Fix Your Content Day Is Here: Can You Make 10 Fixes?

An image without a description. A scanned reading that a screen reader can't access. A Word document where bold text stands in for headings. Small issues like these can create unnecessary barriers for students trying to engage with course materials.

Today is Fix Your Content Day! Your challenge: Fix 10 accessibility issues in your Blackboard course, or spend 30 minutes making your content more accessible.

Start Here: Your First Fix

You don't have to fix everything today. Blackboard Ally can help you identify issues, prioritize manageable improvements, and make some corrections in just a few clicks. Pick one or two Blackboard courses and follow these steps:

1. Find your starting point. Open your course's Ally Course Accessibility Report and look for the content with the easiest issues to fix. This is your shortcut to making progress quickly.

2. Choose an issue. Click a red or orange gauge to select a specific issue for a file or image. This will open Ally's feedback panel where Ally explains what's wrong and guides you through the steps to correct it.

3. Make the fix. Some changes can be made directly in Ally. Others require editing the original document and uploading the improved version.

4. Keep going! Aim for 10 fixes or set a timer for 30 minutes. Keep a quick tally of the issues you've corrected.

5 Quick Wins You Can Make With Ally

Not sure where to begin? These are great places to start, especially if you're short on time.

1. Describe an uploaded image. Select an image's Ally accessibility gauge and add a short description explaining what the image communicates. If the image is purely decorative, mark it as decorative instead. You can make this change directly in Ally, or use the Ally AI Alt Text Image Assistant.

2. Add descriptions to images inside PDFs. Ally can help you address missing image descriptions within PDF documents. Review each image and provide a description that communicates its meaning in context.

3. Auto-tag a PDF. PDF tags help assistive technology recognize document structure. When Ally offers automated PDF tagging, use it to get started. Review the results, particularly headings, reading order, and complex content.

4. Give a PDF a meaningful title. A descriptive document title helps students identify the content they're opening. When Ally flags a missing title, add one that clearly identifies the document.

5. Set the document language. The correct language setting helps screen readers pronounce text appropriately. When Ally identifies a missing language setting in a PDF, follow its instructions to correct it.

Quick tip: Start with Ally's easiest-to-fix recommendations rather than focusing only on files with the lowest accessibility scores. A few small improvements can add up quickly!

Ready for a Bigger Fix?

Have more time, or want to tackle something that requires a little extra attention? Try one of these improvements:

• Add headings to a Word document. Replace bold or enlarged section titles with Word's built-in heading styles. This creates a structure students can navigate more easily.

• Make a table easier to navigate. Identify column headers and simplify complex tables so students using assistive technology can understand the relationships between information.

• Improve color contrast. Check text and background colors in your documents or slides. Use a contrast checker to identify combinations that may be difficult to read.

• Review video captions. Open your recordings in YuJa and check automatically generated captions for errors, especially names, technical terms, and formulas.

• Replace a scanned PDF. Find an accessible digital version, use a library permalink, or convert the scan into searchable text with Ally or Adobe Acrobat, and review its structure.

• Create a Blackboard document. Move a short handout into a Blackboard document using clear headings, meaningful links, and accessible images.

These changes may take longer, but they can make a significant difference for students who use your materials.

Count Your Fixes!

Made three fixes? Ten? Thirty? Every improvement counts!

When you're finished, add your total to the Fix Your Content Day tracking form. Your progress contributes to UMBC's campus-wide effort to improve the accessibility of course materials.

Need a Hand? We're Here to Help!

Not sure how to fix an issue, or want someone to walk through the process with you? Join Instructional Technology for drop-in support from 11 AM to 1 PM on Google Meet. Bring your Blackboard course, a troublesome file, or a question about Ally. We'll help you identify a manageable next step. You don't need to stay for the entire session. Drop in whenever you need assistance.

Ten fixes. Thirty minutes. One course that works better for every student who opens it. Let's get started!