Unit 4 Overview and Learning Content
In this unit, we are going to look at Ally as an accessibility checker. Ally can review accessibility of files and other types of content. Learn how to take advantage of this handy tool in the learning content and activity for the unit!
Learning Goals
- Use Ally’s accessibility checker in Moodle to review a file for potential accessibility issues. (CLO 5)
Unit Learning Content
Accessibility Checker and Strategies to Use Them
Accessibility checkers are tools that are normally built into other software to check for accessibility. These will often give you a list of suggestions to improve file accessibility. These checkers help you catch issues that may be easily seen by just viewing the file on its own, saving you time!
Remember! Checker’s do not catch everything! You should use your own knowledge and skills around accessibility and make content accessible to verify and identify any existing suggestions that are valid and that there are not any that you may have missed!
Some softwares and apps these are found in include Microsoft Word, Microsoft Powerpoint, Adobe Acrobat Pro DC, and others. You can add Grackle Docs as we had you do in the activity “Create: Document Accessibility Bones” to Google Docs. This tool specifically can also be added to Google Slides. Finally, they can also stand alone in an LMS, like Ally. Other stand alone accessibility checkers are Pac 21 (windows only), web accessibility checkers, and others.
We will focus on Ally for this week's content so you can know how to make your files accessible before they even leave your course.
Ally's Background
Ally is a Moodle plugin that identifies accessibility issues within course content and offers solutions on how to proceed. Once the documents and images are identified, you can make changes to ensure they are accessible. In some cases, Ally can make the changes for you. There is also a course accessibility report which acts as a complement to the existing accessibility indicators. It provides an accessibility summary and overview at the course level. Ally is installed in all Moodle courses. The ATC and ID Services are here to help you learn how to use it. (Source: Ally Accessibility Checker)
Strategies for Using Accessibility Checkers
Keep in mind accessibility checkers can’t check everything yet. Here are some tips and areas it might not catch:
- Things like color contrast or reading order may not get flagged accurately. Do these checks manually.
- Checkers miss many other issues and will sometimes flag things that may not be issues when in context. You may find some issues do not make sense so you should use your own judgment and knowledge around accessibility to make the appropriate change.
- Checkers are best used as jumping off points. It can identify things where you can jump in immediately to make a fix. You should then go through the document with your own evaluative skills and make any additional changes.
When using checkers, use these strategies to expedite your workflow!
- Ally is a great tool to quickly get an idea of how much work a file will need.
- Use a checker for the file itself (Grackle Docs on a Google Document or Word Accessibility checker in a Word Document) to get all of the issues at once instead of one at a time
- When remediating an existing document, get an accessibility report from a checker first, make the changes to the document, and do another report to check progress and confirm accessibility.
Watch this short Ally demo to learn how you can utilize this checker:
How Can Students Use Ally?
While students don’t see the Ally accessibility report Ally does allow them to download alternative formats! Watch this short video:
Unit 4 To-Do
- Utilize: Accessibility Checkers