Sometimes accessibility can be achieved (or improved) on Blackboard Ultra course materials in just a few easy steps, without having to download the document, make fixes, and reupload. The following guidance reflects the techniques available today to address accessibility barriers detected in running an Ally Accessibility Report for your course.
For guidance on first running an Ally Accessibility Report, visit Using Ally to Check for Accessibility.
Missing Title on PDF
Titles improve the accessibility of a PDF by giving screen readers a clear, descriptive name to announce when the document opens, rather than defaulting to the file name. When a title is applied, a user navigating by screen reader hears something meaningful, like “Week 3 Reading: Intro to Cognitive Psychology,” instead of a file name such as “Scan0042_FINAL_v2.pdf.” This makes it much easier for them to confirm they’ve opened the right document without having to open it and read through the content first.
Video Demo: Adding a PDF Title in Ally
Language Not Set
Setting a language improves the accessibility of a PDF by telling assistive technology which pronunciation, intonation, and pacing rules to use when reading the text aloud. When a language is set, a user’s screen reader reads the document correctly in that language, rather than misreading words or running them together as it would with no language specified (or the wrong one).
Video Demo: Setting the PDF Language in Ally
Alt Text on Images and the AI Assistant
Alternative text on images and figures makes the visual information conveyed through an image available to users with low or no vision. Ally allows instructors to apply alt text to raw image files (e.g., JPG or PNG) as well as to images embedded in PDFs and native Blackboard documents. You can use the AI Assistant to auto-generate alt text for these images or just add your own. You can also mark them as decorative where no meaningful information is being conveyed (e.g., a divider or shape intended only for visual effect). For more information on when to use alt text vs mark images as decorative, visit our Alt Text page.
Video Demo: Applying Alt Text to Images in Blackboard Ultra
The following video demonstrates the use of the AI Assistant to add alt text to raw image files (e.g., JPG and PNG), images embedded in native Blackboard docs, and images embedded in PDF files right within your Blackboard course. As shown in the fourth video, adding alt text to images found in Word docs must still be addressed in MS Word.
More Quick Fixes Coming Soon…
Ally’s development team is hard at work in expanding quick-fixes to make the provision of accessible course materials easier for instructors. The following reflects forthcoming techniques, and this page will be updated as each becomes available.
- Auto-tag PDF
- Edit tag structure on auto-tagged PDFs
- Table headers for PDF tables (ability to add row and column headers)
Questions?
Contact the Digital Accessibility Services team directly at accessibleIT@syr.edu or visit our virtual Digital Accessibility Office Hours.