Ever wish you had a personal assistant for your course materials? Someone who spots accessibility issues, flags errors or potential problems, and guides you on how to fix them? That’s exactly what Grackle does for Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides.
At first glance, many course documents look fine but actually can be hard for some students to navigate or read, especially if they are using a screen reader or navigating with a keyboard. Accessibility isn’t just a compliance checkbox. It’s about making sure all students can engage with your materials.
Small tweaks like using proper heading styles, adding alt text to images, and writing meaningful links make a huge difference. Grackle makes this easy. This add-on scans your Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides for potential issues and guides you step by step to fix them, so you can focus on teaching instead of hunting down formatting problems.
Getting started is easier than you might think! Once installed, Grackle becomes a seamless part of your workflow, ready to flag issues with simple indicators like green checks for passed items, warnings for potential concerns, and red X’s for errors that need attention. Your accessibility assistant helps you locate problems, walk through suggested fixes, and verify that each change is complete, making it simple to improve headings, tables, images, links, and overall document structure. For full instructions on how to use Grackle, see the Grackle Guide: Google Accessibility Checker.
Want a quick way to practice?
Try running GrackleDocs on our CAHS Template - Syllabus. It’s an easy, low-stakes way to see how headings, tables, images, and links are evaluated, and it ensures your syllabi are accessible from day one. If you wish to use this Syllabus as a template for your own use, simply download as a Microsoft Word document (File > Download as Word) or copy to your own Google Drive (File > Make a Copy).
Need extra guidance?
Follow the Scribes to learn, step-by-step, how to Install Grackle Docs Add-On for Google Docs and how to run Accessibility Checks with Grackle Docs.
With Grackle as your accessibility assistant, small changes can have a big impact. Make it part of your course preparation routine as you check syllabi, assignments, and handouts as you create them, catch issues early, and keep your documents consistently accessible. Over time, it becomes second nature, helping you save time and create materials that are clear, navigable, and welcoming for every learner.
Want more resources on accessibility?
For accessibility information specific to Google, check out “Make your document, presentation, sheets & videos more accessible - Google Docs Editors Help.”
For digital accessibility guides and additional resources, check out WVU’s Digital Accessibility website.