UConn has access to a Blackboard accessibility feature called Ally. This tool is available to all faculty and staff with instructor roles in HuskyCT courses.
Ally operates similarly to web accessibility checkers like WAVE, in that it analyzes accessibility and offers recommendations for making content more accessible. Ally reviews both content authored in HuskyCT and uploaded content and generates an accessibility 'score'. Scores are based on a rubric drawn from the WCAG 2.0 AA guidelines, the standard to which UConn holds its websites. Different scores show different levels of inaccessibility; for example, a score of "High" (67-99%) shows that a file is accessible but could be improved.
Blackboard offers in-depth information about using Ally for instructors, students, and administrators. Visit the instructor page for more information about using Ally in your course. Blackboard has also produced a video tutorial on Ally that you can view here.
To make your HuskyCT content more accessible, visit the HuskyCT Content section of this website, or look at the Documents and Media and Multimedia pages. Reach out to the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) for assistance in creating accessible HuskyCT content. CETL also has a post on using Ally to improve HuskyCT content's accessibility. They also have posts on formatting text elements for use with assistive technology and on color use.
To learn more about Ally, join the Blackboard Accessibility Community or the Ally user group!
Last modified October 2, 2018