Understanding the Ally Course Report

The Ally Course Report provides information about the accessibility of all content in a course. The overall course report lists the issues and identifies the files that have those issues. When you select a document from the list, you’ll see the document report with specific information about the issue and how to fix it. The most common issues are summarized below.

Errors/Warnings for Uploaded Documents

Error/Warning	Definition	Remediation Strategy
The document has contrast issues.	The text color does not stand out enough against the background color. Remember that there are certain colors that people with color blindness may not be able to see, most commonly red/green, but there may be some who can’t see blue/yellow or who can only see black and white.	Source document must be edited and reuploaded. Generally speaking, text should be dark on a lighter background.
The document is untagged.	Indicates that a PDF does not have an imposed structure (e.g., text with defined roles, such as headings, paragraphs, tables). Screen readers can’t understand the hierarchy or reading order.	Source document must be edited and reuploaded.
The document contains images without a description.	There are images (e.g., photos, charts, graphs, etc.) that do not contain descriptive alt text.	In the source document, add alt text to each image, graph, etc., and reupload to your course.
The document does not have any headings.	Headers and subheaders in uploaded documents have not been identified.	In the source document, use the style feature to identify the appropriate levels of headings and reupload the document.
The document has tables that don’t have any headers.	Tables in uploaded documents must have at least one designated heading (first row or first column or both).	In the source application, use the accessibility tools to identify the correct table header.
The documents is missing a title.	An uploaded PDF does not have an identified title identified within the file properties.	In the Ally document report, enter a title and click “Apply Fix.”

Errors/Warnings for Files Created with the Brightspace Editor

Error/Warning	Definition	Remediation Strategy
The HTML’s heading structure does not start at the right level.	Internal Brightspace content files should start with the title identified as Heading 1. Each section or subsection of the text should be identified with a heading at the appropriate level (Heading 2, Heading 3, etc.)	Navigate to the appropriate page in the content and select “Edit HTML.” Manually identify levels of headings, making sure to start at Heading Level 1.
The HTML content has tables that don’t have any headers.	In internal Brightspace content files, tables should at least have one header row or column, which helps screen readers navigate them in the appropriate sequence.	In the Ally document report, apply a table header by selecting the most appropriate option (first row, first column, or both).
The HTML content has empty headings.	In internal Brightspace content files, a blank line has been marked as a heading.	In the Ally document report, indicate if the blank line should be removed or identified as a break instead.
The HTML has videos without captions or with automated captions.	Videos from external sources (e.g., Panopto or YouTube) are either not captioned or the captions have been created automatically without human review.	For Panopto, you can review and edit the transcript, and you might also download the transcript and make it available in your course. For videos from a third-party source, you should check to make sure that it does have captions.
The HTML has malformed lists.	In internal Brightspace content files, bulleted or numbered lists have not been created properly.	Navigate to the content page and edit the list ordering to ensure that the main points are distinguished from subpoints.
The HTML does not have an appropriate heading structure.	In internal Brightspace content files, heading levels have not been identified appropriately.	In the Ally document report, select the appropriate text style for the identified heading and click “Apply.”