Ally for Canvas

Ally for Staff

Ally can give you automated feedback on the accessibility of the content that you have uploaded to Canvas based on Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 guidelines. To access Ally in your module, click on the the 'Ally Course Accessibility Report' heading. 

You can see the Ally score for individual items while browsing through your modules by clicking on the colour-coded speedometer icon on the right. You will receive easy-to-follow recommendations to improve accessibility: some changes can be made immediately (such as providing alternative text for an image) but some may require you to open the content in the corresponding application (e.g. Word or PowerPoint).

This guidance helps you ensure that all content that you post is inclusive for all students. For example, by adding alternative text to images, checking the colour contrast, setting structural elements like headings, and ensuring PDFs are correctly formatted and tagged to facilitate navigation by screen readers.

Ally for Students

You will not see the course score but will benefit from alternative accessible versions of some content, providing you with the flexibility to choose the formats that you prefer to use. To access content content in different formats, click on the Ally symbol next to the content title. For instance, you may like to convert long readings (.docx or PDF files) into MP3 format that you can that you can listen to on your phone: perhaps during your commute, while out for a walk or in the gym. For the best quality output, your lecturer should have followed the Ally suggestions above.

If you cannot get the version you wish of a content item, download the file and use SensusAccess to convert it instead.