Ally Accessibility Tool
What is Ally? 
Ally is a built-in tool in your Moodle courses that automatically checks for accessibility
issues in the documents you upload. Ally then provides you with feedback and suggested
alternative formats for making your documents more accessible to all students.
The Center for Faculty Excellence has prepared on-demand videos and PDF documents to assist you with understanding and utilizing Ally.
Why Ally? 
Accessibility is for all students, not just those with accommodations. Ally is a valuable
resource for assisting Southeastern in its commitment to providing an inclusive learning
environment for all students.
How Does Ally Work?
- Automatically scans uploaded documents to your Moodle course and provides an accessibility
score in the form of a colored gauge to help you identify any accessibility issues. - Provides a detailed feedback panel with suggestions for improving the accessibility
issues that Ally has discovered. - Provides all students with the opportunity to download material in alternative formats
that are better suited to their individual learning needs.
FORMATS ALLY CAN CHECK
- Microsoft Word
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Image Files (JPG, JPEG, GIFF, PNG, TIFF)
- Open Office/LibreOffice
- Uploaded HTML
ALTERNATIVE FORMATS
All students should have the opportunity to experience course content in a way that
best meets their needs and leaning styles. For example, some students experience
eye strain and can benefit from an audio format, while others are constricted to learning
on a mobile device and need the ePub or HTML formats. Ally generates alternative
formats that students can easily select and download within their Moodle courses.
These are the alternate formats made available by Ally:
ACCESSIBILITY SCORES
When you upload a document to your Moodle course, Ally conducts an automatic check
and provides you with an accessibility “score” that is reported by a colorful gauge next to the document, which can only be seen by you…..not by students. When you click on that guage, Ally provides you with a complete report, along with
suggestions for improving your accessibility score.
Low (Needs help!)
Medium (A little better)
High (Almost there)
Perfect!
CFE RESOURCES FOR ALLY
The Center for Faculty Excellence has prepared on-demand videos and PDF documents to assist you with understanding and utilizing Ally.
- Introducing Ally – A Complete Overview
- Using Ally to Improve Course Accessibility
- Understanding Accessibility Score Icons
- Locating and Updating the Accessibility Report
- Using Ally’s Alternate Format Icon
ALLY FAQS
What kind of feedback does Ally provide?
Ally provides a simple, easy to follow panel to assist you in improving your accessibility
score. Here is an example.
Will Ally help me locate where the accessibility issue appears in my file?
issue that needs your attention. Preview here what this looks like.
Is there an accessibility checklist to inform me of some things to consider before
I upload documents to my Moodle course?
Yes! Ally has provided an Accessibility Checklist to help you tackle your accessibility issues file by file.
I have many gauges of all colors throughout my course. How do I know where to start?
Ally provides you with a Course Accessibility Report
Are scanned PDFs accessible?
No. Scanning pages from textbooks and other course documents are inaccessible. Ally
offers suggestions for you to convert these files and make them more accessible.
How can I be sure that my Word document will remain accessible after I convert it
to a PDF?
When exporting a Word document as a PDF, Ally offers these suggestions to preserve the accessibility of the document.
Are the images in my PowerPoint presentation required to have descriptions?
Yes. To meet accessibility requirements, images must include alt text. This is all
explained in Ally’s easy-to-read guidelines.
Where can I go to learn more about Ally and Accessibility?
Go to Ally’s website for instructors for a complete guide to all that Ally offers to assist you in your goal of providing
an inclusive learning environment for all students!
