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Introduction
Introduction
Ally is a Blackboard tool that helps support diverse learning needs by making content accessible to all learners by automatically providing multiple download formats to students and content accessibility reporting to faculty. It offers multiple alternative formats to students for each piece of content, as well as reporting for faculty on the general accessibility of the documents and content items you present to students.
And for instructors, it just shows how accessible your content is and gives you pointers to make it more accessible. For example, Ally may identify Powerpoint slides that do not have Alt Text explanations of images, and will tell you how to add these to the slides to make them more accessible to all learners. When Ally is turned on, instructors will see a small gauge next to each piece of content, providing a summary score on that content as to its accessibility rating. Ally also provides an Accessibility Report for your course (found under Course Tools, Accessibility Report)
Ally Overview
Ally Overview
This brief video will give you an overview of what to expect when using Ally in Blackboard.
The 1.5 minute video above highlights how instructors can use Ally to improve content accessibility in your courses. And YES the course Accessibility Report is available to you under Course Tools - right at the top.
Ally Benefits: Accessibility Checking
Ally Benefits: Accessibility Checking
You can access accessibility data in two main ways within your course:
Individual Item Indicators: Small "speedometer" gauges appear next to files in your content folders (e.g., Course Materials).
Course Accessibility Report (CAR): For a "big picture" view, look under Course Tools in the left-hand navigation menu and select Accessibility Report.
Individual Item Indicators
Individual Item Indicators
When an instructor uploads a document to Blackboard, Ally analyzes it for accessibility. Sometimes this process takes a few minutes, but for large items, it can take longer. Once analyzed, the document will show an indicator. The indicators are not visible to students, they are only visible to instructors.
Accessibility indicators will appear on any document uploaded across Blackboard. The indicators will denote how accessible the corresponding document is.
In content folders, such as Course Materials, instructors will see icons next to each content item, providing a color coded "speedometer" or "accessometer" displaying red for low accessibility, yellow for medium and green for high. Clicking those icons will bring up information about the score and how to improve it.
Indicator Icon & Color
Score Range
Meaning
Red (low)
Score Range: O-33%
This document or image has severe issues and needs immeditate work. It is unlikely that studetns with minor accessibility needs wil lbe able to use this document.
Orange/Yellow
Score Range: 34 -66%
This document or image needs some work to improve accessibility.
Light Green
Score Range: 67-99%
Mostly accessible; minor improvements needed. Most students will be able to fully use this document. However students with specific accomodations may need additional remediation.
Dark Green
Score Range: 100%
The last icon indicates a perfect accessibility score. This document or file is accessible.
Get the Bigger Picture: Finding Your Course Accessibility Report
Get the Bigger Picture: Finding Your Course Accessibility Report
Blackboard Learn Original
Open the "Course Tools" menu in the Course Management section of the left-hand bar. Select Accessibility Report:
Blackboard Ultra
Access the accessibility report for your course by using the "Books & Tools" link in the Details and Actions menu on the right-hand side. Select Accessibility Report:
Interpreting your Ally Course Accessibility Report
Interpreting your Ally Course Accessibility Report
By clicking the Course Tools menu and the Accessibility Score item, faculty also see a tally of all the types of content items Ally has found and rated in their course (PDFs, Powerpoints, Docs, External links, images, etc.), an overall accessibility score, a ranking of the severity of accessibility issues, and information to help remediate and make items more accessible:
Here is an example of how you might interpret these specific results:
1. The Overall Health Score - The course has an overall accessibility score of 80%.
What it means: This is considered a High (Light Green) score.
Interpretation: The course is "Mostly accessible," meaning most students can fully use the documents, but minor improvements are still needed for students with specific accommodations.
2. Actionable Priorities (The "Start" Buttons) - The report breaks down where to begin your work so you don't have to guess:
Content with the easiest issues to fix (2 items): These are your "quick wins". Clicking Start takes you to issues that usually require only a few clicks, such as adding a description to an image.
Fix low-scoring content (5 items): These items have the biggest negative impact on your 80% score. They are likely tagged with Red indicators and should be addressed soon to reduce barriers for students.
3. Analyzing "Remaining Issues" - The list at the bottom identifies the specific technical barriers in the sandbox course:
Severe Issue (Red Icon): "The document is scanned but not OCRed" (2 items).
Interpretation: These two files are essentially just pictures of text. Students using screen readers cannot read them at all. These are your most critical fixes.
Major Issues (Orange Icons): * Contrast issues (2 items): The text might be too light against the background, making it hard for students with low vision to read.
Images without a description (2 items): These items lack "Alt-text," meaning a student who is blind won't know what the image represents.
