How does Ally work for the Instructor?

Ally Overview

Ally is a third-party tool seamlessly integrated into Canvas, designed to enhance the accessibility of digital course content. It accomplishes this by offering automatic conversion options, enabling students to download resources from Canvas in alternative formats. Additionally, Ally identifies areas for improvement in terms of accessibility, providing valuable insights to academics and administrators on the optimal methods to achieve enhanced accessibility.

Please note that an instructional designer on our team will work with you to train you on how to use Ally in your new and pre-existing courses. See the training and support section below.


How Do I Use Ally in My Course? [Faculty]

 

 

Features:

  • Ally provides students and faculty members with the ability to preview, download, and access content in alternative formats as needed.

    • An overall accessibility score for the course,
    • Identification of specific accessibility issues within the course and the corresponding affected content,
    • A list of problematic documents uploaded to the course, along with individual accessibility scores and recommendations for enhancing accessibility.

  • Instructors gain access to a comprehensive dashboard within Ally that displays content accessibility issues. This includes:

  • Course files and content are now accompanied by color-coded "speedometers" or gauges, indicating the level of accessibility. These gauges assist instructors in prioritizing which elements to address first.

  • Ally includes a feedback panel that offers step-by-step guides to aid instructors in making their content more accessible.


Currently, Ally checks files in these formats:

  • PDF files
  • Microsoft® Word files
  • Microsoft® PowerPoint® files
  • OpenOffice/LibreOffice files
  • Uploaded HTML files
  • Image files (JPG, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF)
  • WYSIWYG/VTBE content
  • YouTubeTM videos embedded in WYSIWYG/VTBE content


Best Practices Tips

Screen Sharing

When sharing your screen with students (e.g., in Zoom), be mindful that the Ally Accessibility Score gauges will be visible. To minimize confusion on the student side, using Student View within Canvas is recommended.

Ready to Explore?

To learn more about how to improve your content, click on the following links: