Ally: how it can help you to improve accessibility

Global Accessibility Awareness Day Thursday 20th May 2021

In the lead up to Global Accessibility Awareness Day, the TEL team are providing advice and offering workshops on how you can fix accessibility issues within Moodle courses with the help of Ally.

On Thursday, we are participating again in the Ally ‘Fix your Content Day’. For 24 hours, we’ll be on a mission to fix as many accessibility issues with course files as we can. At the end of the day, the University with the most files fixed will be recognised and awarded a prize!

What is Ally?

Ally is a product that is integrated within Moodle at YSJ and focuses on making digital course content more accessible. It runs within each Moodle course and provides alternative file formats for students. It provides staff with an accessibility score and guidance for common files already on Moodle and new files as they are uploaded.

Ally uses machine learning to convert the files uploaded to Moodle into alternative file formats. Students will be able to choose to download a file from Moodle in its original format or an alternative format for example as an Mp3 audio file, braille formatted file, or tagged PDF.

Something to remember.. alternative formats will only be as accessible as the original source file. So always try to ensure that you follow best practice when creating your original file.

and start by clicking those red and amber indicators in your courses to fix as many files as you can. If you’re just getting started or trying to make some quick fixes, choose the easiest issues to fix. You can also focus on your lowest scoring content and aim for impact. Or, you can focus on specific issues or tackle the most severe issues first. If you aren’t able to make changes on 20th May, make them whenever you can! A good time to do this is when you are setting up your course for the next academic year.

How do I use Ally?

Visit our Ally webpage which has lots of useful information and quick guides. You may also find it useful to watch this video on how to use the course accessibility report:

How can you help?

• Set some time aside on Thursday 20th May to fix any accessibility issues in your Moodle course
• Book a training session with a member of the TEL team
• Take time whenever you can to improve your course accessibility score

Aim for 100%, but improvement is what counts!

How can you get help?

On the 20th May, colleagues from TEL will be on hand to support staff in fixing their content. Book a 30min 1-1 online appointment with a member of the team for Fix Your Content Day.

Online Workshops

In the lead up to GAAD and ‘Fix Your Content Day’, TEL will be running an online workshop…

‘Improving Accessibility in Moodle’ – Book Now!

• Wednesday 19th May 2:05pm-2:55pm

Online Learning

Our online Digital Accessibility Training is still available in Moodle.

The Digital Training Team have some further guidance on how to make content accessible on their webpages

You can also access this great course on Creating Accessible Documents in Microsoft Office on LinkedIn Learning! (Ensure you are logged in to LinkedIn learning first before clicking on the link)