This document is a living guidance resource. As Blackboard Ally evolves and additional contextual scenarios are identified, the Office of Distance & Alternative Education may update this document to reflect new clarifications. Updates will be version-controlled and shared with the college.
Purpose
Blackboard Ally is used at our college as a quality benchmark tool to help identify potential accessibility improvements in course materials.
While 100% remains our shared quality benchmark, there are known scenarios in which Ally may continue to flag content even when no meaningful legal or instructional access barrier exists.
This document outlines those scenarios. If remaining Ally flags fall exclusively within the categories described below, and faculty have reviewed them for instructional impact, the course is considered aligned with college accessibility expectations.
Important Clarifications
- Ally scores are automated indicators and are not legal determinations of compliance.
- Legal compliance is based on equitable and timely access to course content for students with disabilities.
- Automated tools assist in identifying potential barriers but do not replace professional accessibility evaluation.
- Faculty are expected to remediate high-impact accessibility barriers.
- Low-impact or contextual flags described in this document may not prevent alignment with institutional expectations.
Known Ally Flag Scenarios
Decorative Images Flagged for Missing Alternative Text
What Ally Flags: Images without alternative text.
When This May Prevent 100% but Is Acceptable: Decorative banners, section dividers, icons with adjacent text labels, or branding images that convey no instructional meaning.
Expectation: Faculty confirm the image conveys no instructional content and that no required learning information is embedded in the image.
Color Contrast in Non-Instructional Elements
What Ally Flags: Low contrast in visual design elements.
When This May Prevent 100% but Is Acceptable: Decorative headers, announcement graphics, non-graded visual elements, and branding materials.
Not Acceptable When: The contrast issue affects instructional text or required learning materials.
Historical or Archival Scanned Documents Used for Analysis
What Ally Flags: Scanned PDFs without OCR (optical character recognition).
When This May Prevent 100% but Is Acceptable: Primary source analysis, historical documents, or visual artifact review used for analysis.
Expectation: When content is required for reading, a transcript or typed equivalent must be provided.
Auto-Captioned Videos (Reviewed)
What Ally Flags: Videos flagged due to caption accuracy thresholds.
When This May Prevent 100% but Is Acceptable: Auto-captions are present, have been reviewed for reasonable accuracy, and the video is supplemental.
Not Acceptable When: The video is required and captions are missing entirely, or a documented student accommodation request has been made.
Structural or Redundant Content Warnings
What Ally Flags: Structural inconsistencies that do not impact assistive technology access.
When Acceptable: Redundant headings that do not impair navigation, repeated phrasing that does not block screen readers, or layout warnings that do not affect usability.
Understanding Persistent Ally Scores After Reasonable Remediation
In some cases, faculty may implement recommended accessibility improvements and still observe that the Ally score does not reach 100%. This may occur due to technical limitations in how automated tools interpret file structures, metadata, or stored content.
The following patterns are known across higher education environments:
OCR-Processed PDFs That Do Not Reach 100%
When a scanned PDF is processed with Optical Character Recognition (OCR), a text layer is added to improve screen reader access. However, Ally may continue to flag the file if structural tagging (headings, reading order, table tags) is incomplete or not fully recognized by the system.
In some cases, OCR remediation significantly improves accessibility and Ally scores but may plateau below 100% due to structural tagging limitations.
Expectation:
If the document is required reading, an accessible alternative (properly tagged PDF, HTML content, or Word document) should be provided.
If the document is used for archival or primary-source analysis, contextual documentation and a transcript or equivalent access method may be appropriate.
PowerPoint Accessibility Metadata and Decorative Objects
Accessibility information in PowerPoint files (such as alt text or decorative settings) is stored in file metadata. In certain cases, Ally may continue to flag objects even after alt text has been added or decorative status has been applied, depending on how the file was created, saved, or exported.
Expectation:
Faculty should confirm reading order and alt text in the source file. When persistent flags remain, consider exporting to a properly tagged PDF or presenting the material in HTML within the LMS. Documented contextual exceptions are appropriate only when the presentation is supplemental or equivalent access is provided.
Course Copy and Reused Content
When courses are copied from prior terms, images or files may not retain accessibility metadata consistently across contexts. The same image may behave differently depending on how it is stored or linked within the course.
Expectation:
Faculty are encouraged to review accessibility indicators after course copy and reapply alt text or structural adjustments where needed.
Source File Corrections Require Replacement
Some accessibility issues must be corrected in the original Word or PowerPoint file and then re-uploaded. Updating a file locally without removing the original stored file in the LMS may result in Ally continuing to scan the outdated version.
Expectation:
The original file must be removed from both the content area and the course file repository before uploading the corrected version.
Quick Fix Improvements May Not Guarantee 100%
Ally’s built-in quick fixes (such as OCR, language setting, or document title updates) can substantially improve accessibility. However, these tools address specific elements and may not resolve all structural issues required for a 100% score.
Expectation:
Quick fixes should be used as part of a broader remediation strategy. A score that remains below 100% due solely to structural limitations described in this document does not, in itself, indicate non-compliance.
HTML Content Contains Links Without Discernible Content
What Ally Flags: Images at the top of Course Documents are flagged as containing empty links, but were not linked when added. When clicking on a flagged image, Ally Course Checker shows 100% accessibility score, but closing the flagged image does not remove it from the list.
When This may Prevent 100% but is Acceptable: Images that are purely decorative and flagged in this manner.
Not Acceptable When: The images are needed for educational purposes.
Issues That Always Require Remediation
- Missing captions on required videos.
- Inaccessible required PDFs without alternatives.
- Images containing instructional data without alternative text.
- Tables without headers used for data interpretation.
- Any issue that blocks screen reader or keyboard navigation.
LMS File Management and Persistent Ally Flags
In addition to technical interpretation limitations, persistent flags may also result from LMS file storage behaviors.
In some instances, Blackboard Ally may continue to display accessibility flags even after a faculty member has corrected or replaced a file. This typically occurs due to residual file artifacts within the LMS rather than unresolved accessibility barriers.
Important considerations include:
- Deleting a link from a content area does not always remove the underlying file from the course file repository.
- Uploading a corrected file does not automatically delete the original stored file.
- Course copy processes may duplicate files, resulting in multiple stored versions.
- Files embedded in hidden folders or assessments may continue to be scanned.
Faculty Guidance:
- Remove the file link from the content area.
- Confirm deletion of the original file from the Course Files repository.
- Upload the corrected version as a new file.
- Allow time for Ally to rescan.
If a file has been removed from both the content area and the course file repository and the flag persists, faculty are not expected to troubleshoot system-level caching or duplication issues independently. In such cases, please contact the Office of Distance & Alternative Education at [email protected] for assistance.
Ongoing Review and Updates
The Office of Distance & Alternative Education periodically reviews Ally flag patterns and evolving accessibility standards. When new recurring scenarios are identified that do not constitute meaningful access barriers, they may be added to this document following internal review.
Updates clarify contextual application of automated flags and do not lower accessibility expectations.
Faculty Self-Check
If a course Ally score is between 95–99%, and remaining flags fall exclusively within the categories listed in this document:
- The course is considered aligned with college accessibility expectations.
- No additional escalation is required.
- Improvements may continue during future course updates.
If there is uncertainty about whether a flag fits within these scenarios,faculty are encouraged to contact the Office of Distance & Alternative Education at [email protected] for guidance.
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