HuskyCT is the University’s Blackboard learning management system (LMS) used by instructors for the administration, documentation, tracking, reporting and delivery of educational material for courses or programs. Instructors, however, are not always familiar with the best strategies to ensure that files, formats, and techniques are usable by students with disabilities. To support awareness and improve content accessibility, ITS, the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), and the Center for Student with Disabilities (CSD) evaluated Blackboard Ally. This product measures the accessibility of content in HuskyCT, alerts the instructor to accessibility issues, and suggests remediation strategies (e.g., alternative formats, addition of tags). Additional information about Ally is available at accessibility.its.uconn.edu.
We have tentatively scheduled a broad rollout of this feature for the beginning of the Spring 2019 semester. In the interim, we have begun a targeted rollout of this capability. We will reach out directly to instructors where we are aware that this tool may have immediate efficacy. We are also inviting any interested instructors to apply this feature in their existing courses. Contact us by sending email tohuskyct@uconn.edu if you would like to participate. The Accessibility Coordinator, along with staff in CETL and CSD, are available to support your use of this feature.