Quick Links: | Run Ally Report | Fix Content | Fix Course Images | Fix Course Documents | Request Help |
The Ally Accessibility report allows faculty to see the overall course accessibility score, a section containing content with "easy to fix issues" a section containing content that is the lowest scoring, and content organized into categories based on their accessibility issues.
Access The Ally Course Accessibility Report
From your Canvas course menu, select Ally Course Accessibility Report.
In the top left-hand corner of the accessibility report is an overall accessibility score for a course. This is an average score based on the course content’s accessibility scores.
Low (0-33%): Needs help! There are severe accessibility issues.
Medium (34-66%): A little better. Course is somewhat accessible overall, but needs improvement.
High (67-99%): Almost there. Course is accessible but additional improvements are possible.
Perfect (100%): Perfect! Ally did not detect any issues with the course’s content.
Note: While we are aiming for a high score, it is nearly impossible to get a "perfect" score because Ally is a separate tool from Canvas. We are also aware of known issues around how Ally flags images and headers.
Fix Course Content
The Ally accessibility report categorizes content into 2 different categories to help instructors decide which content they would like to fix first.
- The first is content with the easiest issues to fix, which contain documents that have easy to fix issues such as adding headings and adding image descriptions.
- The second is content low a low accessibility score.
Start with the "Easiest" Issues First
- From the Content with the "easiest" issues to fix, select Start.
- Assess the types of issues shown. Most issues tend to involve images and documents without headings.
TLP recommends that you do NOT fix image files directly from this Ally Accessibility report. Your fix will not "stick" after copying the course next semester. Instead, follow steps below.
Fix your Course Images
An accessible image is one that has a text alternative that describes the information or function represented by it. Alternative text ensures that images can be used by everyone in your class.
Ally may flag a back-end image file as inaccessible, even when that same image that the students sees is accessible. Therefore, the Ally Course Accessibility Report is currently of limited value for true reporting of image accessibility.
- If the Ally Accessibility Report shows the majority of your image files being inaccessible, the Technology & Learning Program recommends spot-checking some of your images where they appear to students on the Pages, Assignments, Discussions themselves.
-
Select Modules. Navigate through your pages, assignments, discussions etc. Scan for images, and locate the associated Ally accessibility dial.
- Do your images have a green dial? If so, then you are OK.
- Do your images have a red or yellow dial?
Fix your Documents
- If you are missing headings, you can download the document, add headings in Microsoft Word or other, and re-upload the document directly from the Ally report.
- If you have PDFs that are missing tags, you definitely want to ask for help getting those PDFs fixed.
Note: Ally may flag you for "improper use of Headers." Canvas reserves Heading 1 for Page names. Assuming you've used a proper heading structure within the content, it's safe to ignore this error.
Request Help Fixing your Content
The Technology and Learning Program (TLP), in conjunction with the Office of Accessible Technology Services (OATS), offers a turnkey solution for improving accessibility of course materials.
- You submit a ticket through TeamDynamix for help with course accessibility.
- TLP contacts you to confirm prior to starting the work. OATS may also contact you to request access to Google documents.
- TLP copies all course content into Box, one of our campus cloud storage solutions.
- OATS accesses the materials from Box and remediates (fixes) as much of the materials as possible while also compiling notes and suggestions.
- TLP sets up a meeting with the faculty member to return documents and discuss pending action items and suggestions. Please do not skip this step. We may need you to add alternative text or other contextual information.