Faculty Guides and Documentation

Viewing Content Accessibility Information

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This guide will demonstrate how to access Ally Accessibility Reports for attached files within your Blackboard Learn Ultra course

Accessing a Course Document in Learn Ultra Course View

Image shows a course in Blackboard Learn Ultra Course View with an arrow pointing to a document name with instructions to open the file you wish to view.

To access an accessibility report for a specific course document, you will first want to open the document you wish to view.

Accessing Accessibility Reports

Image showing a page in Learn Ultra with the following items 1. Arrow pointing to the Alternative Formats button at the top of the page. 2. Arrow pointing to the Alternative Formats button for a specific file.

Locate the file on the page for which you wish to view the Accessibility Report for and click on the colored dial icon as shown in the screen above.

Accessibility scores are determined by the severity of issues in each file. A low score indicates the file has severe or multiple accessibility issues; a high score means there are minor or no accessibility issues.

Each score is composed of both a number (percentage) and a colored gauge that reflects the number. Scores range from Low to Perfect. The higher the score, the fewer the issues. For files with Low to High scores, Ally shows you the issues and gives a step-by-step guide on how to fix them. 

Ally indicator gauges in red (low), orange (medium), high (green), and perfect (dark green)

Green is the goal! It may not be realistic to achieve 100% on every file. Ally is a tool for continuous improvement. It is most important to address critical issues and Low (Red) accessibility scores first.

 

Viewing Accessibility Reports

image of Ally accessibility report

You will now see a copy of the accessibility report along with a copy of the document on the right.

  1. Accessibility Score: You will see an accessibility score for the selected item on the top right.
  2. All Issues: Click on All issues to see a list of all identified accessibility issues.
  3. Suggested improvements: Suggested improvements, explanations, and instructions on how to make the improvements are shown here
  4. Ally will highlight items with issues in the document body.
  5. Upload replacement file: Use the Browse button or drag and drop an updated file to update the file in Blackboard.

Viewing All Accessibility Issues

Image showing a list of all identified accessibility issues.

When clicking All issues, you will see a list of all identified issues in the document. Ally will indicate how each suggested improvement will improve the accessibility score, and some issues can be fixed without needing to upload a new document.

Clicking on an issue will highlight the issue in the document and will provide additional guidance on how to fix the identified issues.

Note: Ally accessibility scores offer general guidelines, but do not guarantee the file is accessible to all users.

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