written in the text. Select Mark as decorative, then Save. Decorative images should not interrupt a screen reader with descriptions that add no useful information. Open Add alternative text for the remaining image on Page two. Describe its useful content in context: Three pots of herbs on a wooden table in a garden. Leave Mark as decorative off and click Save. Use a short explanation rather than a filename or a long list of details. Check automatic suggestions yourself. Go back to the overview. The checker no longer lists these issues. Close the panel and return to Page one. Check that the heading fits, the text is clear, and there is space around each element. Also check the information, reading order, and plain language. Those checks still matter when the automatic categories are clear. Click Share, then Download. Choose PDF with the Digital preset and export both pages. Open Advanced Settings. Leave Flatten PDF off to preserve the document content instead of turning each page into one image. Check the reading-order option against your intended layout. Click Download and wait for the completed file. Review the actual downloaded PDF. Here are its two pages, rendered from the exported file. Check the invitation text and the image. This export retains selectable text, document tags, and the description we added to the herb image. That is useful evidence, but it is not a complete screen-reader test. Check the final file with the tools your audience uses.

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