Inside Blackboard
September 7, 2026
What’s next for Blackboard Ally: A recap of the August roadmap webinar
# Ally
# Accessibility
6 minute read
Thanks to everyone who joined our recent Ally roadmap webinar , it was great to see so many passionate Ally-ies come together to learn what's next for our accessibility platform. And a particular shout out to Corrie Bergeron from Lakeland Community College, who used the chat to introduce “GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY!” to the Ally lexicon – the swag ideas are endless!
While many of the highlights were previously unveiled at Building Blackboard Together in July, the longer webinar format allowed us to explore some additional innovations that are on the way for Ally. Here we’ll briefly outline the “new news”, recap the key questions from the audience, and look ahead to our annual Fix Your Content Day in November.
A New Alternative Format for Students
With more than 84 million alternative formats downloaded over the last year, Ally continues to invest in new ways to support students individual content needs and preferences. The new Enhanced Ally Reader builds on that commitment by providing a more personalized and customizable reading experience, including:
- Word emphasis to help guide focus while reading
- A reading ruler to help learners keep their place in the text
- Expanded customization options to tailor the reading experience
- Support for font selection, dark mode, and reading presets
- Persistent preferences across files, allowing settings to be automatically transferred between documents using local storage
Enhanced Ally Reader, coming soon to Blackboard Ally (Concept Only – final execution subject to change)
Additional PDF Quick Fixes on the Horizon
PDF remediation remains a key area of investment for the Ally team. Several new PDF Quick Fixes were announced during the roadmap:
- PDF Table Header Quick Fix (1-3 months): Instructors will be able to add table headers directly within PDFs, designating the first row, first column, or both as headers without leaving the remediation workflow.
- PDF Contrast Quick Fix (6+ months): Instructors will be able to apply color changes directly within PDFs when contrast issues are identified, making it easier to improve readability.
- PDF Individual Tag Editing (6+ months): Based directly on customer feedback, this enhancement to the existing PDF Auto Tagging Quick Fix will allow instructors to review and adjust tagging results before approving changes, providing greater control and flexibility over the remediation process.
PDF Table Header Quick Fix, coming soon to Blackboard Ally
Refreshed Administrator Configurations
Fear not, admins, we have great updates planned for you also! Expected within the 1-3 month timeframe, a refresh of the Administrator Configurations will reorganize Ally features by setting type, making it easier to locate, manage, and configure functionality based on institutional preferences. Key benefits include:
- A more intuitive organization of settings by feature type
- Continued administrator control over which features are available to instructors
- Additional feature flags planned for individual PDF Quick Fixes as new capabilities are introduced
Refreshed Administrator Configurations, coming soon to Blackboard Ally
Responding to your questions about the Ally roadmap
We loved seeing such an active chat throughout the webinar! We've rounded up some of the most common questions asked and provided additional details that we couldn’t get to live.
On the file location in existing Course Accessibility Report: “will Canvas file locations include those not in the Modules?”
We are trying to pull as much of a file path as we can, even if that is outside of a module in the files area.
On being able to distinguish between unpublished and published files: “what is the update on this roadmap item?”
This is still farther out due to some complexities with the available API data from the LMS. It is still on the roadmap in the 6+ month timeframe.
On remediating PDFs using Ally: “Does adding metadata (title, author, etc.) also get added directly to the file? And why does doing this raise the score dramatically, even if the PDF itself remains untagged and therefore largely inaccessible?
Yes, adding metadata gets added directly to the file. However, metadata being added does not raise the score dramatically, it does so proportionately on the severity of the issue. Missing titles or language sets are not on par with severe issues like tagging or OCRing.
On PDF Quick Fixes: “Can you please clarify about the PDF remediation function-these changes only exist in Blackboard. But if we download the file, it downloads the original without any ‘fix.’”
The order of operations is important here. Before any PDF Quick Fix is applied, Ally gives instructors the option to download the original PDF as a backup. Once the instructor reviews and approves a quick fix, Ally applies the changes directly to the PDF and saves the updated file back to the course, overriding the original version.
On the new Ally Enhanced Reader, “how large can the text go?”
We are still considering these options at the moment.
Fix Your Content Day and Other Opportunities to Engage
We're excited to announce that Ally’s annual Fix Your Content Day returns on Tuesday, November 10th! Start spreading the word and stay tuned for resources, activities, and ideas to help make this year's event the biggest one yet.
In the meantime, there are a range of further opportunities to deepen your knowledge and engage with the Ally community:
- Ally Product Pulse-August Edition a monthly roundup of Ally-related news and content, including new feature releases, recently published content, upcoming events, and a “Did You Know?” highlight.
- Ally for Instructors: Microlearning Video Series for Accessible Teaching : short, targeted videos designed to help instructors quickly learn Ally features and accessibility best practices. An administrator-focused series is also in the works.
- Ally in Practice : a new virtual enablement series launching September 16th, focused on helping instructors and institutional leaders prioritize accessibility improvements and make effective use of Ally features.
- Live Session Option 1: 10:00-11:00 AM ET; Option 1 Registration Link
- Live Session Option 2: 2:00-3:00 PM ET; Option 2 Registration Link
- Expanded Communication & Adoption Toolkit : we will soon have new resources added to the toolkit, such as on promoting alternative formats to students, as well as a growing collection of Instructor Tips & Tricks focused on accessibility best practices and Ally features. Stay tuned for more.
*Note – timelines and specifics for feature releases are subject to change. Review release notes for the latest information.
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