Anthology Ally

Anthology Ally was initially piloted during the Covid-19 pandemic, and its integration into the LMS during the Fall 2023 semester was instrumental in creating a more accessible learning environment for students with disabilities. The application equips instructors with invaluable tools to gauge and improve the accessibility of their course materials in real time. Upon evaluation, the instructors are provided with an accessibility score, ranging from 0 to 100, for their courses. This score is not accessible to or seen by students, but merely a snapshot for instructors to consider. Rather than imposing pressure for immediate fixes, this score serves as a starting point for an ongoing conversation about enhancing accessibility in the digital learning space.

AVAILABLE TO: Faculty | Students | Staff

FUNDED BY: University

Alternative Formats

Many classrooms today, both physical and digital, serve students with diverse needs. Alternative formats provide greater opportunity for everyone to access the information they need in the way they need or want it.

With alternative formats all students can meet the same learning objectives using resources that are built to target the needs of the individual student. For example, Anthology Ally creates audio and electronic braille alternatives for students with visual impairments.

Alternative formats aren’t just for a select group of students. Alternative formats benefit everyone. For example, your students may be prone to eye strain, or maybe they are an auditory learner. They can listen to an audio format of the content instead or use the HTML or ePub formats for easier reading on a mobile device.

More on the different alternative formats and their benefits

Accessibility

Blackboard is invested in the usability and accessibility of all our products and services. In keeping with our strong tradition of leadership around accessibility, our products are generally designed and developed in accordance with the internationally recognized Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), as well as Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. Blackboard strives to meet the globally recognized WCAG 2.1 Level AA success criteria and conducts regular third-party accessibility testing of its products to assess conformance with industry standards.

Alternative formats

Ally creates alternative formats of your course content based on the original. These formats are made available with the original content so students can find everything in one convenient location.

You don’t need to do anything. The alternative formats are created for you. If you want, you can disable alternative formats for any individual content item for whatever reason.

Select the Download Alternative formats icon anywhere you see it to see the different formats available and to disable them.

More on alternative formats

Accessibility score indicators

Ally measures the accessibility of each file attached to your course and shows you how it scores at a glance. Scores range from Low to Perfect. The higher the score, the fewer the issues.

  • Low: File is not accessible and needs immediate attention.
  • Medium: File is somewhat accessible and could use improvement.
  • High: File is accessible but could be improved.
  • Perfect: File is accessible. No improvement needed.

For files with Low to High scores, Ally shows you the issues and gives a step-by-step guide on how to fix them.

Find a file and select the Accessibility score. Follow the steps listed on the screen to go step-by-step. Select All issues to see every issue in the file and decide what issues to fix first.

Select All issues if you want to see how much each fix will improve the accessibility of the file.

More on accessibility scores

Instructor feedback

Ally provides you detailed feedback and support to help you become an accessibility pro. Learn about accessibility issues, why they matter, and how to fix them. Green is the goal!

Select the Accessibility score to open the instructor feedback. Follow the steps in front of you to go step by step. Select All issues to see every issue in the file and decide what issues to fix first.

Select All issues if you want to see how much each fix will improve the accessibility of the file.

Course accessibility report

The course accessibility report acts as a complement to the existing accessibility indicators. It provides an accessibility summary and overview at the course level.

The report shows instructors this useful information:

  • Accessibility score for the course
  • Distribution of course content by content type
  • List of all issues identified in the course

Instructors see their course content items that have issues. Instructors can then access the instructor feedback from the report to fix the issue.

The report helps instructors determine priority and gives options for order of fixing. For example, content with most severe issues first or start with content that’s easiest to fix.

More on the course accessibility report

Ally for Students

 

Ally for Instructors

Accessibility Tips for Instructors