Improve the usability and accessibility of your content with Blackboard Ally.
You can do three things with Ally:
- Generate alternative formats for students/faculty to download
- Get accessibility scores on uploaded content AND in-site content (content editor box)
- Get instructor feedback on how to improve your accessibility score
Ally will parse your attached content and tag it with a gear. This same process is used for the content editor box.
Please note that Ally will not scan content that exists outside of Blackboard Ultra. This includes Google docs, which must be checked with Grackle inside Google Docs.
To get a full set of instructions, please access: Documents and Media link
- Image files (JPG, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF)
- Microsoft® Word files
- Microsoft® PowerPoint® files
- OpenOffice/LibreOffice files
- PDF files
- Uploaded HTML files
- WYSIWYG/VTBE content
- YouTubeTM videos embedded in WYSIWYG/VTBE content
Key types of errors Ally identifies
- Document format issues:
- Incompatible file formats
- Complex document structures that are difficult to navigate with assistive technology
- Navigation issues:
- Broken links
- Unclear navigation structure
- Structural issues:
- Tables without headers
- Improper heading hierarchy
- Skipped heading levels
- Visual issues:
- Lack of alt text on images
- Low color contrast
- Missing captions for videos
Ally Work Flow
Ally workflow starts with the instructor or course designer looking for the Ally “gear” icon, which can indicate that there is an issue with the document.
You can find this score icon by going through your course and looking for where Ally has flagged you. Otherwise, in Blackboard Ultra, go to the
- Details and actions menu
- Select Books and Tools
- Select Accessibility Report LTI 1.3.
- The accessibility report opens. This section is powered by Ally. It will list all the documents and files it has issues with.
- Select the score icon (gear) to go to the instructor’s feedback page.
For a full workflow, review the embedded document below. You can also download it and save it to your computer.
- This is a playlist of videos, on Ally, produced by Anthology (Blackboard). Please watch the first video for an overview. It was uploaded in February 2025.
- To access the playlist, select the three-line menu at the top right of the video. You will see seven videos listed.
Blackboard Ally Help: Documents and Media
The document embedded below will list instructions and includes links to videos and other sites.