Blackboard Ally works within BeachBoard to identify accessibility issues and provide guidance to instructors on remediation of course materials. The primary features of Ally include:
Course Accessibility Indicators
"Accessibility Indicators" are color-coded dials visible to instructors only which serve as a quick visual reference to accessibility issues in course content.
Select the indicator icon to open the Feedback Panel (see below) for tips on improving the accessibility of specific content items.
The Feedback Panel
Use Ally's on-screen tips to fix specific issues and make overall improvements to course accessibility--all within BeachBoard.
Alternative Formats for Students
Ally automatically generates alternative formats of course materials (without affecting originals) such as mp3 audio, electronic braille, HTML, ePub, and optical character recognition PDF.
Students can then download the file format appropriate to their environment, learning needs, or devices:
Quick Tips for Common Issues
Use Ally feedback tips to make quick changes to make a big impact on your course accessibility:
- Add alternative descriptions to image files
- Remove potentially harmful content
- Scanned PDFs: An enemy to accessibility
- Add a library reference
- Add alternative descriptions to PowerPoint images
- Add headings to a Word document
- Add headers to your data tables in Word
- Export a Word document as a tagged PDF
Instructor Resources
Learn more about Ally's features and how to make them work for you:
Resources to Share with Your Students
Use these resources in your courses to inform students about the benefits of Ally:
