Blackboard Ultra: Course Accessibility Report

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Course accessibility report

This guide introduces the Course Accessibility Reporting Tool included within Blackboard Ultra.  It also includes an explanation as to what this feature is and why you would use it.

A great feature offered by Blackboard Ally is the course accessibility report. This report allows you to easily view all content for any of the courses you have designed and built or might simply be delivering on.  This report includes:

  • an overall accessibility score for a course
  • a section containing content with easy issues to fix
  • a section containing content that is the lowest-scoring
  • content organized into categories based on their accessibility issues

The report provides the best way to identify inaccessible content and how to update that content to make it more accessible.

The course accessibility report acts as a complement to the existing accessibility indicators. It provides an accessibility summary and overview at the course level.

To access this report:

Access Blackboard Ultra (https://bb.tees.ac.uk) and open the specific module to run the accessibility report for.

Image showing how to access Blackboard Ultra

Go to the Module Tools in the Details & Actions menu.

Image showing how to access Module Tools

Click the “Accessibility Report” from the list of available tools.

Image showing how to access Accessibility Report from Module Tools

Ally’s course accessibility report includes Overview and Content tabs so that you can get the big picture as well as specific details about the accessibility of your digital course content.

  • The Overview tab shows the accessibility score for the course, course content grouped by content type, and a list of all issues identified in the course

Image showing Course accessibility score (Overview tab)

  • The Content tab shows you the content with accessibility issues.

Image showing Course accessibility score (Contenttab)

Accessibility score

At the top of the report is an accessibility score for the entire course.  Scores range from Low to Perfect. The higher the score the fewer the issues.

Image showing Low accessibility score icon Low (0-33%): Needs help! There are severe accessibility issues.
Image showing Medium accessibility score icon Medium  (34-66%): A little better. The file is somewhat accessible and needs improvement.
Image showing High accessibility score icon High  (67-99%): Almost there. The file is accessible, but more improvements are possible.
Image showing Perfect accessibility score icon Perfect    (100%): Perfect! Ally didn’t identify any accessibility issues, but further improvements may still be possible.

All course content

See all content in your course grouped by content type. Select Start to go to the Content tab and start fixing issues.

Image showing the All course content accessibility score report

Currently, Ally checks files in these formats:

  • PDF files
  • Microsoft® Word files
  • Microsoft® PowerPoint® files
  • OpenOffice/LibreOffice files
  • Uploaded HTML files
  • Image files (JPG, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF)
  • WYSIWYG/VTBE content
  • YouTubeTM videos embedded in WYSIWYG/VTBE content

Choose what to fix first

Use the report to help you decide what to fix first. For example, content with the most severe issues first or start with the content that’s easiest to fix.

Choose between Content with the easiest issues to fix and fix low scoring content. See how many pieces of content you’ll be fixing. Select Start.

Image showing options available to decide what accessibility problems to fix

Remaining issues

Issues are listed in order of priority from severe to minor. Those at the top of the list should be addressed first. Ally looks at the number of students impacted, how often the issue occurs, and the accessibility score to determine the priority.

Image showing Servere problem identified in the severity monitor Severe These issues are the greatest risk to accessibility and require the most attention.
Image showing Major problem identified in the severity monitor Major These issues impact accessibility, and while not severe, require attention.
Image showing Minor problem identified in the severity monitor Minor These issues should be considered for a better accessibility score.

Select an issue to see all the pieces of content that have that issue. Select a piece of content to open the Instructor Feedback panel to fix the issue.

How to Add an Image Description with Ally

  1. Select an accessibility score icon
  2. Click inside of the Image Description text box
  3. Add an image description
  4. Select the Add button to save

How to upload a document from the accessibility report

  1. Select an accessibility score icon
  2. Select Browse to find a file to upload
  3. Locate your new file to upload
  4. Select the Open button to save the new file
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