Ally for Websites crawler

The Ally for Websites crawler incorporates the `Disallow` statements in a website’s `robots.txt` file. These statements help prevent the crawler from getting stuck in infinite crawling loops on specific types of content such as search pages, calendar applications, and so on.

The Ally for Websites crawler adheres to the Robots exclusion standard. The specific user agent Ally uses is: blackboard ally - accessibility checker - http://ally.ac

Disable alternative formats

You can turn off alternative formats for individual content items, if you want. Add the data-ally-af-disabled attribute to the linked file in your HTML. This attribute keeps the file from appearing in the Alternative formats panel.

For example, if you add it to a linked file, that linked file won't appear in the list:  <a data-ally-af-disabled href:"https://filename.pdf">PDF file</a>.

Remove the attribute any time, if you want the content item to appear in the Alternative formats panel.

Example:

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <head></head>
  <body>
    <p><a href="/example1.pdf">This link will show up</a></p>
    <p><a data-ally-af-disabled href="/example2.pdf">This link will not show up</a></p>
  </body>
</html>

Exclude parts of a web page

You can exclude specific parts of a web page from the alternative format content. Add the data-ally-exclude attribute to the content element in your HTML. This attribute keeps the content from appearing in the alternative format selected.

For example, if you add the attribute to an image on the page, that image won't appear in the BeeLine Reader alternative format when you open it.

If there is a <main> element on the website, only what is inside that main element appears in the alternative format content. Anything outside of the main element is automatically excluded. You can still use the data-ally-exclude attribute exclude elements inside that main element.

Example:

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <head></head>
  <body>
    <p>This will show up</p>
    <p data-ally-exclude>This will not show up</p>
  </body>
</html>

Configure alternative formats download icon

Decide how you want the alternative formats download icon to look. Choose one of these options:

  • Small icon on the left of the page: data-ally-af-style="flag_small"
  • Large icon on the left of the page: data-ally-af-style="flag_large"
  • Bar along the bottom of the page: data-ally-af-style="bar_bottom"

Use this script to customize the look and feel.

<!--
    Ally Website Integration Script.
    "data-ally-af-style" can be one of the following values to customize the look and feel:
        - flag_small
        - flag_large
        - bar_bottom
-->
<script
  data-ally-loader
  data-ally-platform-name="web"
  data-ally-client-id="8366"
  data-ally-af-style="flag_small"
  src="https://prod.ally.ac/integration/api/ally.ui.js">
</script>