Starting today, you can download digital course materials in new formats for your smart phones, tablets and audio devices through the Ally accessibility platform in Canvas.
The Ally platform provides you with better access to course materials at home, on campus or on the go. It generates alternative formats of course files and enables you to access HTML versions for smart phones, ePub versions for tablets, MP3 versions for audio, and electronic braille versions.
As previously announced, Ally is part of a campus-wide effort to improve accessibility for students with disabilities and the learning experience for all students. In addition to providing alternative formats of files, the Ally platform provides guidance and resources for instructors to further improve accessibility and support students.
How to Use Ally
To start using Ally, visit your courses in Canvas, and you’ll see an “A” icon at the top of the page next to the page title. Clicking it opens a popup that enables you to select files on that page for alternative formats.
For additional information and resources—such as one-pagers, tip sheets and FAQs—please visit the Canvas Resource Center.
During the remainder of the spring term, instructors at the university will begin to become familiar with the Ally platform and further improve accessibility of their course materials. We anticipate that students will begin to see even more improvements to their courses in future semesters.
I hope you will begin to use the new features in Ally platform to improve your experience with digital materials.
Sincerely,
ART MARKMAN, Ph.D. Vice Provost for Academic Affairs
The University of Texas at Austin | Office of the Provost
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