Blackboard Ally empowers institutions to deliver truly inclusive learning experiences and create more accessible learning environments for boosting learner success. . Ally is a cutting-edge technology solution and time-saving automated tool focused on dynamically enhancing digital course content on any LMS, helping institutions to take control of their digital course content, mitigate their accessibility barriers, and keep up with the rapidly changing accessibility requirements.
Blackboard Ally is an industry-proven solution that has helped over 1,500 institutions around the world to create more accessible and inclusive campuses by processing over 95 million courses and 3.9 billion content items. By addressing the broadest range of digital materials of the Learning Management System (LMS), it helps institutions reach their main objectives and goals for accessibility and inclusion. No other accessibility solution is as comprehensive in its approach.
Note: Pricing displayed does not include implementation costs and does not cover all versions of Ally. For details on private pricing, please contact partners@blackboard.com.
3 key features of Blackboard Ally:
Alternative Formats: Provide all learners with access to content with a range of formats by automatically generating a number of alternatives for the instructors original. Anthology Ally has the broadest set of alternatives to deliver inclusive digital experiences and empower learners choice, providing 9 alternative formats such as Semantic HTML, Audio (mp3), ePub, Electronic Braille, BeeLine Reader, OCR PDF, Tagged PDF, Immersive Reader (by Microsoft), and Translated Versions into 76 different languages;
Instructor Feedback: Guide teachers and curriculum creators on the accessibility of their content and how to fix course accessibility through built-in feedback. Also, the Instructor Feedback for the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) feature provides real-time scoring and feedback in the course content editor, allowing instructors and content creators to make immediate modifications to course materials while benefiting from Allys real time scoring and instant feedback. Only through the WYSIWYG Content Editor provided by Ally, instructors can solve issues in real-time frame within Rich Text editors. Blackboard Ally works across the existing workflows to automatically check for accessibility and usability issues on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 level AA standard as well as the Section 508 standards. It has the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) Certificate and the Security Standard Certificate ISO 27001, and completely fulfills the Higher Education Community Vendor Assessment Tool (HECVAT) (USA); and,
Institutional Reporting: Have wider visibility of accessibility issues with a detailed understanding of how your institution is doing, identifying where problem areas are, what to focus on and where to target; track progress over time and build a roadmap for the institution growth powered by comprehensive reporting. Also, through the Course Accessibility Report by Blackboard Ally, institutions can get total control of the ccessibility issues and how to fix them quickly.
Highlights
Checking and Scoring: Ally checks for common accessibility issues by running the file content through an automated accessibility checklist in real-time, going from high-level checks to very fine-grained checks. It also has a number of additional accessibility checks to target usability and quality of the course content, and uses a set of Machine Learning Algorithms to determine how structured and readable the content is and to give an accessibility score to the file.
Built-in Feedback: Ally helps instructors to become aware of how accessible their content is and what some of the accessibility issues are, as well as getting detailed guidance on how they can fix these issues, all within the context of the Learning Management System. That way, instructors can keep fixing issues up to making the content more accessible.
Alternative Formats Generation: Ally automatically generates a number of alternatives of the content for learners that support their learning preferences, so they can consume digital content on its original format or get it on their preferred alternative format. All this based on the output of the accessibility checklist and based on the output from the Machine Learning Algorithms.
AWS Marketplace now accepts line of credit payments through the PNC Vendor Finance program. This program is available to select AWS customers in the US, excluding NV, NC, ND, TN, & VT.
Pricing is based on the duration and terms of your contract with the vendor. This entitles you to a specified quantity of use for the contract duration. If you choose not to renew or replace your contract before it ends, access to these entitlements will expire.
Additional AWS infrastructure costs may apply. Use the AWS Pricing Calculator to estimate your infrastructure costs.
You buy this product on a contract basis, priced by your number of full-time equivalent (FTE) users. The seven tiers scale with your user population, from institutions under 2,000 FTE up to those above 50,000. As your FTE band rises, the tier moves to the next price range. The largest band, FTE over 50,000, uses custom pricing that you arrange directly with the vendor. Each tier shows a price range rather than a fixed amount, so your final cost depends on your specific agreement within that band.
Top-of-mind questions for buyers
What counts as one FTE for choosing my pricing tier?
An FTE (full-time equivalent) is a full-time user of your institution, such as a student or staff member. Your total FTE count determines which user band you fall into. Part-time users are typically combined to equal full-time equivalents when tallying your total.
If my user count grows past my current band, does my whole price change?
When your FTE count crosses into the next band, your pricing moves to that band's range. The new range applies to your full user population, not just the added users. Above 50,000 FTE, you arrange custom pricing directly with the vendor.
Does the price depend on how many courses, domains, or pages I scan?
No. Pricing is driven only by your FTE user count, not by content volume. Ally scans an unlimited number of subdomains and pages, including embedded content, within your chosen band. Your tier stays fixed regardless of how much content you process.
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Vendor refund policy
Anthology reserves the right to discontinue, change, or deprecate the Products and Services from time to time for any reason, but in such event we will notify you and, as Customers sole and exclusive remedy, Anthology shall provide a pro rata refund for any unused portion of the Products and Services.
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