The Ally Accessibility tool works seamlessly with Canvas to review the digital accessibility of content in Canvas and provide insight on how to improve potential accessibility concerns.
It is important to note that Ally is a tool that assists with checking accessibility, but it cannot replace the human insights needed for ensuring digital accessibility.
Key limitations of Ally
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Ally highlights accessibility issues and provides guidance on how to fix them, but it doesn't automatically correct any accessibility issues that are identified. Instructors are still responsible for making the necessary revisions.
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File size limitations for alternative formats: There may be cases where the algorithm fails to generate alternative formats for certain large files.
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Accuracy limitations: The alternative formats available are machine-translated from the original content. Accuracy can vary depending on a variety of factors such as technical language, sentence structure, and type of language.
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Ally is not able to evaluate or provide alternative versions for certain file types, e.g. SCORM files, ZIP files, or XML.
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Ally is not able to evaluate or generate alternative versions for content connected to a third-party. Ally's features will only work for content uploaded within Canvas.
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Ally checks YouTube videos for captions and presents this information in the accessibility reports. Auto-generated YouTube captions may not be considered valid captions; YouTube video(s) with auto-generated captions may be considered "not captioned" in the Institutional Report.
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Ally may not adequately address the complexities of making certain specialized content, like STEM materials, fully accessible.
Need more help with Ally? Contact the Academic Technology team for assistance.