Category: Accessibility

What’s new in Blackboard Ally

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Over the summer there have been some updates to Blackboard Ally which colleagues will find help them to fix issues with images and PDFs in Blackboard.

AI Auto-generate description

The AI auto-generate description tool has been improved to write better alternative text for charts, text in images, STEM content, and handwriting in images. Like all the AI tools in Blackboard staff can edit any aspect of the AI output and adapt it if needed. The AI tool also provides a good starting point for learning more about writing alternative text.  And if you use Blackboard in Welsh, the AI tool will create Welsh alternative text.

To use the AI tool:

  • Click on the Ally indicator for your image (or access it via Books and Tools > Ally Adroddiad Hygyrchedd / Accessibility Report > Content)
  • Under Edit image description, click Auto-generate description
  • You can then click Save to use the description or edit the description before clicking Save.
  • If you don’t want to use the description, click Remove from image, and type your own description. 

OCR layer on scanned documents

Around 15% of PDFs in 2024-25 courses were non-OCR documents. This causes a problem for anyone who needs to change the size of the text or use a screen reader because the text appears as an image rather than readable text. Ally now provides tools to add a readable OCR layer on top of a non-OCR document. The quality of this layer will depend on the nature of the content (typewritten documents work better than images or handwriting) as well as the quality of the scan.

We suggest that you try the OCR layer tool and see whether it may help you to provide more accessible PDFs. Remember that you can also use the Library Digitisation service which provides OCR readable scans of journal articles and book chapters.

To use the OCR layer:

  • Click on the Ally indicator for your image (or access it via Books and Tools [Llyfrau ac Offer] > Ally Adroddiad Hygyrchedd / Accessibility Report > Content)
  • Click on the Preview and Apply button to add the layer
  • A preview will appear – use your mouse to highlight the text on the preview. This will show you what text will be add to the file.
  • If you are happy to use it, click Apply. If not, choose Cancel
  • If you don’t use the OCR layer, the Learn how to fix PDFs button will give you options for adding a library reference.

PDF Language and Title

PDFs without language or title set can now be fixed directly in Ally:

  • Click on the Ally indicator for your PDF (or access it via Books and Tools > Ally Adroddiad Hygyrchedd / Accessibility Report > Content)
  • Under Add PDF Language, select the language of the document and click Apply fix
  • Type the title of your document in the Set PDF Title box and then click Apply fix.

Guidance for students

To help you encourage your students to use the Ally Alternative Formats, we have a Learning Object Repository (LOR) item on Ally that you can use in your course. See our FAQ on adding an item from the LOR to your course.

More changes are planned for Ally over the next three months, and we’ll keep colleagues updated via the blog. For more information on Ally, have a look at the Ally help pages

Panopto

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Panopto has now been set-up ready for 2025-26.

Automatic Captions  

Automatic captioning has now been set-up for all 2025-26 folders in Panopto. The language for captioning matches the language of your Blackboard course template.   

For bilingual courses we recommend creating a sub-folder to hold the recordings for one of the languages of your course delivery (see FAQ).   

When you make your recordings, you must select the correct language folder before pressing record. This is because Welsh captions cannot be added to recordings copied or moved from other folders.   

You can find information about automatic captioning in the AU Lecture Capture Policy (section 12). 

Linking to All Panopto Recordings 

You can create a link to the Panopto folder in your Blackboard course. This means that students will be able to see the recordings for the course all in one place.  

Finding your Panopto folder  

Panopto folders for all this year’s modules are in the 2025-26 folder.  

To find the Panopto folder you want to record into: 

  • Click the dropdown button on the right-hand side of the Folder box. 
  • Click the dropdown arrow to the left of the academic year folder to expand it. 
  • Select the Panopto folder you want to record into. 

You can also search for the Panopto folder you want to record into: 

  • In the Folder box start typing the module code or name of the Panopto folder you want to Record into 
  • Select the folder you want to record into. 

What to do if you can’t see your Panopto folder 

In a small number of courses, the Panopto folder wasn’t created over the summer. If you can’t find your Panopto folder using the steps above, you can create a folder from Blackboard: 

  1. Login to Blackboard and find your course 
  1. Click on Books and Tools > View course and institution tools
  1. Click on Holl Fideo Panopto / All Panopto Videos 

You should then be able to find the Panopto folder to make a recording.  

Blackboard Ally

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Blackboard Ally continues to be a popular part of Blackboard with more staff and students making use of it during academic year 2024-25.

The number of downloads into alternative format more than doubled last year –over 62,000 documents were downloaded into alternative formats.  And over 4000 users used this option.

Staff also made more use of the tools to fix accessibility issues in their courses – over 800 files were fixed last year (compared to 295 in 2024-25).

For the first time this year, the Blackboard Required Minimum Presence states that all Blackboard courses should have an Ally score of 70%. If you want to check your Ally score have a look at our blog post. You can also a book a place on one of the E-learning Essentials: Introduction to Blackboard Ally training courses in September.

