Accessibility in Blackboard

Blackboard is fully committed to delivering product experiences that conform to the highest levels of global accessibility standards. Towson University鈥檚 Blackboard support team knows that accessibility is imperative, not an afterthought.

Accessibility improvement opportunities

USM Spring Course Cleaning event

Jan. 8 & 9: This collaborative event鈥攈osted by USM and partner institutions鈥攐ffers faculty a dedicated chance to 鈥渃lean up鈥� their spring courses and strengthen accessibility across our campuses. USM, FACET and TU's Blackboard team are creating space for colleagues to learn together, support one another, and build a cross-campus community committed to inclusive teaching. See the schedule and register on FACET's webpage.

TU's Educator's Summit

Jan. 12: Attend TU Blackboard's session: "Accessibility Made Simple: Fix Your Courses with Blackboard Ally." Register and learn more about the FACET Educator's Summit event.

Support sessions with TU Blackboard Administrators 

Ongoing: These hour-long sessions start with an overview, then dive into how to use Ally.  . You can also request a session for your department by emailing . 

Fix Your Content Day 2025 (event recap)

Nov. 18: Fix Your Content Day is a 24-hour, worldwide competition where institutions work to improve the accessibility of their digital course content using Anthology庐 Ally. 

This year, out of 120 participating institutions across the globe, Towson University ranked 28, completing an impressive 3,276 accessibility fixes. the TU Blackboard team and FACET supported faculty and staff in enhancing accessibility across 124 courses, ensuring a more inclusive learning experience for all students.

Let's continue work together to make learning more inclusive! If you have questions or want improve the accessibility of your Blackboard courses, contact . 

All Blackboard products are designed and developed with international and domestic standards.  Anthology Blackboard, Inc. is and underscores .

TU Blackboard environment has current list of optional . If you have questions, please contact

Blackboard Accessibility Tool 

Ally is the accessibility checker integrated within Blackboard. This tool gauges the accessibility of uploaded documents/files, provides feedback on how to improve issues and identifies alternative content formats for students. Using an accessibility checker supports diverse student needs 麻豆色播 through inclusive design and learner preferences. 

Do your Blackboard courses meet accessibility standards? Here鈥檚 how to check. 

Check a course's accessibility using If it鈥檚 in the green (100% accessible), you鈥檙e good to go, and no actions are needed. Recommendation: use the when creating courses and they'll be accessible by default. 

 

Resources for Instructors

 and for course accessibility. Learn how to support diverse student needs through inclusive design and learner preferences in the .

Using the Blackboard Accessibility Tool (Ally)

Tips for Making Your Course Accessible

  • Use descriptive headings and apply heading formatting.
  • Avoid using font styles, color, bold, italics, underline or strikethrough to emphasize content.
  • Use purposeful images and include alternative text to those images.
  • Make descriptive links when linking outside your course.
  • Use lists instead of tables whenever possible.
  • Properly list content using bullet points or numbered lists.
  • All videos should be captioned.
  • Format your files and documents to be accessible.
  • Provide students with clear expectations, instructions and directions for all assignments and tests.

Resources for Students