{"id":12902,"date":"2019-08-13T12:00:15","date_gmt":"2019-08-13T16:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/your-new-ally-the-blackboard-accessibility-tool\/"},"modified":"2019-08-13T12:00:15","modified_gmt":"2019-08-13T16:00:15","slug":"your-new-ally-the-blackboard-accessibility-tool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/your-new-ally-the-blackboard-accessibility-tool\/","title":{"rendered":"Your New Ally: The Blackboard Accessibility Tool"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">You may have noticed new icons on some of your course content. These new icons are part of an accessibility tool called Ally that has been deployed on our Blackboard site. This tool focuses on helping you make new and existing content more accessible to students in Blackboard. Not all courses are expected to be perfect right away so there is no need to worry. Ally is here to assist you as we move forward with making courses as accessible as possible.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #000000;\">What is Ally?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Ally is an accessibility tool that automatically runs course materials through an accessibility checklist using a sophisticated algorithm.\u00a0One of its functions is to generate alternative formats of course content that can work better with assistive technologies and methods such as screen readers, Braille, audio programs, ePub, and html.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Ally\u2019s main objective is to assist students who have disabilities\/accessibility issues, but can help all students. Course content with high accessibility ratings and alternate formats helps users who use assistive technologies. Click <a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.suny.edu\/accessibility\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a> for more information about SUNY and accessibility.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Ally can provide an institution-wide analysis of content accessibility. Please contact the Distance and Online Learning office for assistance with questions about campus policies regarding accessibility.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Ally Accessibility Ratings<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">As mentioned previously, you may have seen icons (gauges) next to some of your course content. These gauges are the accessibility score indicators, which range from Low to Perfect.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-97964\" src=\"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/redgauge.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"28\" height=\"18\" \/>Low: File is not accessible and needs immediate attention.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-97970\" src=\"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/orangegauge.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"24\" height=\"17\" \/>Medium: File is somewhat accessible and could use improvement.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-97969\" src=\"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/lgreengauge.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"26\" height=\"18\" \/>High: File is accessible but could be improved.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-97967\" src=\"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/dgreengauge.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"22\" height=\"16\" \/>Perfect: File is accessible. No improvement needed.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-97968\" src=\"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/gauge_content.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"972\" height=\"461\" \/><\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Do not let the low score indicator (red gauge) scare you. Clicking on the icon gives you a list of reasons for the score. For files with Low to High scores, Ally shows you the issues and gives a step-by-step guide on how to fix them. If you are still unsure about how to fix the issues, please contact the Distance and Online Learning office for further assistance.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #000000;\">How to View Alternative Formats?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Instructors and students can view alternative formats by clicking on the button next to the item, which will open the alternative formats menu.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-97965\" src=\"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/alt_format_button.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"423\" height=\"97\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-97966\" src=\"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/alt_format_menu.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"506\" height=\"456\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Additional Resources:<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Visit Blackboard\u2019s <a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/help.blackboard.com\/Ally\/Ally_for_LMS\/Instructor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">help site<\/a> for more detailed information on Ally.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">You can also visit Blackboard\u2019s <a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/help.blackboard.com\/Ally\/Ally_for_LMS\/Instructor\/FAQs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Instructor FAQs for Ally<\/a> page.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">If you need further assistance or have additional questions, please contact Distance and Online Learning at (518) 629-7070 or <a href=\"mailto:dlhelp@hvcc.edu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">dlhelp@hvcc.edu<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Published:<\/strong>\u00a0Tue, 13 Aug 2019 12:00:15 +0000 by\u00a0s.chiera<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; You may have noticed new icons on some of your course content. These new icons are part of an&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2086,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-campus-announcements"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2086"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12902\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}