Accessibility in Blackboard

Blackboard is fully committed to delivering product experiences that conform to the highest levels of global accessibility standards. Towson University’s Blackboard support team knows that accessibility is imperative, not an afterthought.

All Blackboard products are designed and developed with international Web Content Accessibility (WCAG) Guidelines 2.1 Level AA and domestic Section 508 standards. Anthology Blackboard, Inc. is committed to becoming more accessible and underscores the importance of accessibility in education.

TU Blackboard environment has current list of optional third party integrations, including their descriptions, support contacts and accessibility info. If you have questions, please contact TU Blackboard Support.

Do your Blackboard courses meet accessibility standards? Here’s how to check.

Check a course's accessibility using Anthology Blackboard’s Ally tool. If it’s in the green (100% accessible), you’re good to go, and no actions are needed. If it’s not, you’ll need to make it accessible, and the Blackboard team is here to help with two options:

Attend a scheduled session. TU Blackboard Administrators are holding hour-long, in-person sessions offering support. These sessions will start with an overview, then dive into how to use Ally. Bring your laptop (not required) and your questions. See session date/times and locations on Blackboard’s org site.
Request an Ally roadshow session for your department. Email us at blackboard@towson.edu and we'll set it up!

Recommendation: use the Blackboard Anthology AI Design Assistant when creating courses and they'll be accessible by default.

Blackboard Accessibility Tool

Ally is an accessibility checker integrated within Blackboard. This tool gauges the accessibility of uploaded documents/files, provides feedback on how to improve issues and identifies alternative content formats for students. Using an accessibility checker supports diverse student needs at TU through inclusive design and learner preferences.

Resources for Instructors

Watch this video on Blackboard accessibility, and view this checklist for course accessibility. Learn how to support diverse student needs through inclusive design and learner preferences in the demo hosted by Ally's product manager.

Using the Blackboard Accessibility Tool (Ally)

Tips for Making Your Course Accessible

Learn how to write accessible content
Use descriptive headings and apply heading formatting.
Avoid using font styles, color, bold, italics, underline or strikethrough to emphasize content.
Use purposeful images and include alternative text to those images.
Make descriptive links when linking outside your course.
Use lists instead of tables whenever possible.
Properly list content using bullet points or numbered lists.
All videos should be captioned
Format your files and documents to be accessible.
Provide students with clear expectations, instructions and directions for all assignments and tests.