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Ally 2.10.4 | Release to production: October 3, 2024
Bug Fixes and Improvements
- Fixed an issue where in some cases the Ally score gauge incorrectly appeared on embedded files or images in the document preview within the Instructor Feedback for Ultra documents in Blackboard.
- Resolved an issue in Moodle where the image preview was incorrectly displayed instead of the Ally instructor feedback when instructors clicked the Ally score gauge.
- Corrected an issue in D2L that was preventing Ally from properly retrieving topic IDs, causing the score gauge to not appear in certain courses.
- Fixed an issue in Canvas where the Ally score gauge was not present, and the alternative format icon was misplaced on Discussions.
Ally 2.10.3 | Release to production: September 19, 2024
Bug Fixes and Improvements
- Resolved an issue where the Ally alternative formats tooltip in the Canvas files view for students was disappearing a few seconds after the icon was selected.
- Fixed a bug in the Instructor Feedback that was preventing users from correctly navigating through all issue highlights using the up/down arrow keys.
- Fixed an accessibility issue where the guidance panel in the Instructor Feedback lacked the appropriate role that was preventing screen reader users to correctly access the content.
- Improved focus behavior within the side panel of the Instructor Feedback to ensure a smoother experience for both keyboard and mouse users.
Ally 2.10.2 | Release naar productie: 6 september 2024
Verholpen bugs en verbeteringen
- Een probleem opgelost in de feedback voor cursusleiders waarbij het laadpictogram voor onbepaalde tijd bleef doordraaien wanneer cursusleiders twee identieke defecte links in één inhoudsitem aan het repareren waren.
- Een probleem opgelost in het instellingsrapport waarbij het pictogram van de knopinfo voor Ally niet goed werd geladen, waardoor het lastig was om rechtstreeks naar de feedback voor cursusleiders te gaan.
- Een toegankelijkheidsprobleem opgelost waarbij de knopinfo voor Ally niet werd weergegeven tijdens het navigeren met een muis.
- Namen verbeterd van de selectievakjes die worden weergegeven in de lijngrafiek met toegankelijkheidsscores in het instellingsrapport.
- Een toegankelijkheidsprobleem opgelost waarbij er in sommige gevallen niet kon worden gescrold met behulp van de pijlen op het toetsenbord in de zijpanelen van de Ally-feedback voor cursusleiders.
- Beschikbaarheid en verbeteringen van plugins van Moodle 4.3.
- Nieuwe Power BI-sjabloon voor gebruik met de Ally API voor rapportagetools. Raadpleeg de Ally-implementatiekit.
Ally 2.10.1 | Release naar productie: 8 augustus 2024
Ondersteuning voor de nieuwe verbeterde documenten van de Blackboard inhoudsontwerper
Ally ondersteunt nu de nieuwe, verbeterde documenten in Blackboard voor zowel cursusleiders (feedback van cursusleiders) als studenten (alternatieve indelingen) om toegankelijke en interessante inhoud voor alle gebruikers te stimuleren. Cursusleiders en studenten krijgen de toepasselijke Ally-indicatoren op de nieuwe documenten te zien om te blijven profiteren van deze Ally-functies.
Verholpen bugs en verbeteringen
- Verbeterde Ally richtlijnen voor items die niet op het hoogste niveau beginnen door een consistente formulering te bieden die van toepassing is op alle editors voor tekst met opmaak waarbij kopopties niet altijd beginnen bij niveau 1.
- Er is een probleem opgelost waarbij de formulering in de Ally-richtlijnen voor PDF's waarin een taal ontbreekt ten onrechte koptekstcorrecties vermeldt (in plaats van taal).
- Er is een probleem opgelost waarbij het pictogram Alternatieve indelingen niet goed op de paginatitel van Canvas-pagina's was gepositioneerd.
- Er is een probleem opgelost in Blackboard waarbij afbeeldingen niet werden weergegeven in de Ally-feedback van cursusleiders bij het starten van het cursustoegankelijkheidsrapport.
- Er is een probleem opgelost binnen het instellingsrapport waarbij cursussen zonder semesters niet goed werden gefilterd en in plaats daarvan alle cursussen in de instelling werden weergegeven bij de optie Andere cursussen in het vervolgkeuzemenu Semester van het tabblad Cursussen.
- Er is een toegankelijkheidsprobleem opgelost in het instellingsrapport waarbij schermlezers het bedieningslabel van de vervolgkeuzeknop om semesters te selecteren niet aankondigden.
- Er is een toegankelijkheidsprobleem opgelost in de feedback van cursusleiders waarbij de knopinfo voor de kleurselector in Ally voor problemen met tekstcontrast niet werd weergegeven met toetsenbordnavigatie. (De HEX-kleurcode wordt nu aangekondigd door schermlezers).
- Er is een toegankelijkheidsprobleem opgelost waarbij de focusindicator onjuist werd weergegeven op de pagineringscomponent in de linkerbovenhoek van de feedback van cursusleiders nadat het hulpvenster werd gesloten met toetsenbordnavigatie. (De focus blijft nu op het activerende element).
- Er is een toegankelijkheidsprobleem opgelost waarbij de knopinfo voor het Ally-pictogram niet verdween na het indrukken van de ESC-toets.
- Er is een toegankelijkheidsprobleem opgelost waarbij schermlezers in sommige gevallen knoppen in de feedback voor cursusleiders niet konden lezen voor problemen die zijn vastgesteld in WYSIWYG-inhoud.
- Er is een toegankelijkheidsprobleem opgelost waarbij er in sommige gevallen niet kon worden gescrold met behulp van de toetsenbordpijlen in de zijpanelen van de Ally-feedback van cursusleiders.
Ally 2.10.0 | Release naar productie: 17 juli 2024
De nieuwe AI-assistent voor alternatieve tekst van Ally
Het is niet altijd gemakkelijk om simpele maar zinvolle alternatieve tekst voor afbeeldingen te schrijven. Vaak is een cursusleider op zoek naar een eenvoudige bron van inspiratie of een suggestie voor een begin.
De tool is ontworpen om deze uitdaging aan te pakken op een manier die naadloos kan worden geïntegreerd in de Ally-ervaring voor feedback voor cursusleiders. We zijn verheugd om onze nieuwste innovatie te onthullen, die is bedoeld om de manier te transformeren waarop docenten omgaan met toegankelijkheid: De AI-assistent voor alternatieve tekst van Ally. Deze nieuwe functie is gericht op het versterken en verbeteren van de efficiëntie van cursusleiders door de suggestie van alternatieve tekst voor afbeeldingen te automatiseren om betere alternatieve tekst te kunnen schrijven en ervoor te zorgen dat lesmateriaal toegankelijk is voor alle studenten.
Voor cursusleiders
Cursusleiders kunnen gebruikmaken van het gemak en de kracht van de knop 'Beschrijving automatisch genereren' in de Ally-interface voor feedback voor cursusleiders. De AI-assistent voor alternatieve tekst kan het proces voor het verwerken van afbeeldingen zonder beschrijvingen vereenvoudigen. Met slechts één muisklik kunnen cursusleiders nu voorgestelde alternatieve beschrijvingen genereren voor afbeeldingen die zijn ingesloten in WYSIWYG-inhoud of als afzonderlijke items.
Afbeelding 1: de knop Beschrijving automatisch genereren bij het oplossen van een afbeelding zonder beschrijving in de Ally-ervaring voor feedback voor cursusleiders
Met deze intuïtieve tool kunnen cursusleiders in een handomdraai eenvoudige, maar toch nauwkeurige beschrijvingen voor afbeeldingen opstellen, waardoor gokken en tijdrovend werk niet meer nodig zijn om beschrijvingen handmatig en helemaal zelf te maken.
De AI-assistent voor alternatieve tekst zorgt ervoor dat de cursusleider volledige controle behoudt. Je kunt de door AI gegenereerde suggesties eenvoudig bewerken of verwijderen om zo goed mogelijk aan te sluiten bij de context en doelgroep van je inhoud. Het is belangrijk om te weten dat alternatieve beschrijvingen niet automatisch worden toegepast. Elke suggestie heeft de beoordeling en goedkeuring van de cursusleider nodig, hierdoor wordt er gegarandeerd dat het eindelijke resultaat is afgestemd op het originele doel van de cursusleider.
Voor beheerders
Ally-beheerders kunnen deze nieuwe functie configureren via de configuratie-instellingen van Ally. Om de AI-tekstassistent te gebruiken, moet je hiervoor kiezen en deze inschakelen vanuit je beheerconsole (deze functie is standaard uitgeschakeld).
Afbeelding 2: de configuratie-instellingen van Ally met functievlaggen om de AI-assistent voor alternatieve tekst in te schakelen
Daarnaast kunnen beheerders het gebruik van de nieuwe functie volgen in het Ally-gebruiksrapport (geëxporteerd vanuit het overzicht van het Ally-instellingsrapport).
Afbeelding 3: Ally-gebruiksrapport met aanvullende gegevens om het gebruik van de AI-assistent voor alternatieve tekst bij te houden
Op het tabblad Feedback voor cursusleider openen van het Gebruiksrapport kunnen beheerders het aantal keren dat AI is gebruikt om alternatieve tekst op afbeeldingen te genereren zien en hoe vaak de cursusleider de tekst van AI heeft aangepast voordat deze is opgeslagen voor een bepaalde cursus.
Deze informatie is ook beschikbaar op het tabblad met onbewerkte gegevens in het Gebruiksrapport.
Deze functie is gebaseerd op onze Anthology Trustworthy AI-principes, waaronder:
- Menselijk beheer
- Eerlijkheid
- Privacy
- Beveiliging
- Veiligheid
We raden je aan om de onderstaande documenten te bekijken als je overweegt de AI-assistent voor alternatieve tekst van Ally te gebruiken.
- AI-assistent voor alternatieve tekst - Transparantie-opmerking
- Gebruiksvoorwaarden
- Trustworthy AI-principes
Deze release is beschikbaar voor integraties van Blackboard, Canvas, D2L Brightspace en Moodle LMS.
Identificatie en scoren van defecte koppelingen op WYSIWYG-inhoud voor Ultra en Canvas
Als onderdeel van onze inzet om cursusleiders te helpen de kwaliteit en betrouwbaarheid van educatieve inhoud te verbeteren, is de Ally voor LMS toegankelijkheidscontrolelijst uitgebreid met een nieuwe controle op Defecte koppelingen (404-fouten) in WYSIWYG-inhoud. Defecte koppelingen zijn een belangrijk en frequent toegankelijkheidsprobleem dat frustraties, verstoringen of erger - verlies van vertrouwen in het materiaal zelf - kan veroorzaken voor alle studenten in de cursus.
Ally meldt dit probleem nu als onderdeel van het toegankelijkheidsrapport en de feedback voor cursusleiders. Defecte koppelingen dragen bij aan de toegankelijkheidsscore voor WYSIWYG-inhoud en deze bijdrage is afhankelijk van het aantal defecte koppelingen in de inhoud zelf.
Wanneer cursusleiders WYSIWYG-inhoud maken of wijzigen, geeft Ally aan of een koppeling defect is en markeert deze voor de cursusleider in de voorbeeldweergave. Daarnaast biedt Ally opties om het probleem rechtstreeks op te lossen in het venster met feedback van Ally voor cursusleiders. Deze directe feedback zorgt ervoor dat alle inhoud geverifieerd en betrouwbaar is voordat studenten deze te zien krijgen. Cursusleiders kunnen ook de richtlijnen 'Wat' en 'Waarom' gebruiken voor meer informatie over de impact van defecte koppelingen. Door deze koppelingen te identificeren en op te lossen, kunnen cursusleiders verstoring van het leerproces voorkomen en de integriteit van hun cursus behouden.
Afbeelding 1: identificatie van een defecte koppeling in de feedback van Ally voor cursusleiders
Ally-rapporten, inclusief het Instellingsrapport, CSV-exports, API's voor externe rapportagetools en het Cursustoegankelijkheidsrapport, geven deze nieuwe toegankelijkheidscontroles weer als onderdeel van de lijst met scores en onderliggende problemen.
Dit is een wijziging in de toekomst die alleen van invloed is op de score van nieuw toegevoegde of bijgewerkte WYSIWYG-inhoud na deze release. Als gevolg hiervan kan de algemene WYSIWYG-toegankelijkheidsscore voor veel instellingen dalen in vergelijking met eerdere maanden/jaren vanwege de introductie van deze nieuwe toegankelijkheidscontrole.
Deze release bevat Ultra- en Canvas LMS-integraties. Als onderdeel van een toekomstige release zijn we van plan deze controle ook naar de andere LMS-integraties te brengen.
Ally 2.9.8 | Release naar productie: 02 juli 2024
Verholpen bugs en verbeteringen
- Infrastructuurverbeteringen en optimalisaties geïmplementeerd in de backend-beoordelingsprocessen voor HTML- en WYSIWYG-inhoud om cursusleiders een snellere en betrouwbaardere ervaring te bieden.
- Een toegankelijkheidsprobleem opgelost waarbij de feedback van Ally voor cursusleiders niet correct werd aangekondigd als een dialoogvenster voor schermlezers.
- Een toegankelijkheidsprobleem opgelost waarbij bepaalde formulering in de feedback voor cursusleiders gebaseerd was op sensorische kenmerken en niet voor alle gebruikers duidelijk was, inclusief degenen die mogelijk een schermlezer gebruikten.
- Er is een toegankelijkheidsprobleem opgelost waarbij de paginanavigatieknoppen in de voorbeeldweergave van feedback voor cursusleiders niet werden aangekondigd door schermlezers terwijl de focus werd behouden.
Ally 2.9.6 | Release naar productie: 13 juni 2024
Verholpen bugs en verbeteringen
- Een toegankelijkheidsprobleem in de Feedback voor cursusleiders opgelost. De titel van de richtlijnen werd niet juist werd weergegeven voor ondersteunende technologieën.
- Probleem opgelost voor gebruikers van de originele ervaring van Learn waarbij voor de feedback van Ally voor cursusleiders een foutbericht ('Oeps') werd weergegeven bij het openen van het Cursustoegankelijkheidsrapport voor WYSIWYG-documenten.
Ally 2.9.4 | Piyasaya çıkış tarihi: 2 Mayıs 2024
Hata düzeltmeleri ve iyileştirmeler
- Kurumsal Rapor'da, silinen dosyaların sorun sayısına dâhil edilmesi nedeniyle erişilebilirlik sorunu bulunan ögelerin sayısının hatalı şekilde şişirilmesine ve rapora boş ek sayfaların eklenmesine neden olan bir sorun düzeltildi.
- D2L Brightspace kullanıcıları için, Eğitmen Geri Bildirimi aracılığıyla HTML dosyalarına uygulanan hızlı düzeltmelerin stillerin kaldırılmasına ve LMS kaydedilen içeriğin yanlış biçimlendirilmesine neden olan bir sorun düzeltildi.
Ally 2.9.3 | Release naar productie: 6 april 2024
Verholpen bugs en verbeteringen
- Een probleem opgelost waarbij het Ally Instellingsrapport niet de volledige lijst met problemen weergeeft wanneer een afdeling, een cursus of een domein (in Ally voor Web) meer dan 1000 problemen bevat. Hierdoor konden beheerders de prioriteiten voor het oplossen van toegankelijkheidsproblemen die zijn vastgesteld door Ally niet correct bekijken en vaststellen.
Ally 2.9.2 | Release naar productie: 22 maart 2024
Verholpen bugs en verbeteringen
- De beschrijvende tekst op het tabblad Vimeo-configuratie binnen de Ally-configuratietool verbeterd.
- Extra prestatie- en stabiliteitsverbeteringen geïmplementeerd in de bestandsverwerking van Ally.
Ally 2.9.0 | Release to production: March 07, 2024
Vimeo and HTML5 video caption checking is now available for HTML and WYSIWYG content
As part of our efforts to expand our support for more types of video content, Ally now can flag Vimeo or embedded HTML5 videos that do not have captions or may have automated captions. This helps instructors quickly identify if video content is accessible and increases the awareness of the importance of accurate captions for student video content.
Ally will identify and highlight videos from Vimeo and videos embedded via HTML5 within the Ally instructor feedback. Keeping with our current approach to scoring YouTube videos, flagged Vimeo and HTML5 videos will not change the overall accessibility scores and will be shown as 100% in the Instructor Feedback panel.
Image 1: Video highlighted within Ally’s Instructor Feedback Preview
Note for Administrators: Opting In to New Vimeo Configuration Settings
Checking for public and private videos in Vimeo is an opt-in feature that administrators can choose to configure based on your institutional needs. Ally admins will see a new configuration tab for Vimeo where it is possible to configure and manage the institution’s Vimeo account token to enable Ally’s caption check. Once configured, Ally video checks count towards your institution's Vimeo account and apply to any associated rate limits that you may have.
If you do not configure your Vimeo settings, Ally will not pick up on any embedded Vimeo videos.
(Please note that HTML5 video checking does not require any admin configuration.)
This is a go-forward change that only affects newly added or updated HTML files or WYSIWYG content after this release.
For additional information on this feature and Vimeo configuration, please see Caption Checks for Videos.
Bug fixes and improvements
- Fixed an issue that prevented the issue highlighting and issue navigation from showing for issues within the Instructor Feedback Preview in D2L Brightspace integrations. Fixed an issue where the Ally Instructor Feedback displayed "Oops! Something seems to have gone wrong. Please try again later” when HTML files are flagged as having empty headers in D2L that prevented instructors from seeing the score and guidance.
- Fixed an issue in D2L Brightspace where Ally quick fixes for Empty Headers within the Instructor Feedback were sometimes applying the fix for multiple instances even if the “Apply For All” option was not selected.
- Fixed an issue where the term dropdown and trend chart were not showing all the terms in the Institutional Report Overview when admins selected the “By Term” view.
- Fixed an issue for Learn integrations where WYSIWYG content for external links was not being picked up correctly within the Course Accessibility Report after a course copy.
- Implemented performance and stability improvements to Ally’s processing for generating alternative formats.
Ally 2.8.2 | Release to production: February 22, 2024
Update on D2L Brightspace HTML file reprocessing
As a follow-up to the release of Ally 2.8.1, the feature enhancement to treat “HTML” content as WYSIWYG content in Brightspace is now active for all regions for new content. File rescoring of older HTML content is also completed for clients in our Canada, Asia, and Europe regions.
Rescoring of older content for US clients is still in progress and will be confirmed once completed.
Important note for administrators
Configuration documentation has also been updated to note that the Instructor Feedback for WYSIWYG content (Rich Text Editor content) feature flag does not disable the new Instructor Feedback or quick fixes on HTML files uploaded or created in D2L Brightspace.
See more information about Ally Feature Flags in the Ally Configuration Help page.
Ally Support for Moodle version 4.2
As part of the Ally team's efforts to improve the development and availability of the Ally plugin for Moodle, we are pleased to announce that we are releasing the plugins for the Moodle 4.2 version.
The plugins for version 4.2 are available on the Moodle pages below:
https://moodle.org/plugins/tool_ally
https://moodle.org/plugins/report_allylti
https://moodle.org/plugins/filter_ally
Documentation for the plugin configuration and supported themes is available in the Ally help documentation.
For managed hosted clients we always recommend you check with your Moodle provider to ensure version compatibility based on your upgrade plans.
Bug fixes and improvements
- Fixed an issue in Learn integrations where in some cases the browser configuration caused an authorization popup requesting credentials that prevented instructors from editing an Ultra document after attaching and previewing a file scored by Ally.
- Fixed an accessibility issue in the Instructor Feedback Preview where screen readers could not identify highlights of videos without captions and prevented users from locating them in WYSIWYG content.
Ally 2.7.14 | Piyasaya çıkış tarihi: 1 Şubat 2024
Raporlama araçları için iyileştirilmiş API uç noktaları
Ally 2.7.7'deki ilk sürümün devamı olarak, raporlama araçlarına yönelik Ally API'si uç noktaları iyileştirildi. Bu sayede, büyük veri kümelerinin daha iyi işlenmesine ve Ally verilerini Power BI, Tableau, Excel veya özelleştirilmiş web uygulamaları gibi raporlama araçlarıyla entegre etmenin yollarını arayan yöneticiler için durum bilgilerinin daha net iletilmesine olanak tanındı.
Bu iyileştirmeler, kurum genelinde kararların daha büyük oranda veriye dayalı şekilde alınması amacıyla Ally Kurum Raporu dışında özel raporlar ve panolar oluşturan pay sahipleri için süreci daha da kolaylaştırmaya yardımcı olur.
Görüntü 1: Özel PowerBI panosu örneği
İyileştirmeler arasında şunlar bulunuyor:
- Ally'ın büyük veri kümelerini hazırlamasını gerektiren durumlarda, Ally API'si, artık zaman aşımı sorunlarını önlemek amacıyla 202 (İşleniyor) durum koduyla yanıt veriyor ve kullanıcılara veriler hazır olana kadar beklemeleri gerektiğini bildiriyor. API, veriler hazır olduğunda da 200 (Başarılı) koduyla yanıt veriyor.
- Filtrelenen kayıtların toplam sayısı da meta verilere eklendi. Bu bilgi, kullanıcıların filtreleme seçeneklerinin beklendiği şekilde çalıştığını doğrulamasına yardımcı olurken uç nokta başına 10.000 kayıtlık yanıt sınırına uyulmasını da sağlar.
Raporlama API'si hakkındaki ek bilgiler ve yapılandırma örnekleri, güncelleştirilen Ally'ın API'sini Haricî Bir Raporlama Aracıyla Entegre Etme yardım sayfasında mevcuttur.
API uç noktalarıyla ilgili güncelleştirilmiş teknik belgelere Raporlama API'si Uç Noktaları yardım sayfasından da ulaşılabilir.
Ally 2.7.13 | Piyasaya çıkış tarihi: 16 Ocak 2024
Hata düzeltmeleri ve iyileştirmeler
- Canvas sayfasının üst kısmındaki Ally alternatif biçim düğmesinin hatalı şekilde H1 olarak değerlendirilmesine neden olan sorun düzeltildi.
- Geri bildirim, Kurs Erişilebilirlik Raporu üzerinden açıldığı zaman Ally Eğitmen Geri Bildirimi içindeki WYSIWYG belgelerinin ön izlemesinin birkaç saniye sonra kaybolmasına neden olan sorun düzeltildi.
- Eğitmen Geri Bildirimi'nde yapılan küçük Ally düzeltmelerinin yalnızca vurgulanan ögeye uygulanmak yerine zaman zaman aynı belgede içinde yer alan birden çok ögeye uygulanmasına neden olan sorun düzeltildi.
Ally 2.7.12 | Piyasaya çıkış tarihi: 12 Aralık 2023
OCR Alternatif Biçimiyle İlgili İyileştirmeler
Temel OCR işleme sistemimizi, birkaç önemli iyileştirme sağlayacak şekilde güncelleştirdik. Bu iyileştirmeler arasında; İngilizce dışındaki dillerin daha iyi desteklenmesi, belge arka planlarının daha iyi işlenmesi ve oluşturulan Alternatif Biçim'deki aralık ayarlarına ve yazı tiplerine yönelik bazı küçük ek iyileştirmeler yer alıyor.
Hatalar ve Düzeltmeler
Alternatif Biçimler penceresindeki klavye gezintisinde karşılaşılan, Kullanım Koşulları bağlantısına odaklanma ile ilgili erişilebilirlik sorunu düzeltildi.
Ally 2.7.11 | Piyasaya çıkış tarihi: 5 Aralık 2023
Hata düzeltmeleri ve iyileştirmeler
- Yeni bir Ultra Belgesi düzenlenirken WYSIWYG içerikleri için Ally Eğitmen Geri Bildirimi panelinin tam ekran olarak görüntülenmemesine yol açan, Learn Ultra kullanıcılarına yönelik bir sorun düzeltildi.
- Bağımsız HTML dosyalarındaki alternatif metin içermeyen görüntüleri düzeltmeye yönelik "İyi Açıklamalar Nasıl Yazılır" yönergeleri, söz konusu sorunun nasıl çözüleceğine dair daha iyi bir bağlam sağlayacak şekilde iyileştirildi.
Ally 2.7.10 | Release to production: November 1, 2023
Bug Fixes and improvements
Fixed an issue where the alternative text of deleted images was considered in course copies, causing the text of some images to be incorrectly copied.
Ally 2.7.9 | Release to production: October 18, 2023
Bug Fixes and improvements
-
Fixed an issue in Canvas integrations where the side panel used to upload files was displayed over the Ally Institutional Report and prevented instructors from going through the Ally Guidance.
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Fixed an issue related to the recent implementation of the session timeout that was causing generic errors to display in the browser console while accessing the Institutional Report.
Ally 2.7.8 | Release to production: September 20, 2023
New features
Guidance is now available for HTML and WYSIWYG content with images without Alternative Text
As part of our continued effort to expand Ally’s guidance and feedback, instructors accessing the Ally Instructor Feedback for HTML files and WYSIWYG content can now find the Ally guidance for images that do not have Alternative Text.
This guidance provides a detailed description of the issue and a step-by-step guide to teach instructors how to fix this issue.
Bugs fixes and improvements
- Fixed an issue where instructors could not upload files with accented characters in the Ally Instructor Feedback panel. Now characters using the ISO-8859-1 standard are supported.
- Fixed an issue in the guidance for password-protected files that caused PowerPoint files to be incorrectly referred to as Word documents within the text displayed to instructors.
- Fixed an issue where the Alternative Formats icon was not getting displayed for the Homepage in Canvas courses.
- The date picker used in the Ally Institutional Report has been updated and improved for a better visibility an usability
Ally 2.7.7 | Release to production: September 6, 2023
New features
API endpoints for reporting tools
Administrators can now integrate their Ally data into reporting tools and applications like Power BI, Tableau, or even Microsoft Excel more seamlessly than before, using two new private Ally API endpoints for reporting. This API provides two GET endpoints that allow Administrators to quickly build reports or dashboards and retrieve information on accessibility scores and issues.
Instead of reconfiguring dashboards each time a new CSV export is available, these new endpoints allow Administrators to configure a report once and refresh the data at 15-minute intervals to update dashboards in the preferred reporting tool. Administrators can obtain all the credentials needed to configure the data in the external reporting tool from the Institutional Report.
Additional information about the API for reporting, including configuration examples, is available in the Integrate Ally's API with an External Reporting Tool help page. Technical documentation around the new API endpoints is also available in the Reporting API Endpoints help page.
Endpoints included in the API for reporting are private endpoints and do not come with a deprecation policy at this time. Anthology Ally may change or update these endpoints depending on our roadmap or future releases.
Bug Fixes and improvements
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Fixed an accessibility issue where controls in the Ally configuration were not properly announced as control groups by screen readers.
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Fixed an accessibility issue where the file drop area in the Ally Instructor Feedback did not have descriptive text for screen readers.
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Fixed an issue where videos without captions that were embedded using HTML code in HTML files or WYSIWYG documents were not correctly highlighted in the Ally instructor feedback.
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Added a session timeout to the Ally Institutional Report when it is accessed outside of the LMS via a direct URL. The timeout prevents unwanted access when the report is left unattended, or there is no activity. (The timeout is triggered after 900 seconds of inactivity and signs out the user automatically.)
Ally 2.7.5 | Release to production: August 10, 2023
New features
Guidance is now available for password-protected files
Instructors accessing the Ally Instructor Feedback for password-protected files can now find additional Ally guidance and instructions to learn how to remove passwords to improve the file for students.
What and Why information panels are now available for videos flagged with automated or no captions
As part of our ongoing efforts to expand support for Video content, instructors who access Ally Instructor Feedback for WYSIWYG or HTML files containing videos flagged with automated or no captions can now discover an informative “What it means” section. This addition provides valuable context about the significance of captions for video content.
Bugs fixes and improvements
- Fixed an accessibility issue where a decorative image from the Ally instructor feedback was not hidden from screen readers.
- Fixed an issue where the file preview of some PowerPoint files was not displayed correctly in the Ally Instructor Feedback panel.
Ally 2.7.4 | Release to production: July 26, 2023
Updated features, Learn integration, Canvas integration, Moodle integration, D2L Brightspace integration
New features
Audio Alternative Format character limit increased
Ally now supports files with up to 200,000 characters when downloading the Audio Alternative Format.
Improvements and bug fixing
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Fixed an accessibility issue where visually grouped controls in the Instructor Feedback were not being grouped correctly.
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Fixed an issue for Learn where in some cases, using the Microsoft Immersive Reader Alternative Format, caused the Learn session to crash for users.
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Fixed an issue where the total issue count for “HTML content containing images without a description” was not always decreasing in the Ally reports after the issue had been fixed in the course.
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Fixed an issue for Learn Ultra users where images having a redundant description were not being flagged as issues in Ally’s Instructor Feedback.
Ally 2.7.0 | Release to production: June 14, 2023
Updated features, Learn integration, Canvas integration, Moodle integration, D2L Brightspace integration
Improvements and bug fixing
- Improved the WYSIWYG Instructor Feedback experience in Learn Ultra to allow instructors to return to the list of remaining issues after fixing an issue.
- Fixed an issue that was preventing learners from downloading the audio Alternative Format when using the Learn Ultra mobile application.
- Fixed an issue that was creating unintentional error logs in the browser console after opening the Instructor Feedback in D2L environments.
Ally 2.6.6 | Release to production: June 6, 2023
Updated features, Learn integration, Canvas integration, Moodle integration, D2L Brightspace integration
Improvements and bug fixing
As part of our efforts to support universal design and equitable access around the world, Ally now supports the User Interface in the Chinese Traditional language (zh-TW). Chinese Traditional is now available in Ally Institutional Report, configuration UI, Alternative Formats modal, Instructor Feedback, and Course Accessibility Report.
This does not represent changes in the current language support in other Ally features.
Ally 2.6.5 | Release to production: April 26, 2023
Updated features, Learn integration, Canvas integration, Moodle integration, D2L Brightspace integration
Improvements and bug fixing
In cases where the same YouTube video is used multiple times within WYSIWYG and HTML content, the Instructor Feedback preview window now lists all instances of the video (instead of just one), to provide the instructor with a better understanding of where the issue is happening.
Ally 2.6.4 | Release to production: April 19, 2023
Updated features, Learn integration, Canvas integration, Moodle integration, D2L Brightspace integration
Improvements and bug fixing
We improved Ally's performance flagging issues when adding YouTube video links within WYSIWYG content. As of now, instructors will have a better user experience when they include multiple videos in the same document.
Ally 2.6.3 | Release to production: April 4, 2023
Updated features, Learn integration, Canvas integration, Moodle integration
Guidance is now available for HTML files containing links with missing text
Instructors accessing the Ally Instructor Feedback for HTML files with links missing text can now find the Ally guidance.
It provides a detailed description of the issue and a step-by-step guide to teach instructors how to fix this issue.
This guidance is available for Learn, Canvas, and Moodle customers. We are working to bring this additional guidance to D2L Brightspace customers as part of a follow-up release.
Ally 2.6.2 | Release to production: March 29, 2023
Updated features, Learn integration, Canvas integration, Moodle integration, D2L Brightspace integration
Improvements and bug fixing
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Ally now supports version 6 of the TinyMCE rich text editor in D2L Brightspace.
Discussion Topics, Modules, Quiz descriptions, and Assignments are supported. This does not apply to web page content.
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Fixed an accessibility issue where the tooltip on the Overall Accessibility Score pie chart was not accessible using the keyboard.
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The Braille Alternative Format has been upgraded to improve overall performance and incorporate general Braille table improvements.
Ally 2.6.1 | Release to production: March 15, 2023
Updated features, Learn integration, Canvas integration, Moodle integration, D2L Brightspace integration
Improvements and bug fixing
- Fixed an accessibility issue where screen readers were not correctly announcing the values of highlighted issues when a user navigates through the Ally Instructor Feedback Preview for WYSIWYG content.
- Fixed an accessibility issue where screen readers were not correctly announcing the "What this means" button located in the right-hand side panel of the Ally Instructor Feedback.
Ally 2.6.0 | Release to production: March 8, 2023
Updated features, Learn integration, Canvas integration, Moodle integration, D2L Brightspace integration
Guidance is now available for HTML files containing text with insufficient contrast
Instructors accessing the Ally Instructor Feedback for HTML files with contrast issues can now find the Ally guidance.
It provides a detailed description of the issue, and a step-by-step guide to teach instructors how to fix this issue.
This guidance is available for Learn, Canvas, and Moodle customers. We are working to bring this additional guidance to D2L Brightspace customers as part of a follow-up release.
NEW Canvas scopes for developer keys have been added for future video support
Ally integrations now include 4 new scopes to the Canvas developer keys to support future development towards extending Ally's existing accessibility checks to more video providers, including uploaded video files within the Canvas LMS. These new scopes will provide Ally with the appropriate permission to analyze those video files once we release this additional functionality.
url:GET|/api/v1/courses/:course_id/media_objects
url:PUT|/api/v1/media_objects/:media_object_id
url:GET|/api/v1/media_objects/:media_object_id/media_tracks
url:PUT|/api/v1/media_objects/:media_object_id/media_tracks
We will announce support for checking uploaded Canvas videos as part of our roadmap plans for the upcoming months. Until then, existing clients do not need to take any action and your Ally instance will continue working normally, without any additional configuration. Upon release of the new accessibility check for Canvas videos, we will provide further instructions and steps to reintegrate Ally with these additional scopes. For new clients, these scopes will be included in the standard implementations going forward.
Bug fixes and improvements
- Fixed an issue where Ally's alternative format and scoring indicators, within courses using D2L Brightspace's New Content Experience, were no longer being displayed due to a conflict with a new pathname within the LMS.
Ally 2.5.9 | Release to production: March 1, 2023
Updated features, Learn integration, Canvas integration, Moodle integration, D2L Brightspace integration
Identification and scoring of Microsoft Office and LibreOffice Password-protected files
Password-protected Microsoft Office and LibreOffice documents are now identified and scored by Ally. When you upload a password-protected document, Ally will flag it with a 0% score. This will increase the instructor's awareness to update and make the content available to learners without any blockers.
This is a go-forward change that only affects the score of newly added or updated password-protected Office content after this release.
As part of future releases, we will incorporate additional guidance and feedback for these files into the Instructor Feedback.
Translated Version Alternative Format character limit increased
Ally now supports files with up to 60,000 characters when downloading the Translated Version Alternative Format.
Ally 2.5.8 | Release to production: February 22, 2023
Updated features, Learn integration, Canvas integration, Moodle integration, D2L Brightspace integration
Bug fixes and improvements
- We improved guidance in the Ally Instructor Feedback for untagged PDFs. As of now, instructors have a simpler and more informed step-by-step guidance to help them to fix this issue faster.
- Fixed an issue in Canvas environments where the Revision History information was not being passed correctly back into Canvas when an instructor used the quick fix functionality (part of the Instructor Feedback) to update content.
Ally 2.5.6 | Release to production: February 7, 2023
Updated features, Learn integration, Canvas integration, Moodle integration, D2L Brightspace integration
Bug fixes and improvements
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Fixed an issue where custom heading styles were not converted to headings when generating Alternative Formats.
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Fixed an issue that made the Instructor Feedback panel for WYSIWYG content unavailable when accessed from the Institutional Report.
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Fixed an issue where numbered lists in LibreOffice and Office files were displayed incorrectly in the Ally Instructor Feedback panel.
Ally 2.5.5 | Release to production: February 1, 2023
Updated features, Learn integration, Canvas integration, Moodle integration, D2L Brightspace integration
Alternative Formats views count towards Progress Tracking in Blackboard Learn Ultra
Blackboard Learn Ultra has the capacity to keep track of the course progress for both instructors and students. After a learner downloads an Alternative Format of any content file, the course content will indicate its progress.
Instructors will see the progress made by learners based on their access to the original file or an Alternative Format. For further information about Progress Tracking, refer to the Progress Tracking Release note in Learn Ultra 3900.58.
Bug fixes and improvements
- Fixed an issue where custom javascript —present in certain Canvas integrations— conflicted with the Ally javascript, resulting in some features of the rich text editor, including the scrollbar and the save button, being hidden during content editing
Ally 2.5.4 | Release to production: January 25, 2023
Updated features, Learn integration, Canvas integration, Moodle integration, D2L Brightspace integration
Bug fixes and improvements
- Fixed an issue where Ally was not recognizing embedded YouTube videos without captions when using an iframe in WYSIWYG content in Canvas.
- Fixed an issue that caused the Ally Score gauge to incorrectly overlap with the title field while editing content in the WYSIWYG content editor for Moodle 4 (Boost Theme).
- Fixed an issue in Canvas where the Rich Text editor remained at maximum width after exiting the Instructor Feedback preview, instead of returning to normal size, which caused the Ally indicator to be hidden without scrolling further.
Ally 2.5.3 | Release to production: January 18, 2023
Updated features, Learn integration, Canvas integration, Moodle integration, D2L Brightspace integration
Bug fixes and improvements
- Enabling and Disabling Courses Confirmation Message
Administrators are now presented with a confirmation message when enabling or disabling Ally across all existing courses within the Ally Configuration Tool. This confirmation shows after selecting either Enable or Disable in all courses from the configuration drop down. (Refer to the below example for Disabling all existing courses). - Improved Ally infrastructure scaling policies and alarms to better identify issues during peak usage periods and improve performance to reduce delays on files scanning.
Ally 2.5.2 | Release to production: January 12, 2023
Updated features, Learn integration, Canvas integration, Moodle integration, D2L Brightspace integration
Bug fixes and improvements
- Added Euskera language (eu-es) support for the user interface.
- When you open the Instructor Feedback, Ally now displays the Help link in the right-hand side panel. Note that this does not change the configuration of the custom help, as this is still done in the Ally administration panel. See how to configure Ally user help settings.
- We improved the user interface when guidance is not yet available.
Ally 2.5.1 | Release to production: January 5, 2023
Updated features, Learn integration, Canvas integration, Moodle integration, D2L Brightspace integration
Bug fixes and improvements
- A help link is now displayed in the Instructor Feedback when guidance is not available yet. This link provides instructors access to resources that help them improve their content. This help link uses the custom help configuration, which is still done in the Ally administration panel. Learn how to configure Ally user help settings.
- In cases where a standalone image is set as decorative, Ally's accessibility score will increase to 100%. As of now, Ally shows a warning message stating:
- The image may need further improvements if there are additional accessibility issues. For example, an image that is marked as decorative could still induce seizures, even if it has a 100% score.
- These improvements can be reviewed in the Course Accessibility Report or the Institutional Report
- Fixed an issue where the Ally score indicator was missing in the WYSIWYG content in the Canvas rich content editor (RCE). This was due to recent updates, published in the Canvas Deploy Notes 2022-12-20. As of now, the Ally score indicator and instructor feedback are fully compatible with all new RCE updates and features done by Canvas.
- Fixed an issue regarding keyboard navigation within Ally's Instructor Feedback for WYSIWYG content. The problem was that the space bar didn't navigate as expected when a user selected a specific accessibility issue.
- Fixed an issue where Ally was not announcing the loading status message to assistive technologies whilst downloading an Alternative Format.