UDOIT for Canvas

UDOIT For Canvas 

UDOIT is a tool that can be used by instructors to check Canvas courses for accessibility. It allows instructors and designers to scan course files for accessibility issues, explain those issues, and provide either alternate files types to remediate these issues, or an explanation on how to remediate found issues. While Ally primarily focused on accessibility of files within a course, UDOIT expands it's scope by also scanning your course for accessibility issues as well. 

To access UDOIT, look for the UDOIT link in your canvas course:

UDOIT automatically scans your course for accessibility issues every 24 hours, but a scan can be initiated by clicking the "Scan Now" button. Scanning can take up to several minutes depending on the number of documents in the course. Once completed, the total scores appear on the Home Tab, and are broken up into High, Medium, and Low impact items

A full list of what UDOIT checks for can be found here:

UFIXIT

UDOIT also provides UFIXIT, a tool that can be used to specifically highlight and fix accessibility issues found within the course itself. Links with generic descriptions such as "Click Here," poor color contrast in a module, and missing alt-text all can leave students without important context, and UFIXIT provides a way to check for these issues.

To address these issues, click on the UFIXIT tab.

You can review the accessibility issues that are caught by clicking on the "Review" button. From there, UFIXIT will show you what the issue is, and an explanation as to why it is an issue, and then suggestions on how to fix it.

Common issues that can be caught and remediated with UFIXIT include:

1. Alt-Text For Images: users who use screen readers use alt-text that is embedded in an image to learn what the image is of.
2. Color Contrast: UFIXIT will let you know where in your Canvas course your color contrast may be failing, as well as how to fix and address these issues.
3. Table Accessibility: Tables need to be properly structured and labeled to ensure screen reader access. UFIXIT will guide you on how to properly structure and lay out tables to ensure equal access.
4. Heading Structure: Headings in a document or web page allow screen reader users to navigate from major sections in a document or web page, similar to a Table of Content. UFIXIT will show you how to structure your headings to ensure proper access. 

Additional Resources

Additional resources for UDOIT and UFIXIT can be found below:

1. Cidi Labs UDOIT User Guide
2. Faculty Center for Excellence UDOIT Guide

Ally Workflow for Faculty (Will be switching to UDOIT starting June 30, 2025)

1. Instructor uploads content to their course in the Canvas LMS
2. Ally automatically scans content against accessibility standards (WCAG 2.0 AA)
3. PDF documents, Images, HTML, Word documents, PowerPoint presentations undergo structural and visual analysis to determine document structure and extract real text
4. For the professor, Ally displays the current level of accessibility next to each document type using a color-coded scale and percentage
   1. Red: The file is not accessible and will not be successfully converted into an alternate format.
   2. Orange: The file has some accessibility features
   3. Light Green: The file is largely accessible but needs a few improvements
   4. Dark Green: Ally has not found an accessibility issues with the document. Alternate formats should render well. 

Ally for Students 

Students will not have access to the accessibility information of uploaded content. For the student, Ally provides the ability to download alternate formats of the uploaded document. Students can select the "A" with an arrow next to it that appears next to an uploaded file to choose the format they prefer.

An "A" with an arrow will appear next to the document title in Blackboard: 

Once the student clicks on the "A", a variety of format options appear. Alternate formats include; audio, Semantic HTML, tagged PDF, e-braille, and ePub.  

Ally will convert the file into the desired format. Depending on the size of the file and whether or not another person has already requested the file in the chosen file, there may be a slight delay while it process. Once complete, the alternate format will download or open. 

Additional Ally Resources

• Ally QuickStart.pdf

 Ally is an accessibility awareness tool that is integrated into the Canvas LMS.  Ally is activated in all Blackboard courses. Ally checks uploaded course content against accessibility standards (WCAG 2.0 AA) and automatically provides alternate formats of that content to students. Ally achieves the following objectives:

• Raises awareness of document accessibility among faculty
• Provides faculty with tools and resources to improve the accessibility of their course content over time
• Automatically provides alternate accessible formats for students and supports diverse learning styles
• Improving the accessibility of course material ensures that your diverse students will have equal access to information. By allowing students to access course materials in a variety of formats, you are facilitating 'multiple means of representation', one of the three tenets of Universal Design for Learning, by giving learners various ways of acquiring information and knowledge.