Goal
Introduce Ally (an automated accessibility tool) to UTSA and gather feedback on how best to support faculty in creating an inclusive digital environment.
Legal Perspective
Lawsuits involving inaccessible digital content have been filed against several major universities such as Harvard, MIT, and many others large and small.
Our Perspective
- Creating an Inclusive Digital Learning Environment at UTSA
- Inclusion is one of UTSA’s core values
- Courses are increasingly relying on digital content
- We want to ensure as many students as possible can access course content from day one
- When content is created with accessibility in mind it is typically a much faster process to address accessibility concerns
- Accessibility is a necessity for some but beneficial for all
Faculty Concerns to Address
- It takes time to make content accessible
- I don't know what is inaccessible
- I don't know how to fix inaccessible content
Digital Accessibility Tool
The Ally solution is an automated accessibility checker that integrates with the Learning Management System (LMS), providing faculty with immediate feedback about common accessibility issues detected in course content.
Students get immediate access to multiple alternative formats of the content, allowing them to choose between listening to an audio version of lecture notes, reviewing an HTML version of an article, or downloading an electronic Braille copy of the syllabus.
What Can the Institution See?
Academic Year Overall Accessibility Score
- 2019 - 2020 score | Based on 20,048 courses | 63.8%
- 2020 - 2021 score | Based on 22,195 courses | 69.5%
Semester Overall Accessibility Score
- Fall 2021 | Based on 7,212 courses | 66.5%
- Spring 2022 | Based on 6,633 courses | 64.8%
Top Accessibility Issues at Institution
- Inaccessible digital documents
- Images missing alternative text
What Can the Faculty See?
What Can the Student See?
Soft Launch + Pilot Groups
- As of Spring 2022, Ally is enabled in 340 courses – this number contains courses taught by instructors who participated in our pilot program or who have been involved with our office for course design/development.
- Three pilot cohorts are complete.
- After attending the pilot, participants have Ally enabled for upcoming courses.
- Asynchronous and synchronous training opportunities will continue to be made available every semester.
Opt-in Option!!
Ready to start using Ally?
If you would like to have Ally enabled in your course, email us at DigitalAccessibility@utsa.edu.
Institutional Launch Date
Dates will be determined after pilot data and feedback are available.
Questions
Please share questions by emailing DigitalAccessibility@utsa.edu
Credits:
Created with images by StartupStockPhotos - "desk laptop notebook" • geralt - "ask question mark write"