One year on – Blackboard Ally Institution Report Over Time
By Amy Giles, Centre for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT)
Following my presentation at #ALTC24, I wanted to share an update on our progress with Blackboard Ally.
Back in September, I attended and presented at #ALTC24 for the first time. If you attended the talk, you’ll remember how the University of South Wales (USW) Digital Education team had been using the Blackboard Ally accessibility checker to enhance accessible and personalised digital learning.
Just last week, it dawned on me that it was time to run the institution report for 2024/25, as I have done for the past two years – covering the period from 1 March to 1 March each year.
If you’ve decided to promote and use Blackboard Ally with your colleagues and students, I hope it has been well-received and well-used. This past year (March 2024–25), we’ve seen an increase once again in student usage, which is encouraging – hoorah!
From 2023/24, students downloaded a total of 65,723 alternative formats. This year (2024/25), the report shows 95,602 downloads. I’d say we’re on to a winner! What are students downloading most? Tagged PDFs, HTML, and ePub formats – each offering flexibility for accessible learning. For example, tagged PDFs support screen readers, HTML is responsive for mobile devices, and ePub works well with eReaders for offline, distraction-free study. – ideal for smartphones, tablets, and eReaders. These formats remain popular and may highlight the continuing need for greater digital accessibility on mobile devices, and even point to broader issues such as digital poverty.
Unsurprisingly, student usage peaks at the start of term, particularly in September and October.
What is surprising (and disappointing!) is that our colleagues have used the tool less over the past year. As I shared at #ALTC24, between March 2023–24, a total of 473 fixes were made to learning materials using the Ally fixing tool. This past year, however, that number dropped to 436. While not drastic, this is a decline from the increase we saw in 2022/23, when the number jumped from 95 to 473.
With ongoing cuts and redundancies in Higher Education, which place considerable strain on staff capacity and morale, it’s understandable that accessibility efforts may take a backseat. However, this underscores the need for sustainable, integrated strategies that support accessibility without adding additional burden to already stretched teams. it’s understandable that this may not be a top priority. That said, we must not let accessible teaching and learning fall by the wayside. With the rise of AI and its growing presence in assessment, our recent “Virtual Learning with AI” webinars have been well received. However, it is important to remember that active learning tools and AI are not suitable for all learners.
So – let’s run more workshops!
These could focus on practical accessibility strategies, using tools like Blackboard Ally effectively, and designing inclusive materials. Based on recent feedback, short interactive sessions that showcase real use cases tend to resonate well with staff.
Once again, I ask myself what we can do? Have we dropped the ball?
Let’s turn awareness into action. Even small steps, like adding alternative text to images or reviewing one module’s accessibility score, can contribute meaningfully to an inclusive learning environment. I hereby challenge you to review your Blackboard Ally stats and plan your course of action. Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) is coming up on 15 May, and there are plenty of small steps we can take to make online learning more inclusive. I plan to promote GAAD at USW and share details of virtual events that can help raise awareness.
There is clearly a need to bring accessibility checkers like Blackboard Ally back into the spotlight, and to support our colleagues in upskilling for digital fluency and inclusive digital education.
You can view my shared #ALTC24 presentation here: Tools to Enhance Accessible and Personalised Digital Learning
Find out more on Connected conversations: ALT Annual Conference 2024 – Day 2
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