What is Ally?
Ally is a study and accessibility tool that appears automatically on current Moodle pages. It converts uploaded Moodle files into a number of different formats allowing staff and students to access material in their preferred format. Ally also helps us meet our legal responsibilities by providing students with accessible web content.
Alternative formats:
Students and staff can click on the Alternative Formats icon to download supported material in a variety of formats, including audio files, HTML, Beeline reader and ePub. See our student video guide below which outlines the different formats.
It’s a good idea to explain the benefits of Ally to your students so that they can access materials in a format that suits their needs or preferences. Direct them to Studying Online for access to the video.
The Ally icons
Accessibility dial:
Staff (only) also have access to the Ally dial, which gives information about the current level of accessibility of the adjacent document.
When you click on the dial, Ally provides details about what issues there are, why they are important, and how to address them.
In this way, Ally is useful in improving the accessibility of existing documents as well as developing awareness of accessible practices when creating new material.
For more information watch the videos below.
Improving accessibility
Accessible documents
To learn how to create accessible resources in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, and improve accessibility in PDFs and Adobe InDesign files visit this page on Canvas.
Accessible reading
The Scans for Teaching service provides copyright compliant and accessible links to excerpts from books and journals which you can post directly on Moodle. Simply fill in the form below.