Lists: Bulleted and Numbered

Creating Accessible Lists in Canvas

Purpose of Lists

Lists are terrific ways to present related ideas to students, to illustrate items in a group, present pieces of a series, or to outline steps in a process. They also capitalize on white space, which can help make your page more visually appealing.

Common Mistakes

Errors occur when instructors create lists without using the list style, or when bulleted lists are used when a numbered list is called for (or vice versa!)

List Creation Guide

How to create lists

You can create a list from items you have already typed out, or you can add to the list as you go. All items on the list need to be on separate lines (use the Return key to advance to the next line). Highlight the text that is part of your list, then select either the bulleted or the numbered list style.

Screenshot of Rich Content Editor toolbar with the bullet list and numbered list buttons highlighted

If you would like to add to your list, you can insert your cursor at the end of any items in the list, then enter Return to insert a new line in the list. To finish your list, after the last element in your list, enter return. A new bullet or number will appear at the end of your list--don't leave this "blank" item in your list. Instead, unselect the list style. Your cursor will snap back to the left margin, in regular paragraph mode.

Important: Before you continue, please read all the list information above.

Additional Resources

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