The instructor feedback offers teachers feedback on the digital course materials in Blackboard. Ally shows the teacher which materials’ accessibility can be improved upon and gives guidance and tips on how to achieve this.
This feedback is not visible to students.

Documents within a course on Blackboard are automatically made available as different types of documents. A student can download the original document in a different format with the push of a button.

Institutional reports allow us to reflect on how we are doing on a course/program/faculty/university level when it comes to digital accessibility and allows us to better identify problem areas and, where needed, to start interventions on this matter.

Q: Am I expected to make all my course materials 100% accessible?

A: No. The accessibility score that Ally gives and its feedback to improve digital accessibility are purely guidelines. There are explicitly no targets to be met. In a lot of cases a 100% accessibility is not even possible due to the type or kind of course material.

Q: Am I expected to review all of my course materials?

A: No. View Ally as a tool to help you if and when you want. When you are reviewing your course materials anyway, it could be interesting to see what tips Ally has so can immediately incorporate them. In this way, we can take small steps towards more inclusive course materials.

Q: Where can I turn to with questions regarding Ally? And with questions about digital accessibility of course materials? And with other questions regarding inclusivity and diversity?

A: For questions about Ally and its use, you can contact the key-user Blackboard of your faculty. Also see the Ally help page.

For questions regarding digital accessibility of course materials, you can contact Aishlinn Schippers (a.m.schippers@uu.nl).

For other questions about accessibility of education or diversity and inclusion, you can contact the EDI Office edi.office@uu.nl.

Q: What is the goal of the use of Ally at the UU?

A: It is important to Utrecht University to be an accessible and inclusive university. In the Strategic Plan of the UU it is emphasized that this is something to be worked on in the coming years. Accessibility and inclusivity does not only matter in the physical space, but also in the digital space. Our education is becoming more and more digital so it’s important to focus on the digital accessibility of our education. Ally is a tool to help with making course materials more accessible via alternative file formats and via ‘Instructor Feedback’. On top of that Ally gives us more insight in the digital accessibility of course materials on Blackboard as a whole.