E-learning Policies Review (2025-26)

WordPress User [kaw] Accessibility, Blackboard, E-submission, Panopto, Training and Support, Turnitin, Virtual Learning Environment(VLE) Leave a comment

We revisit and revise all the policies relating to e-learning tools annually. All the changes are approved by the Quality and Standards Committee. The new policies are now available, and here are the details of the main changes. If you have any questions about the new policies, please get in touch with us using elearning@aber.ac.uk

Blackboard Required Minimum Presence (RMP)

The RMP outlines to staff and students the minimum standards for a Blackboard Course.

Two of the changes in the RMP are designed to improve the accessibility of course materials:

  • All courses should have an Ally score of 70% or above (see the Ally Score information)
  • Requirement for materials to be uploaded 1 working day in advance of the session (see the Uploading Material in Advance information)

To help staff managing courses:

E-submission Policy

The E-submission Policy outlines that all text-based word-processed work is submitted, marked, and has feedback released electronically.

To improve student access to marks and feedback:

To improve the consistency of e-submission across the university:

  • Requirement for research postgraduate work being submitted electronically include Graduate School Research Training assignments.

For staff who want to use SafeAssign as part of their Blackboard Assignments:

  • Addition of information about SafeAssign

Lecture Capture Policy

The Lecture Capture Policy outlines that all transmission style presentations are recorded electronically for students to access.

The most significant change in the Lecture Capture policy is designed to improve the accessibility of recordings:

  • Automatic captioning will be turned on for all recordings made after 1st September 2025 (see our blog post)
  • Recommendation that summaries are made for sessions that are not recorded

To help staff managing courses:

  • The Blackboard template will include centrally provided information about Panopto, including a statement that recording will take place, information about what is and isn’t recording, and information about the quality of captions (see our Course Creation information).

Organisation Policy

All departments make use of their Organisations to provide access to key administrative information. To make sure that materials are accessible and up to date, we have developed an Organisation RMP, based on the Blackboard RMP. This does not apply to staff Practice Courses.

All other Organisations should include:

  • Contact Information.
  • Information about the purpose of the Organisation and how participants are expected to use it.
  • Content is organised clearly, and all materials are named clearly and consistently.
  • Content is up to date.
  • Clear instructions for participants on what to do with materials 
  • All materials must be as accessible as possible.

Ally Score

For the first time, our Blackboard Required Minimum Presence includes an Ally score. This recognises and builds on the work that staff have already done to make sure that teaching materials are as accessible as possible.  

The RMP sets an Ally score of 70% – the good news for both staff and students is that 87% of all 2024-25 courses have a score of 70%. And overall, the Ally score for 2024-25 is 72.5% which is 3% higher than last year. 

Making Blackboard content as accessible as possible benefits all our students.  Having materials in a format that students can use easily means that they can focus on their learning rather than struggling with inaccessible formats. The choices that staff make to design accessible materials, as well as the Ally Alternative Formative tools, help us to make sure that all students can engage with their studies. 

It’s particularly important here at AU, as the latest HERA data show that over 28% of our students have a declared disability (compared to 16.7% nationally).  

To check your course Ally score, have a look at the guidance on the Blackboard help pages.  And you can find out more about designing accessible materials with our online training materials.  

Ally will give you help and guidance to address common issues. One of the most common issues at AU is handwritten documents that have been scanned. We’ve written some guidance to help staff who do use this type of material. And if you wanted to use scanned articles in your course, contact the Digitisation Service.

Uploading Materials in Advance

Giving access to teaching materials in advance of a session makes them more accessible for students. It gives students a chance to prepare before attending so that they can concentrate on the content of the lecture when they attend. For sessions that include discussion or group work it can allow students to consider how they may engage with these activities. A research paper from Oxford Brookes provides information about the value of making materials available in advance,

Feedback from students over the last few years has asked for this change, and the issue was discussed at Academic Board in summer 2024. And it’s standard in a number of other universities, for example at Edinburgh University and Oxford Brookes.

AU has decided that teaching materials should be released at least one working day before the event takes place:

  • For a session taking place on Thursday, materials should be available by Wednesday morning
  • For a session taking place on Monday, materials should be available by the previous Friday morning

You can use the Blackboard release conditions to make sure that materials are available at the right time. If you already make all your materials available at the start of term, you are welcome to continue with this.

Global Accessibility Awareness Day

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Providing accessible learning materials helps everyone to learn. Using some basic tools and making some small changes to your documents can make a big difference to students with disabilities.

Today (15th May) is Global Accessibility Awareness Day, so it’s a good day to see what you can do to improve the accessibility of materials in Blackboard.

You can access tools in both Blackboard and Microsoft Office to help you create accessible documents:

If you have 5 minutes today, look at the Ally Course Accessibility Report in one of your Blackboard courses. The section on content with the easiest issues to fix is a good place to start. This will guide you through some quick changes you can make straightaway.

Or you may find some things that you want to improve over the summer, as part of the annual course creation process.  One of the biggest issues we see in Blackboard courses is non-OCR scanned documents. A good way to make sure that scanned documents are accessible is to speak to our Digitisation Team who can advise on scanning book chapters and journal articles.

