Recognize that small actions can lead to transformative and inclusive learning environments.
Develop a plan to integrate at least one inclusive teaching strategy into an upcoming course.
Collaborate with colleagues and in-house experts on how to customize an inclusive teaching strategy or troubleshoot a concern.
Adding accessibility tags to PDF files makes it easier for screen readers and other assistive technologies to read and navigate a document, with Tables of Contents, hyperlinks, bookmarks, alt text, and so on. Accessibility tags also make it possible to read the information on different devices, such as large type displays, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and mobile phones. In Windows, Office for Mac, and Office for web, you can add tags automatically when you save a file as PDF format.
A common method for making PDF documents is to place a paper copy of a document into a scanner and view the newly-scanned document as a PDF with Adobe Acrobat. Unfortunately, scanners only create an image of text, not the actual text itself. This means the content is not accessible to users who rely on assistive technology. Additional modifications must be made to make the document accessible.
*Best practice is to utilize alternative content that is accessible, avoiding the usage of scanned PDFs; otherwise manual remediation will need to occur.
The Internet is full of fun content, and adding creative media elements to your course can boost student engagement. However, GIFs and other rapid-movement or flickering media- even overly complex still images- have the potential to trigger seizures or other harmful responses in students. Ally identifies these files, and scores them as “Red, 0% accessible.”
How does Ally work?
After you upload digital content into your course, you'll see a visual indicator that provides an immediate indication of the accessibility of the file. You can click on the indicator to learn more about identified accessibility issues and work to improve the overall file score. These visual indicators are NOT visible for students. Any changes you make to your file(s) to address accessibility concerns do not update the original file in any way--they create a new accessible version.
As your confidence and awareness grows, you'll begin instinctively creating your documents with accessibility in mind--ensuring that green indicator every time!
Why Implement Ally?
So, to summarize: Ally checks the accessibility of your course content, and provides you with immediate insight and step-by-step guidance to improve existing and develop long term accessible content. Along with addressing accessibility concerns, the real-time availability of alternative formats supports the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and allows your students to choose how they interact with your content.