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Topics Map > Services > Accessibility and Universal Design
Topics Map > Services > Teaching, Learning, and Classrooms > Learning Management System
Blackboard Ally Basics
Blackboard Ally works seamlessly with Blackboard Learn to check the accessibility of most course content and provides instructors guidance and tips for making lasting accessibility improvements.
What does Ally do?
- Generates multiple alternative formats students can use to access the content.
- Provides accessibility scores to instructors.
- Gives instructors feedback on how they can improve the accessibility scores of their content.
- Generates a Course Accessibility Report which provides an overview of all accessibility issues in one place.
Alternative Formats


Instructor Feedback and Accessibility Scores
Ally checks most new and existing content for various accessibility issues and assigns it an accessibility score. Each score consists of a numerical percentage and a colored gauge that visually reflects that percentage. Instructors can use the accessibility score and the Instructor Feedback panel or the Course Accessibility Report to learn more about accessibility issues and view steps they can take to improve the score. Though we would like to be 100% accessible, this is a work in progress and improvement is what counts!
Note: Some guidance documentation is still in development in Ally. If an item is marked with the message "Guidance coming soon":
- Search for additional information within the Instructor Feedback panel
- Conduct a web search for more information
- Contact the NDSU IT Help Desk
The Course Accessibility Report
The Course Accessibility Report displays "the big picture" and specific details about the accessibility of all course content from one place.
The Overview tab groups content by type and by "easiest issues to fix" and "fix low scoring content" to help instructors decide which items to focus on first! The Content tab lists all of the content items with accessibility issues individually, the number of issues each content item has, and the 'gear' icon showing the accessibility score. Instructors can click each 'gear' icon to open the Instructor Feedback panel from the Accessibility Report.
To open the Course Accessibility Report, open a course in Blackboard > click Course Tools (below the Control Panel on the left) > Accessibility Report.
What do the accessibility scores mean?
Improve the content to raise the score