Skip to content

Ally Accessibility Checker

Overview

Improve universal design in your course and help make your LMS digital content more accessible with Blackboard Ally, which offers the following features:

  1. Integrates seamlessly with myLeo Online D2L Brightspace.
  2. Automatically checks course materials against WCAG 2.1 accessibility standards
  3. Delivers guidance to instructors to improve accessibility of their course content
  4. Provides students with accessible alternative formats such as audio and electronic braille

Three Components of Ally

  • Accessibility Score Indicators- Instructor facing widgets which provide an accessibility score for uploaded content, with specific tips on how to improve the content accessibility. These widgets are viewable to instructors only, the Ally Score Indicator is not viewable by students.
  • Overall Course Accessibility Report will provide the instructor a top level view of potential issues in the course, along with guidance on how to address these issues. The course level report is not viewable by students.
  • Alternative Format Widget- A student and instructor facing widget allows for them to download an alternative format of the content to facilitate different learning styles. Alternative formats are available for both the instructor and students to download. You can raise awareness of this feature for your students by making a course announcement

Example of Accessibility Score Indicator for uploaded content, visible only to the course instructor:

Ally Accessibility Score indicator

Note the Alternative Format icon is visible to both students and instructors.



Faculty Feedback about using Ally

Dr. Tony Lee, Higher Education & Learning Technologies:

"The added function is very helpful to support students who have learning disabilities. As a faculty, it is easier for me to set up the course the way I have planned but I can easily overlook the needs of students with learning disabilities. The program can provide detailed feedback on what I need to work on to improve accessibility for students. It is often the minor things that we, as faculty members, tend to overlook since most of us are not ADA specialists. The function is also user-friendly."



Additional Accessibility Resources

Consult the Ally instructor package for D2L Brightspace for more information

See it in action- Check out our short Ally Video on viewing Content Score In D2L myLeo Online

Check out our Accessibility "How To Videos" for quick demos on how to improve content.

Alternative Format Announcement- Example text to use in your course, helping to notify students of this feature.

If you'd like to learn more about the Ally Accessibility platform or to request for it to be enabled in your course, please e-mail us at online@tamuc.edu.