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Ivan Herrera

Release Notes · ·
Last updated Jul 17, 2024 - 2:35 PM Visible also to unregistered users
# ![](file-guid:c5e3ed2b-9d21-476d-af32-f821b6453522 "Ally 2.10.1") # Ally 2.10.0 \| Release to production Jul 17, 2024 ## Ally's new AI Alt Text Assistant Writing simple but meaningful alternative text for images is not always an easy task.  Many times, an instructor is looking for a simple spark of inspiration or a suggestion of where to start. Designed to tackle this challenge in a way that seamlessly integrates into the Ally Instructor Feedback experience, we're thrilled to unveil our latest innovation designed to transform how educators manage accessibility: Ally’s AI Alt Text Assistant. This new feature is focused on enhancing and improving the efficiency of instructors by automating the suggestion of alternative text for images to help write better alternative text and ensure that learning materials are inclusive and accessible to every student. #### For Instructors Instructors can harness the convenience and power of the "Auto-Generate Description" button featured in the Ally Instructor Feedback interface and let the AI Alt Text Assistant simplify the process of addressing images that lack descriptions. With just a single click, instructors can now generate suggested alternative descriptions for images embedded in WYSIWYG content or as standalone items. _Image 1: auto-generate description button when fixing an image without description in the Ally Instructor Feedback._\ ![](file-guid:d687247f-9c75-41fb-83bd-2db1e7ead7e3 "image.png") This intuitive tool empowers instructors to instantly create simple yet accurate descriptions for images, eliminating the guesswork and time-consuming task of manually crafting descriptions from scratch. The AI Alt Text Assistant ensures that the instructor remains in complete control. You can easily edit or remove the AI-generated suggestions to best fit your content’s context and audience. It is important to note that alternative descriptions are not applied automatically—each suggestion requires the instructor’s review and approval - guaranteeing that the final output aligns with the instructor’s original purpose. #### For administrators Ally administrators can configure this new feature from the Ally Configuration settings.  To use the new Alt text assistant, you must opt-in and turn it on from your admin console (this feature is disabled by default). _Image 2: Ally configuration settings with feature flag opt-in to turn on the AI Alt Text Assistant_\ ![](file-guid:ac23c7a0-5fa1-4cd2-9526-b8eb63746dea "image.png" =600x) Additionally, administrators can track the usage of the new feature from the Ally Usage Report (exported from your Ally Institutional Report dashboard). _Image 3: Ally Usage report with additional data added to track usage of the AI Alt Text Assistant_ ![](file-guid:27ee25cf-b3ff-4a2e-90aa-cfe1292fd7df "image.png" =700x) Within the **Instructor Feedback Launches** tab of the Usage Report, administrators can see a count of how many times AI was used to generate alternative text on images and how many times the instructor has altered the text generated by AI before saving for a particular course. _NOTE: This information is also available in the raw data tab in the Usage Report._ This feature follows our Anthology Trustworthy AI principles, including: - Humans in control - Fairness - Privacy - Security - Safety We recommend reviewing the documents linked below as you consider using Ally’s AI Alt Text Assistant: [AI Alt Text Assistant Transparency Note](https://help.blackboard.com/Ally/Ally_for_LMS/Administrator/Improve_Accessibility/Add_Image_Descriptions/AI_Alt_Text_Assistant) [Terms of Use](https://help.blackboard.com/Ally/Ally_for_LMS/Administrator/Improve_Accessibility/Add_Image_Descriptions/AI_Alt_Text_Assistant/Terms_of_Use) [Trustworthy AI Principles](https://www.anthology.com/trust-center/trustworthy-ai-approach) _Note: This release is available to Blackboard, Canvas, D2L Brightspace and Moodle LMS integrations._ ## Identification and scoring of broken links on WYSIWYG content for Ultra and Canvas As part of our commitment to helping instructors enhance the quality and reliability of educational content, the Ally for LMS accessibility checklist has been expanded to include a new check for Broken Links (404 errors) within WYSIWYG content.  Broken links are an important and often frequent accessibility issue that can create frustration, disruption or worse – loss of confidence in the material itself - for all students in the course. Ally will now report this issue as part of the accessibility report and instructor feedback.  Broken links contribute to the accessibility score for WYSIWYG content, and this contribution is dependent on the number of broken links within the content itself. As instructors create or modify WYSIWYG content, Ally identifies if a link is broken and highlights this for the instructor in the content preview along with quick, intuitive options to correct the issue directly within the Ally instructor feedback panel. This instant feedback ensures that all content is verified and reliable before students ever encounter it.  Instructors can also use the 'What' and 'Why' guidance to learn more about the impact of Broken Links.  By identifying and resolving these links, instructors can prevent disruption in the learning process and maintain the integrity of their course. _Image 1: Broken Link identification in the Ally Instructor Feedback_ ![](file-guid:32defb1d-84e2-45c3-9ec2-6cc9649be8f8 "image.png" =700x) Ally reports, including the Institutional Report, CSV exports, APIs for external reporting tools, and the Course Accessibility Report will reflect this new accessibility check as part of the score and underlying issues list. _Important note: This is a go-forward change that only affects the score of newly added or updated WYSIWYG content after this release.  As a result, the overall WYSIWYG accessibility score for many institutions may drop compared to previous months/years because of the introduction of this new accessibility check._ _Note: This release includes Ultra and Canvas LMS integrations.  As part of a future release, we plan to bring this check to the other LMS integrations as well._ Additional release notes are on the Anthology Ally for [LMS](https://help.blackboard.com/Ally/Ally_for_LMS/Administrator/Release_Notes) help sites.
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April Akins ·

