Both the issues that Ally identifies and Ally's accessibility scores are based on the international accessibility standard WCAG 2.1 AA (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) which is the legal minimum standard (uutilysnet.no, in Norwegian) for the public sector in Norway.

1. Open Ally from where you are in Canvas

Open Ally by clicking on the spedometer wherever you are in Canvas:

Ally spedometer icon that shows a low score

Or open the Ally Course Report from your course menu and click first on an issue category, and then click on the document itself to open it:

Screenshot of the list of issues under "Remaining issues" in the Ally course report

2. Inspect the issues with your document, file or webpage

Once you open the document, file or webpage in Ally you can see:

the overall score
the issues clearly marked in the content
important information such as why it needs to be fixed
clear instructions on how to fix it
any other isses with the document

Screenshot of a Word document in Ally with the score, the issues clearly marked in the document, and buttons to fix

3. Scroll through the document to see exactly where the issue occurs

Click the up and down arrows in the toolbar to see all the places in the document the issue occurs.

Screenshot of Ally's toolbar where there are arrows to scroll through all the places the same issue occurs

4. Important! There may be more than one issue with your document, file or webpage

Before you start fixing things, get an overview of all the issues with the file. In addition to scrolling through the document in step 3, check if there are other issues.

If you see the All issues button in Ally then there are multiple issues with your document, file or webpage. Click on the button to see a list of all the issues so you can fix all of them at the same time.

Ally has step-by-step guides for each type of issue, so you can hop between issues and follow the instructions.

Screenshot of Ally instructor feedback panel with button to check all issues with a document, file or webpage

5. Follow the step-by-step instructions

Either fix it directly in Ally

Some issues can be corrected without downloading the file, for example adding alternative text to images or fixing headings in HTML content such as Canvas pages, discussions, etc. Simply follow Ally's instructions.

Or fix it outside of Ally

Though some things can be fixed directly in Ally, many documents need to be fixed external software such as Word, PowerPoint, Adobe Acrobat, etc. This means that you need to:

Find the original or download the file from Ally by clicking on the download button.
Open the document in the appropriate software (Word, PowerPoint, Adobe Acrobat, etc.). We recommend using UiO's Adobe Acrobat in UiO's Program Kiosk (view.uio.no).
Click on the "How to..." button in Ally to open the step-by-step instructions.
Follow the instructions in Ally.
Save the new version of the document and upload it to Ally, which will replace the previous version.
Keep working on it until you get a 100% perfect score.

Remove potentially harmful content

Some types of digital content, such as GIFs and other visual media that use rapid movement, flickering images or too much complexity, can potentially trigger seizures or other harmful responses in users. Ally identifies these files and marks them as severe issues and potentially very harmful.

Ally's icon for seizure warnings, for potentially harmful content

If you see that the file is marked as "potentially harmful", it is highly recommended you remove it immediately using Ally. But if it is important and you need to keep it, there is an option for this. Click the button "No, I need to keep it", which warns students before they open the file.

Screenshot of Ally clearly indicating that the file can be harmful