Heading structure issues (2 items): The HTML content isn't logically organized (e.g., jumping from Heading 1 to Heading 3), making it difficult for students to navigate the page with assistive technology.
Fixing Content
Fixing Content
Strategic "Quick Wins"
Strategic "Quick Wins"
Don't feel like you have to fix everything at once. Use the Course Accessibility Report (found under Course Tools) to prioritize:
Prioritize "Easy Fixes": Look for the "Content with the easiest issues to fix" category. These often only take a few clicks to resolve.
Focus on Low-Scoring Content: Tackle the Red indicators first to have the biggest impact on your overall course health.
Taking Action: The 4-Step Fix
Taking Action: The 4-Step Fix
When you click an accessibility indicator, Ally opens a feedback panel that guides you through the fix:
Diagnose: Read the description of the issue to understand why it matters.
Download: Use the download arrow in the top right to save the original file to your computer.
Remediate: Follow Ally's step-by-step instructions to fix the file in its original program (e.g., Word or PowerPoint).
Replace: Upload the new, fixed version directly into the feedback panel to watch your score rise instantly!
Pro-Tip for Scanned PDFs: The "Quick-Fix" Method
Pro-Tip for Scanned PDFs: The "Quick-Fix" Method
If you have a scanned PDF that is flagged as unreadable (Red indicator), you can use Blackboard Ally to jumpstart the remediation process.
How to Do It
Find the Icon: Click the Alternative Formats icon (the letter "A" with a down arrow) located next to your file in Blackboard.
Download: Select and download the OCRed PDF version.
Replace: Upload this new version to replace the original file.
The Benefit
Re-uploading the OCRed version immediately makes the text searchable. This will usually move your accessibility score out of the "Red" zone and significantly improve the experience for students using assistive technologies.
The Limitation
While this improves the accessibility score, an OCRed document is often still "untagged". This means it still lacks the proper structure (such as defined headings) that screen readers require for easy navigation.
Strategic Advice
Use this "Quick-Fix" method as a first pass to clear all Red flags across your course quickly. However, once these critical barriers are removed, you should eventually return to these files to perform full remediation—including proper tagging and heading structures—to meet official accessibility standards.
Resources for remediating documents requested by Ally:
Accessible PowerPoint Documents with Slide
Note: It is normal instinct to want to achieve 100% accessibility. It is quite difficult to do however, particularly if there are a large number of PDF documents that are from other sources and original content is unavailable. There is no "passing" score. Our goal as an institution is to provide access for all and reduce barriers to education. This tool is merely a guide to help us achieve that. Our average SSW score in AY22-23 was 65%.
Be sure to reach out to IDEA Team if you have any questions or needs related to this information!
Ally Benefits: Alternative Formats
Ally Benefits: Alternative Formats
This brief video explains why Ally is critical for ALL students, not just students who have accommodations.
What Students See
What Students See
Students will see a icon next to every piece of content that shows all of the alternative formats they can view the content with (which may include remediated PDFs or docs, text to voice, electronic Braille, etc...) See more info on this page of Alternative Formats (https://help.blackboard.com/Ally/Ally_for_LMS/Student/Alternative_Formats)
With Blackboard Ally, students can download alternative formats of both your course pages and course materials directly from your course. This is a UDL practice which allows all students to find a format that supports thier learning. The alternative formats are necessary for some, but beneficial for all!
Audio – reads aloud the text in the original content.
BeeLine Reader – reading on a screen easier and faster by displaying the text in a color gradient that helps you pull your eye through your reading.
Electronic Braille – creates a BRF file that can be read on a refreshable Braille display, Braille reading devices, or within a Braille software.
ePub – creates a digital publishing file that can be viewed on mobile devices.
HTML – tags and elements are added to enhance meaning to a page.
OCR PDF – analyses the content and converts the image into a searchable text.
Tagged PDF – tags and elements to add meaning to a page with good content structure.
Translated Version – a machine-translated version of the original content into a total of 50 different languages
For further details and instructions, refer to the Blackboard Alternative Formats Webpage or Alternative Formats Video.
Ally Resources
Ally Resources
IDEA Resources about Ally:
IDEA Resources about Ally:
Now That's a Great IDEA (NTAGI) Jan 2023 - Bb Ally: Supported File Types and How Instructors Can Improve Accessibility of Course Materials
NTAGI - Jan 2022: The Student View of Ally
NTAGI - Nov 2021: Ally for Faculty
NTAIG - Dec 2021: Ally for Faculty continued
Blackboard Resources for Ally:
Blackboard Resources for Ally:
The resources below represent only a handful of the many resources available to Faculty for the use and adoption of Ally in your course:
Share this Flyer with Your Students:
Share this Flyer with Your Students:
Ally Quick Start Guide for Students.docxPage updated
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