AUGUST 11, 2022 — UTSA faculty have been piloting a new tool that advances accessibility in course materials, giving all learners more equitable access to academic success. Known as Ally, the tool integrates seamlessly into Blackboard, UTSA’s learning management system, where students complete assignments, access course curricula and interact with their instructors.
Academic Innovation, a support division of the Department of Academic Affairs, is supporting faculty who are using Ally to create online learning environments. The division’s Digital Accessibility team’s instructional designers and accessibility experts, for example, are helping faculty use this technology to expand and enhance academic accessibility for all students.
Once faculty run an accessibility check, Ally provides immediate feedback and personalized recommendations to resolve common barriers like inaccessible digital documents and images missing alternative text that could not be read by an assistive screen reader. The accessibility check also provides guidance on whether text, image and design elements have a high enough contrast to be easily read by all learners. Ally also allows students to access available alternative formats for some courses.
“While the law mandates accessibility, UTSA’s Digital Accessibility team understands that accessibility is necessary for some but beneficial to all,” said RaLynn McGuire, Academic Innovation’s lead expert on digital accessibility and universal design for learning (UDL). “Often, many content creators are not aware of issues that create accessibility barriers for learners—we’re here to help them remediate the problems and find a solution.”
Academic Innovation partnered with UTSA colleges to enable Ally for all classes within departments from the College of Liberal and Fine Arts, the Carlos Alvarez College of Business, the College of Education and Human Development, the College of Sciences, the College for Health, Community and Policy (HCAP) and University College. Eighty faculty members have accessed Ally through the pilot program to address accessibility issues and implement UDL principles across 532 courses, impacting an estimated 14,391 students.
“I believe that all faculty recognize the importance of making our course material accessible. However, the difficulty has been knowing what that looks like,” said William Land, an associate professor of sport psychology in HCAP. “Ally makes the process of identifying accessibility issues within my Blackboard course straightforward.”
Since the tool does most of the work, faculty need not be experts in accessibility matters to use it, Land continued, adding that while having quality course content is important, “that content has to be accessible so that all students can learn and benefit equally.”
UTSA is committed to a rich learning environment, which is essential in preparing students to work, live and contribute to an increasingly complex society. At UTSA, several offices and programs support accessibility and regularly review and grow assistive resources to improve the accessibility of campus, programs, and activities.
UTSA Today is produced by University Communications and Marketing, the official news source of The University of Texas at San Antonio. Send your feedback to news@utsa.edu. Keep up-to-date on UTSA news by visiting UTSA Today. Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.
Huddle Against Hunger is a fundraising competition with Texas State that benefits our Roadrunner Pantry. Donations this week will help UTSA earn additional prize monies provided by RBFCU.
In-Person and VirtualJoin UTSA Libraries for an update on federal public access policies and how the library can assist with compliance.
Virtual EventWe invite you to join us for Birds Up! Downtown, an exciting welcome back event designed to connect students with the different departments at the Downtown Campus. Students will have the opportunity to learn about some of the departments on campus, gain access to different resources, and collect some giveaways!
Bill Miller PlazaThere are many citation managers. Which one is right for you? This workshop will explain what a citation manager is and how it can help you organize your citations, insert citations as you write your paper, and generate your bibliography.
Virtual EventPubMed is an essential database for anyone conducting biomedical or health-related research. This workshop will teach attendees how to effectively navigate this free resource and locate peer-reviewed articles using advanced search features, MeSH subject headings, and Boolean operators.
Virtual EventIn this hands-on workshop, participants will learn to setup an EndNote library, save references and PDFs, and automatically create and edit a bibliography. Attendees are encouraged, but not required, to have EndNote already installed on a personal computer.
Virtual EventJoin UTSA Libraries and Museums to learn more about the publishing discounts available for UTSA researchers. Current agreements include Elsevier, Cambridge University Press, Wiley, and more. Bring your questions and feedback for the library as we continue to pursue partnerships with publishers to reduce costs for our researchers.
Virtual EventThe University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
