Ally accessibility tool for Canvas

Last updated: October 9, 2024

Eligibility

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About Ally

Ally integrates seamlessly with the UW’s Canvas learning management system to automatically check course content and files uploaded by instructors for accessibility issues. Using advanced machine learning algorithms, Ally generates alternative formats—such as text that is readable by a screen reader, electronic braille, or audio—that students can download and use to support their learning.

Alternative formats

Alternative formats aren’t just for a select group of students. Alternative formats benefit everyone. For example, a student may have a lot of course material to read and experience eye strain, or prefers to listen while on the train. With the audio alternate version of a document, students can listen to an audio format of a course file.

After files are attached to a course, Ally creates alternative formats of the file based on the original document. For example, if the original file is a PDF, Ally creates audio, electronic braille, ePub, and other formats of the same content. These formats are made available with the original file so everything is in one convenient location.

See UW-IT documentation for students about how to download alternative formats.

Instructor feedback and course accessibility report

The UW has deployed Ally in Canvas courses to help instructors understand and fix course accessibility problems proactively. Ally automatically checks course content and files uploaded by instructors, and provides feedback to instructors about the accessibility of resources with respect to students with disabilities. Ally also delivers guidance to help instructors improve accessibility of their course content.

The course accessibility report complements the accessibility indicators on course content items by providing an accessibility summary and overview at the course level. The course accessibility report provides an overall score, and a view of the accessibility issues found in the course content. Most importantly, it guides instructors to get started by addressing easy to fix issues, or lowest scoring items. Using the summary, instructors could even track improvement over time.

FAQs

 

I’m seeing some new, colorful “dial” icons next to my course files in Canvas.  What are they?

These icons are from Ally, a tool that integrates with the UW’s Canvas learning management system. Ally automatically checks course content and files uploaded by instructors, and provides feedback to instructors about the accessibility of resources with respect to students with disabilities. Click on any of these icons to get additional help on improving the accessibility of your course materials. Research shows that improving the accessibility of course materials benefits all students, not only those with disabilities.

The UW has deployed Ally in Canvas courses in to help instructors understand and fix course accessibility problems proactively. The Ally score icons will improve as accessibility issues are fixed.

Many of my files in Canvas are displaying Ally red-dial icons. Do I need to do anything?

Ally displays score icons that represent either “low”, “medium”, “high”, or “perfect” accessibility scores. Red icons indicate a “low” score. Click the icon to get help improving the accessibility score for that item.

Why is the Accessibility Report in my course navigation? Who can see this?

The Accessibility Report is not visible to students — only to teachers, course designers, or Canvas admins in your program. The Accessibility Report provides a summary and overview of accessibility issues in the course content. Review vendor documentation about the Accessibility Report.

Can I hide the Accessibility Report?

Yes. If you no longer need to work with the accessibility report, go to Settings >> Navigation, drag the item to the list of hidden items, and click Save at the bottom of the page.

Is there help or training available to make my files more accessible?

See the UW Accessible Technology website, particularly the section on document accessibility.

In addition, UW Accessible Technology Services provides help to faculty, students and staff across all three UW campuses on making their technology resources more accessible to everyone, including those with disabilities. Send your request to help@uw.edu. Additional information is available on the Getting Help with Accessibility web page.

Learning Technologies workshops are also available to assist with accessible content creation.

What happens if I don’t fix the file issues identified by Ally?

The university has a legal obligation to make course materials accessible to students with disabilities. If a student with a disability enrolls in your course, you will need to fix all accessibility issues in all resources used in the course, perhaps with the assistance of the office of Disability Resources for Students, which can be difficult to do in a timely manner. Therefore, it is good to address at least common accessibility issues (e.g., by captioning videos) as you design your course.

The UW has deployed Ally in Canvas courses in to help instructors understand and fix course accessibility problems proactively. The Ally score icons will improve as accessibility issues are fixed.

What tools are required to fix my files?

Many authoring tools, including Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, have the ability to create accessible documents. The best way to fix inaccessible files is to address the problems within the original source document. Follow the prompts within Ally to learn more about how to do this.

If the document is in PDF format and its original source document is unavailable (e.g., if the PDF was scanned or obtained from a third party), fixing its accessibility will require Adobe Acrobat Pro. For additional information on accessibility of various document types, see the UW Accessible Technology website, especially the section on document accessibility. In particular, see the help page on Fixing Inaccessible PDFs using Adobe Acrobat Pro DC.

Does the UW have an accessibility policy?

Yes. See the UW Policy on IT Accessibility.

I think Ally broke something in my course and/or one of my files. What should I do?

Please report the problem with as much detail as possible via help@uw.edu.

I know my documents are accessible. Why are the Ally scores low?

Ally scores content based on the W3 Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, a standard measure of accessibility. There are limits to how well accessibility can be measured with an automated tool, but in our tests Ally has been highly reliable at identifying the issues it’s measuring. That said, UW-IT is working closely with Ally developers to help them improve the product, so if you feel you’ve found inaccuracies in Ally’s scoring, please share the details with as much detail as possible via help@uw.edu.

The alternative format(s) Ally creates aren’t usable. What can I do?

Ally uses machine intelligence to convert resources into alternative formats. While alternative formats are a valuable supplement to standard course file formats for students, the formats have their limits. The conversion is only as good as the quality of the original file. If the file is difficult to analyze, there may be errors. That said, UW-IT is working closely with Ally developers to help them improve the product, so if you are uploading high quality files that you feel it should be better able to convert, please report this with as much detail as possible via help@uw.edu.

Ally is reporting that my PDF files need accessibility improvements. My department refuses to fund Adobe Acrobat Pro or any other software. What are my options?

Accessibility problems with PDF files can often be fixed within the original source document (e.g., using Microsoft Word). However, if the original source documents are unavailable (e.g., if the PDF was scanned or obtained from a third party), fixing its accessibility will indeed require Adobe Acrobat Pro. Please contact help@uw.edu to explain your dilemma, and UW-IT Accessible Technology Services can work with you to identify solutions.

Ally reports that I have a lot of documents that require accessibility improvements. I don’t have time to fix all of the documents. What are my options?

UW Accessible Technology Services can work with you and your department to help identify strategies for converting all of the documents immediately or prioritizing them for conversion over a period of time.
Please contact help@uw.edu to arrange a consultation.

Are resources available to help with document scanning?

The UW Accessible Technology Web site provides information to help create quality scans.

The Learning Technologies Help Desk in Odegaard Undergraduate Library offers basic in-person support for Dawgprints scanners. Find campus Dawgprint scanning locations:
https://finance.uw.edu/c2/printing-copying/dawg-prints-copy-locations.

Usage information

Top 10 accessibility issues reported by Ally, Spring 2020

Vendor documentation

Additional Help

Contact help@uw.edu for:

  • General questions about how Ally works
  • Technical problems with Ally alternative formats
  • Instructor questions about how to improve accessibility of course materials

Students with disabilities can request additional accommodations. For details, contact your campus department of Disability Resources for Students: