Question 1

Who should I contact with requests for advice and assistance with Ally?

Accepted Answer

Staff should contact the Learning technology Team (learningtech@wcs.ac.uk)(learningtech@wcs.ac.uk) to request advice and assistance with Ally.  Students should contact their tutor in the first instance.

Question 2

When can I use Ally?

Accepted Answer

Now. Ally was made available to staff and students on January 26th 2023.  Have a look at the dedicated Ally page on COLT (https://www.wcscolt.com/bbally)to find out more about the service.

Question 3

What content types are checked by Ally?

Accepted Answer

Ally checks, reports and advises on the following content types when uploaded to Moodle:
 • PDF
 • Microsoft Word
 • PowerPoint
 • Open Office
 • Images.

Ally does not check:
 • Content hosted externally
 • MS Stream content
 • MS Teams
 • Work submitted by students.

Question 4

What are the most commonly reported and serious accessibility issues?

Accepted Answer

Moodle-wide content accessibility reports flag up the following issues as widespread and either severe or major:
 • Documents with contrast issues
 • Images without alternative-text
 • Documents with no headings
 • PDF documents that have been scanned as images rather than text
 • Videos without closed captions.

Within Moodle Ally explains why and how to fix these issues, however the Learning Technology team have created self-directed courses on Evolve that staff can undertake to gain a better understanding of accessibility and design of online and blended courses.
 • Accessibility of Online Learning (https://evolve.westcollegescotland.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=5)
 • Designing Digitally (https://evolve.westcollegescotland.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=444)
 • WCS Learning Standards (https://evolve.westcollegescotland.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=69)

Question 5

Are there any videos to support staff & students in their use of Ally?

Accepted Answer

Yes.  A YouTube playlist of short videos has been curated for Ally.  We have also created a dedicated Ally page on COLT (https://www.wcscolt.com/bbally)the Centre of Learning technology website.
 • Full playlist ((https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLI_7a8WosRPLBQ4wpDwrEwGWJKzQGZfKh)5 videos)
Students
 • Alternative formats (https://youtu.be/tOORcSEjtJU)(45 secs)
 • BeeLine reader (https://youtu.be/tM9otx-XOQU)(32 secs)
Teachers
 • Overview for teachers (https://youtu.be/CnuM8NFvu_M)(1 min 28 secs)
 • About alternative formats (https://youtu.be/L0IGYplS8Dc)(56 secs)
 • File accessibility (https://youtu.be/Ik_-ECvVWYs)(1 min 6 secs)

Question 6

Can the playback speed of MP3 audio files be controlled?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Most players allow you to adjust playback speed. For example, Windows Media player, VIC, Audacity, and iTunes/Music.

Question 7

Which devices and apps can I use to view ePub files?

Accepted Answer

The ePub alternative creates a digital publishing file that can be viewed on mobile devices. ePub files are reflowable. Reflowable means that the content displayed automatically adapts to the device it is viewed on.

Here are a few suggested apps for ePubs:
 • Apple: EasyReader,(https://yourdolphin.com/en-gb/products/individuals/families/easyreader)  iBooks, Voice Dream,  NaturalReader,(https://www.naturalreaders.com/) and Thorium Reader
 • Android: EasyReader,(https://yourdolphin.com/en-gb/products/individuals/families/easyreader)  Lithium and Voice Aloud Reader
 • Windows: Calibre, Icecream Ebook Reader,(https://icecreamapps.com/Ebook-Reader/)  NaturalReader,(https://www.naturalreaders.com/) and Thorium Reader
 • Linux: Thorium Reader.(https://www.edrlab.org/software/thorium-reader/)

Question 8

How can I learn how to write effective alt-text for images?

Accepted Answer

The Poet tool (https://poet.diagramcenter.org/about.html)is a great resource to learn when (https://poet.diagramcenter.org/when.html)and how (https://poet.diagramcenter.org/how.html)to describe effective alt-text for images.
There is also a useful decision chart (https://poet.diagramcenter.org/images/decision_tree_flow_chart.jpg)to learn when to use alt-text.

Question 9

Are there any limitations?

Accepted Answer

Here are those we already know about:
 • The range and quality of the alternative formats can depend on the original file; and not all files can be transformed
 • Ally does not recognise or report on every example of inaccessible content.  For example, it may flag up the false positive of an image with an alternative description - but will not report on the quality of the description (see section above on how to write effective alt-text)
 • Audio files (MP3 format) can be created only for documents with fewer than 100 000 characters.
 • There are no credible research articles that confirm the claims made regarding the efficacy of the Beeline reader format
 • LaTeX PDFs score very lowly in the accessibility report because these are not tagged in such a way that screen readers can assist with them.  Additionally, the HTML alternative format may struggle to accurately reproduce some content, e.g., mathematical formulae.

CENTRE of LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES

Frequently Asked Questions