Here at AU nearly 30% of our student population has a declared disability, so any improvements you make to the accessibility of your content will make a big impact on how students engage with them.

Find out more about Global Accessibility Awareness Day (this is an external site and not available in Welsh).

Handwriting guidance

WordPress User [kaw] Accessibility, Blackboard, Virtual Learning Environment(VLE) Leave a comment

We know that some staff use handwritten documents in lectures – these may be for working through calculations, or to demonstrate a process, or to draw a graph. When you upload these to Blackboard, they tend to have a low Ally score as they aren’t accessible for some users. Here are some ways that you can make these types of documents more accessible. 

When you are writing in lectures make sure to use clear and consistent handwriting – try not to use cursive (joined up) text, and make sure you write at a good size. Using a felt tip pen such as a Sharpie will also help with contrast. If you can provide a typed version, add this to Blackboard along with the handwritten version. If this isn’t possible you may want to signpost students to another source for the equivalent material (for example a textbook, Panopto recording with captions, YouTube video etc). 

When you do scan materials, you can use the university printers, as they all have an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) setting. This means that the text and images on your scan can be selected by a student. This helps with screen readers, as well as Blackboard Ally – Ally won’t create an MP3 file from a non-OCR document (although it will try and create an OCR version, but this doesn’t always work well). Make sure that you scan the correct orientation. Once you have done a scan, have a go at copying and pasting your text into Word so you can see what students might see or hear.  

The PDF24 tool (available in the AU Company Portal) can also convert a non-OCR document into an OCR version. How successful this is will very much depend on the contents of your original document.  

Students can make use of Google Lens to read documents in Blackboard and lens does seem to do a good job at reading out handwritten text. Have a look at guidance from Guide Dogs for more information. There are also more ideas for students on the Perkins website. If you do, make use of Google Lens:  

  • Don’t use it to look at things that contain personal information about individuals  
  • Have a look at the Google Privacy policy for more information about how your data is used 

Panopto: Automatic Speech Recognition Captioning

WordPress User [jbw] Accessibility, Panopto, Technical Updates Leave a comment

We are pleased to announce that Panopto Automatic Speech Recognition Captioning was approved at the recent Quality and Standards Committee.

This means that for the academic year 2025-26 and beyond, automatic captions will be applied to your Panopto recordings.

Viewers see the captions appearing at the bottom of the screen or can download a transcript:

Screenshot showing a Panopto recording with captions

Whilst captions will appear automatically next academic year, colleagues can already apply automatic captions to all the recordings in a Panopto folder. Consult Panopto’s guidance on how to do this.

We have been working to enable automatic captions for several years, so we welcome this development. As part of this work, we have taken mitigating steps to address some of the challenges and concerns, including:

  • Inaccuracies of automatic captions
  • Clear expectations for staff and students
  • Managing multi-language courses

Automatic Captions are applied to all recordings on the site once we enable this feature. The default language that will be applied to module folders is English. Modules delivered 100% through the medium of Welsh will have their folder settings manually updated to generate Automatic Captions in Welsh.

We have also undertaken an Equality Impact Assessment to address some of the challenges posed by Automatic Captioning which is available by request (elearning@aber.ac.uk).

To facilitate the enabling of automatic captioning, the Lecture Capture policy has been updated. We review all of our policies (Lecture Capture, Blackboard Required Minimum Presence, and E-submission) annually. We will release further communications regarding these updates in due course.

We will now start work on updating Panopto to enable Automatic Speech Recognition captioning for 2025-26.

Ally AI Alt Text Assistant

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If you are stuck for ideas for the alternative text on your images, the Ally AI Alt Text Assistant can give you suggestions.

Screenshot of the ALT Text screen with Auto-generate description highlighted

You should always check the suggestion provided by the AI Assistant as it may not always provide an accurate description of the image. You can edit any the AI generated suggestions.

Have a look at the accessible learning material guidance to find out why Alt Text is important. The Poet training tool provides guidance on how and when to use Alt Text as well as online tools to practice creating useful Alt text for images (please note that the Poet web site is an external site and is not available in Welsh).

Blackboard Ally

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Blackboard Ally is available to everyone who uses Blackboard.

Any student can download course content in alternative formats for free. If you want to know more have a look at Which format should I use table on the Ally website.

All staff can check the accessibility of their course and get help fixing any issues.

Since September 2023, when AU started using Blackboard Ally, staff and students have been making use of it.

Alternative Formats

  • 3579 individual users download an alternative format
  • 22,912 documents converted
  • Alternative formats used in 1100 courses

The most downloaded alternative format is the Tagged PDF. Tagged PDF is useful for reading on the go, or for students who like to read information to search, print, or take notes. It can also be good for anyone who uses screen readers or text-to-speech with speed adjustment.

Course Accessibility

Staff have also been using Ally to make content more accessible for students:

  • 282 fixes to content
  • 66 courses have had content fixed
  • AU accessibility score improved from 65.7% to 69.5%

To find out more about using Ally have a look at our Staff and Student FAQs.