Blackboard Ally feature automatically provides alternative formats for your course materials that students can download. You can gain feedback about the accessibility of your materials on your course site. Creating course materials that follow accessibility guidelines and standards makes them more usable by all of your students.
Overview
As soon as you upload files into your Blackboard course, Blackboard Ally automatically analyzes the original content. Ally creates alternative versions of the original material while your original file is not affected. Students can choose the formats that work best for the way they learn or the technology they use.
Blackboard also provides feedback to you, the instructor, regarding the accessibility of the original content. It identifies any specific accessibility issues with the material and provides guidance of why the issue is important to certain users and support to help you make the original content more accessible.
In most cases, instructors are not required to remediate or improve the source document. The exception to this is as follows: if a student enrolled in your class has registered with Student and Trainee Disability Services, they may benefit from one or more alternative formats to meet their accommodation requirements. Student and Trainee Disability Services can work with you to confirm that the original course materials are accessible by that student. Taking advantage of Ally, though, to continue to provide more accessible course documents can benefit any of your students.
Alternative Formats of Course Materials
Alternative Formats of course materials that you and your students can download include audio (mp3), electronic Braille, eBook, BeeLine Reader, HTML, PDF and Immersive Reader files. These alternative formats may assist students with specific disabilities, but any student who prefers to listen to course material or read it on an e-book reader, for example, can download the alternative material. Learn more about alternative formats through Blackboard Ally.
