Blackboard Ally FAQ

Blackboard Ally logo

Overview

Blackboard Ally is an accessibility checker available in all Canvas courses. Currently, Ally scans files uploaded to Canvas, looking for common accessibility issues. Ally provides insight into the course's level of accessibility, and makes suggestions on how the content could be improved, if necessary. However, it's important to note that Ally and Canvas don’t actually prevent any files that fail to meet accessibility standards from being uploaded; and Ally and Canvas will not make changes or fix problems unless you take action.

You can use Ally to:

identify files uploaded into Canvas that have accessibility issues
get an explanation of the problem related to accessibility for each file
resolve the problem by creating an accessible version
SBCTC's Ally information page

Ally is still under development and new features continue to be rolled out. Currently, Ally does not scan what you type into Canvas' Rich Content Editor. So for example, if you are creating Pages, Discussions, writing instructions for Quizzes or Assignments, or working on the Syllabus section of the course Ally will not analyze the text you are inputting with your keyboard.

However, there is a Canvas accessibility checker that does analyze text inputted into the Rich Content Editor. It's a new feature and not perfected yet, so keep in mind that its analysis could be problematic.

Accessibility Scores and Remediation

Ally will scan uploaded files and produce an accessibility score. This score is symbolized by a little gauge next to the item Ally has scanned. The gauge will be red, yellow, or green depending on the score. These three colors of gauge icons reflect measure your file’s accessibility:

red icon - not accessible
orange icon - somewhat accessible
green icon - accessible

File accessibility icons are always located next to your file, but the specific location will vary throughout different areas in your course.

When you click on the gauge you'll be walked through an explanation of the problem and guidance on fixing the problem. A panel opens to show the numerical score value along with information on the file's accessibility. For accessible files, Ally tells you what you did correctly. For files that are not accessible, Ally shows issues within the document and shows you how to fix the problem.

After you change your files to make them more accessible, the accessibility scores will automatically update for those files. If you are unable to make your files more accessible, the low accessibility scores will remain.

You will find the following details in the file accessibility panel:

Accessibility Score. The file's accessibility color and numerical score based on the severity of accessibility issue.
Description. The description of the accessibility issue affecting the file.
Additional information. Detailed information about how the issue affects accessibility and why it is important to correct.
Instructions to improve. Step-by-step instructions for your preferred software that show you how to improve file accessibility.
Direct file upload. A drag-and-drop area to upload original or fixed files.

sample canvas course module with blackboard ally gauges indicating accessibility scores

Student Experience

Students do not see the color-coded gauges. Instead, they will see an option to download accessible versions alongside the option to simply download the original file as-is.

A student view of download options for a file scanned by ally

Accessible versions in alternative formats and Instructors

When instructors add files to Canvas, Ally will produce accessible versions in various formats for those files, if possible. To obtain those, if you're viewing the file in a Module for instance, you can simply select the option to download an accessible version as shown below.

a teacher's view of download options for a sample file that ally has analyzed

Or you can visit the Files section, locate that file, then click on the little editing wheel at right as shown below.

a teacher's view of obtaining alternative formats for an uploaded file that ally has scanned

Currently, the following formats are provided:

Tagged PDF version
HTML version
ePub version
Electronic braille version
Audio