Blackboard Ally is a plugin for Moodle that provides students and staff with alternative file formats for common file types stored within Moodle.
In addition, and only visble to staff , Ally also provides a course report, which scores the accessibility of all the content on a Moodle course. From the report, you can see all the issues Ally has flagged, and instructions on improving the accessibility of content that should be used in conjunction with UCL Digital Education’s accessibility guidance and training.
Ally can provide alternative formats for the following file types:
- PDF files
- Microsoft® Word files
- Microsoft® PowerPoint® files
- OpenOffice/LibreOffice files
- Uploaded HTML files
- Image files (JPG, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BPM, TIFF)
The alternative formats that can be produced are:
- Tagged PDF (currently for Word, Powerpoint and OpenOffice/LibreOffice files)
- Audio (mp3)
- ePub
- Electronic Braille
- Semantic HTML
- BeeLine Reader format (adds a colour gradient to make reading a document quicker and easier)
- OCR’d version for scanned documents (Note. The quality of OCR conversion is limited)
How do I access an alterative format and accessibility score for a specific resource ?
When a resource is added, a fuel gauge icon and a download arrow will be displayed next to the file name.
To download an alternative format:
- Click on the grey download arrow > select a format > Download
To view an accessibility report:
- Click on the fuel gauge icon.This will open up the file alongside guidance.
How do I view an accessibility report for the whole course?
Clicking the Reports tab at the top of the site > Accessibility report from the list of reports.
The report allows course administrators and tutors to see an overview of the accessibility of their Moodle course. This includes an overall course score, as well as a list of “easy to fix” content and a list of low scoring content.