New Accessibility Platform Launched Campus-Wide at Coastal Carolina University


Throughout Coastal’s lifespan, new technologies presented themselves and radically shifted how we incorporate digital potential in higher education. Workflow automation, content management systems, learning management systems, and student information systems enabled university operations to succeed in web development, security, registration, digital instruction, and facilities management. As the university continues to expand and develop, new technologies will continue to be implemented and fill gaps in our digital toolbox. Last week, we were excited to flip the switch on Ally for Moodle -- a digital accessibility platform that represents our biggest push in digitally accessible learning management and instruction to-date for all courses hosted on the Moodle LMS at Coastal.
Ally provides faculty and students with a host of features and functionalities that expand digital access in their Moodle courses. Students will benefit from Ally through the “alternative downloads” feature. Through machine learning, Ally is capable of automatically transcribing files into different file formats with other functionalities. For example, files can be transcribed into electronic braille, audio, ePub, and a myriad of different languages. Students will not see accessibility gauges when they view courses with their logins, so faculty should not be afraid of students finding them. For more information on how students can benefit from the Ally platform, click here.
Prior to Ally, faculty were not able to succinctly monitor their Moodle course files for digital accessibility. Ally solves this problem. As of last week, faculty will see gauges next to their Moodle course files. By clicking on individual gauges, faculty will see detailed data for how digitally accessible their individual files are. The software will then instruct faculty on how to improve their accessibility score for each file, and provide tutorials for various third-party software, including Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat. For more information on how Ally will benefit faculty, click here.
The Coastal Office of Online Learning encourages you to explore the Ally platform, adopt accessibility, and improve your courses. Ally is additive to your courses and does not modify any element of your design configuration. Moodle course files are simply more easily downloadable than before with the addition of alternative formats. Faculty have the opportunity to improve their courses for ADA-compliance, course quality, and digital access by following the easy-to-read instructions on screen.  Ally is constantly evolving, and we have only scratched the surface of how the platform augments digital accessibility for the university. To investigate the platform for yourself, the COOL office created a resource page for you.

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