Love the updates! [Ivan Herrera](mention:578e8384-2ba6-464b-90b7-633e1ec3b6c4 "/u/ivan_herrera/"), I do have a question about the AI Alt Text Assistant. Will content created in the instructor feedback panel using the AI Alt Text Assistant be stored in a way that it will carry over with course copies or does it only apply to the content within the course where it is built? We are still working through were alt text for images fixed within the instructor feedback panel is not carrying over with copies. Thank you for your guidance on this! I just want to make sure that we inform instructors of the correct workflow if we turn on the AI Alt Text Assistant.
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Ivan Herrera ·

dear [April Akins](mention:3b0457fb-a152-4942-95ef-12846aa9ec14 "/u/april.akins/") \ \ This works the same way as it was working when you add the alt text manually via the Ally instructor feedback. With that being said, it is important to differentiate “how and where” do you fix the issue. Let me explain this: ## From WYSIWYG content If you fix images without description at the WYSIWYG document level, when clicking the score gauge on the top of the document:\ ![image.png](file-guid:623d0173-fb50-4f92-924b-028009973da0 "image.png" =500x) The text that you add either manually, or using the AI alt text assistant, will be saved in the WYSIWYG content:\ ![image.png](file-guid:d43a8ce7-0420-4a49-97e9-b84aeae9c1e4 "image.png" =500x) Meaning that when you copy courses, because the alt text is in the document itself, this will be kept on course copies. Therefore this is the way we recommend, not just because the alt text is saved at the WYSIWYG document, but also because in this way is how instructors can give specific context to the alternative text based on the content of the document. One thing we have been discussing in Ally’s Office Hours is that the context is very important for the student, so it should be the alternative text. ## As standalone images If on the other hand you do it by clicking the score gauge at the image level:\ ![image.png](file-guid:87812649-1433-4d42-ab2f-e9dec6dc0ac8 "image.png" =600x) Or as a standalone image:\ ![image.png](file-guid:e63f09ee-c7d8-4116-9750-0ac62f93c6ad "image.png" =500x) The Alt text added via the Ally Instructor Feedback is stored on Ally, and not on the LMS. As for now, we do not have a way to transfer that Alt Text to the LMS. Hence, the alt text is never transferred to the document (the WYSIWYG document) where the image is used, and it is why the alt text is not kept when you do course copies. For this we have an idea in the Idea Exchange that we are exploring: [Image alt text in Content Collection should travel to WYSIWYG content](https://anthology-teachingandlearning.ideas.aha.io/ideas/ALLY-I-108). but we are also researching other options, Some months ago we started to gather some data about how institutions flag and use standalone images. See [Flagging and using standalone images survey](https://usergroup.ally.ac/content/perma?id=62389). I hope this helps you to understand the difference and answers your question, but please do not hesitate to reach out to us in case you have any further comments or questions. Best regards, Ivan
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Ivan Herrera ·

dear [Matthew Deeprose](mention:223df241-8513-4d10-87eb-39c35d1b1cbe "/u/mdeeprose/") \ \ Thank you for your patience as we continue to investigate the ticket you raised last week. We’ll update you as soon as we have more information. Regarding how Ally handles alternative descriptions, we have include an item on our roadmap and are actively exploring the best solution from a product standpoint. This discussion has already begun during our Ally Office Hours, and we plan to engage further to ensure we incorporate all your feedback. If you have any additional comments or questions, please feel free to reach out. Best regards, Ivan
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Matthew Deeprose ·

Thanks Ivan, while the team are exploring the right approach, putting the information of the current state of it works into your customers hands (for example as a knowledge base entry) would be a great first step, then at least we know what to expect.
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Raymond Moir ·

I think this functionality might be redundant in Moodle, as Moodle requires you to add ALT text or mark the image as decorative before clicking “Save”. However, in Moodle when adding an image you can simply add a <space> for the ALT text and click save. Does the new functionality pick up on just “blank spaces” within the ALT text?
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