Start Here: The Three Essentials
Every distance-education course at Hartnell is measured against these three. Jump to the one you need.
1. Accessibility
Hartnell courses must meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA and Section 508. This applies to everything you put in Canvas 鈥� pages, uploaded documents, images, video, and third-party tools. Under the 2027 Course Design Rubric, inaccessible materials must be remediated before a POCR review can begin, so this is the work to do first.
The Six Checks
Alt text on every image
Describe the purpose, not the appearance. Decorative images take empty alt text.
Color contrast 4.5:1
Normal text needs 4.5:1; large text and UI elements need 3:1. Never use color alone to convey meaning.
Real heading structure
Use Heading 2, Heading 3 in order. Never fake a heading with bold text.
Captions on all video
Auto-captions must be corrected. Audio-only content needs a transcript.
Descriptive link text
鈥淐VC-OEI rubric (PDF)鈥� 鈥� never 鈥渃lick here鈥� or a bare URL.
Accessible documents
Word and PDF uploads need heading styles, alt text, and a reading order. Scanned PDFs must be OCR鈥檇.
Check your own course
Canvas has a built-in accessibility checker in the Rich Content Editor. Run it on every page before publishing 鈥� it catches contrast, alt text, and heading errors in seconds.
2. Regular & Substantive Interaction (RSI)
RSI is what legally separates a distance-education course from correspondence education. Under Title 5 搂 55204 and federal rules, interaction must be initiated by the instructor, happen regularly and predictably, and be substantive 鈥� tied to the academic content of the course.
RSI is also Section 3 of the 2027 Course Design Rubric, scored across four elements: initial course contact, instructor-initiated interaction, student-initiated interaction, and facilitation of student-to-student interaction.
This counts
- Announcements that teach, clarify, or preview content
- Substantive feedback on student work
- Facilitating discussion 鈥� not just grading it
- Synchronous sessions, office hours, review sessions
- Direct outreach to students who are struggling
This does not
- Automated grade releases or quiz scores
- Publishing content and waiting to be contacted
- Answering email only when a student writes first
- A syllabus statement with no matching practice
- Bot or auto-reply messages
At minimum weekly, and on a schedule students can predict. Publish your contact pattern in the syllabus 鈥� when you post announcements, how fast you return feedback, and when you are reachable 鈥� then hold to it.
It must engage students in teaching, learning, and assessment. In practice that means at least two of: direct instruction, assessing or providing feedback on work, providing information or responding to questions about the content, and facilitating group discussion about the content.
Keep the interaction inside Canvas so there is a record 鈥� Announcements, Discussions, SpeedGrader comments, and the Canvas Inbox all timestamp automatically. Interaction that happens over personal email or text leaves no auditable trail.
Yes. RSI applies to any course with a distance-education component, including fully asynchronous sections. Asynchronous does not mean absent 鈥� it means the interaction is time-shifted, not optional.
3. Course Design
Good course design is what makes an online course navigable, consistent, and fair. Hartnell measures it through POCR (Peer Online Course Review) 鈥� a local, faculty-led review built on the CVC-OEI Course Design Rubric. It is peer review, not evaluation: results do not go into your personnel file. Courses that pass are badged and become eligible for listing in the CVC Course Exchange.
What the 2027 rubric covers
The Online Course Design Rubric (June 2027) has four scored sections plus a separate accessibility verification. Each element is rated Incomplete, Approaching Alignment, Aligned, or Exceptional 鈥� and an element must meet everything in the Aligned column before it can be marked Exceptional.
Section 1 - Policies & Support
Course policies, equitable use of technology, an AI policy, data privacy and security, student resources, and learning support.
Section 2 - Course Structure
Structure and navigation, module objectives, module alignment, Canvas tools and apps, use of multimedia, and guidance for working with content.
Section 4 - Assessments
Variety and frequency, scoring criteria, assessment instructions, feedback, learner self-reflection, and an end-of-course learner feedback survey.
Accessibility is a precondition, not a section
In the 2027 rubric accessibility is not scored alongside the four sections 鈥� it is expected before review begins. Courses must meet all applicable federal and state digital accessibility requirements, and any third-party technology, publisher content, or OER that is not accessible by default must be remediated or given an accessible alternative before the review starts.
Alignment then requires a signed Accessibility Verification from both the course author and the POCR lead, confirming the course was checked with college-provided tools and that all ed-tech in it has been vetted through the institution鈥檚 accessibility approval process.
Distance Education
Distance Education Committee
Co-Chairs: Jason Hough and Nancy Wheat
The DE Committee sets distance-education policy and quality standards at Hartnell. Its mission is to address the changing educational environment and students鈥� needs by growing and enhancing the 杏吧传媒 Distance Education Program. Meetings are open, and new members are always welcome.
Everyday Canvas Help
Drop-In Help Hours
No appointment needed 鈥� Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, in person and on Zoom. Bring the actual problem; we will work it with you.
Canvas Community
Instructure鈥檚 official guides and forums, for deeper technical questions than we cover here.
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