Ally 2.21 Release Notes

# Accessibility

# Ally

November 11, 2026

Chris Aldin

Ally 2.21 Release to Production: November 11, 2026

The 2.21 release continues our focus on improving the student experience by making it easier for students to read course content their own way. We are excited to introduce Enhanced Reader, a new alternative format that lets students customize the reading experience for course content in ways that work best for them. We've also moved ally's AI Alt Text Assistant to an upgraded model t keep bringing the latest model benefits to instructors crafting impactful alternative text. Rounding it out are fixes for Blackboard, Canvas, Moodle, and D2L Brightspace integrations.

Enhanced Reader, the new Alternative Format from Ally

Instead of simply adapting to how a file was formatted, students can now adjust the text, colors, and reading aids to fit how they focus, process, and read best. Students can also take their readings offline with them (with setting intact) for greater flexibility on the go regardless of internet connection. The result is course content that meets students wherever they are and whenever they are ready.

For more information on Enhanced Reader, refer to the Enhanced Reader topic in the Students help section.

Enhanced Reader example with reading ruler

Enhanced Reader offers a variety of new settings organized into three panels, allowing students to build a view that works with their own unique preferences.

Appearance

Theme: Switches between light and dark modes, reducing glare and eye strain during late-night study sessions or long reading stretches.

Background Colors: Lets students choose from Gray, Blue, Amber, and Stone color themes to find the contrast that's most comfortable for them.

Text

Font type: Lets students choose a typeface that's easier for them to read, including Atkinson Hyperlegible (designed for readers with low vision) and OpenDyslexic (designed for readers with dyslexia).

Font size, line height, and letter spacing: Lets students enlarge text and add space between lines and letters, making dense readings less crowded and easier to follow.

Reading Aids

Word emphasis: Bolds the start of each word to guide the eye across the line. Students can set the strength to Light, Medium, or Strong, or turn it off entirely.

Rulers: Tracks the line a student is reading, helping them keep their place and filter out surrounding text. Students can choose from Underline, Shade, Lightbox, or Sheet styles and pick a ruler color.

Note: Enhanced Reader saves each student's preferences automatically in their browser, so their settings are ready the next time they open a file. These preferences stay on the student's device, and no personal information is sent to Ally.

Ally alternative formats download window with Enhanced Reader visbile.

Select the Alternative formats button next to a course file. Then select Enhanced Reader, Download. The file opens int he browser, and students can change their settings at any time while reading. Each panel includes a Reset to defaults option.

Note: Enhanced Reader is available to all institutions for Blackboard, Canvas, Brightspace and Moodle integrations automatically, with no setup required. It appears alongside the existing alternative formats, so administrators don't need to change any configuration settings.

New PDF Administrator Configuration Settings for Title, OCR, and Language Quick Fixes

New feature flags have been added for administrators to control the availability of the PDF Quick Fixes for Missing Title, Missing Language and Scanned PDFs. These features are set to On by default, and administrators can turn them off as needed.

Upgraded AI Alt Text Assistant

The AI Alt Text Assistant has been updated to take advantage of several additional improvements in the underlying AWS Bedrock AI models, including improved handling to avoid hallucinations when analyzing specific images. No action is required by Administrators. Refer to the AI Alt Text Assistant Transparency Note for more details.

Bug Fixes and Improvements

Fixed an issue in Blackboard integrations that sometimes caused the score indicator for files added in a content block within Documents to disappear when screen size was reduced.

Fixed an issue in Canvas integrations that sometimes caused the file preview to fail after applying the PDF Title Quick fix which also prevented the new file from being uploaded back to Canvas.

Fixed an issue in the Instructor Feedback that caused instructors to get a "This PDF is less accessible" error if they fixed a title after auto-tagging a PDF.

Improved how screen readers announce the score for each line item in the issues list of the Course Accessibility Report.

Fixed an issue in older Moodle versions that caused an inconsistency with how score indicators were placed on images inserted inside of tables.

Fixed an issue with Canvas Files Area that caused the entire page to reload after making a fix in Ally.

Fixed an accessibility issue in Canvas that caused keyboard focus to be lost when attempting to reopen a fixed file.

Improved the focus indicators within the Ally Instructor Feedback preview toolbar.

Fixed a bug in older Moodle versions that sometimes prevented the interface from refreshing after removing a seizure inducing GIF.

Fixed an issue within the Ally Instructor Feedback that sometimes prevented the highest priority issue from being displayed when initially opening the feedback panel for a PDF.