Ally Product Pulse

# Accessibility

# Ally

June Edition

Katie Grennell, PhD.

Ally Product Pulse: June Edition

June’s here, and summer days are finally upon us. Even in places like Buffalo, NY, my home and the self-proclaimed snow capitol of the East Coast, the sunshine has finally returned to our lives. And just like the weather, things are heating up with Ally. Here’s what’s new this month.

Inside this month’s issue:

Topic spotlight: PDF Auto Tagging Early Adopter Program & Ally User Group Platform Transition

New Content

Upcoming Events

Did you Know?

Topic Spotlight

As we get closer to the next iteration of Ally’s PDF Quick Fixes, we’re excited to kick off an early adopter program for auto tagging the week of June 8^th. We’re looking forward to hearing what participants think and using that feedback to help shape and strengthen the feature. If you’re bummed you missed out, don’t worry! There will be plenty of future opportunities to share feedback on product developments.

Over the past several months, we’ve been thoughtfully transitioning the Ally User Group from HumHub into the Community. This work has been intentionally paced because of how much we value this community and the knowledge it has built together over time. Along the way, many of you helped shape the process either through direct input or from participating in the pilot program, to ensure the new space reflects your needs.

As part of this transition, you may begin to see select historical discussions appearing in the Community. Many of these were identified by community members as important to carry forward, and I (Katie) also spent considerable time reviewing past discussions to bring over those that felt especially valuable to revisit. This combined effort reflects our commitment to preserving the context, insights, and shared learning that make this group so meaningful.

We’re planning to retire the HumHub site by the end of June. Please refer to the Community guide shared earlier this year to help orient yourself to the new space: Your Guide to the New Ally Community.

New Content

Ally for Instructors: Microlearning for Accessible Teaching Video Series: the third video in the series, “Using Ally's AI Alt Text Assistant” is now available. This video introduces Ally’s AI Alt Text Assistant and walks through how it works across multiple image types, with a slightly longer, example-rich format for a deeper, more practical look.

Books without Barriers: to honor Global Accessibility Awareness Day, I launched Books without Barriers, a limited blog series that spotlights powerful works by disabled authors and advocates, along with books that explore disability rights, accessibility, disability history, and the ongoing journey toward equity and inclusion. I’ve explored a collection of powerful works, including Disability Visibility, True Biz, and A Disability History of the United States, among others. I hope you’ve been enjoying the series, and thanks for letting me get my nerd on with this mini lit review moment. Please visit the Blackboard Community to access the series.

Ally Mini-Roadshow: Ally hit the road in mid-April, with me, Dr. Amy Lomellini, Lauren Wrosinghert, and Kevin Forte visiting UC Berkeley and the University of Phoenix as part of a mini-roadshow. Read On the Road with Ally for a recap of both stops.

Upcoming Events

Our next office hours are Monday, June at 8^th at 11:00 am EST. Register at: Ally Office Hours Registration Link. Please submit your questions in advance so we can come prepared: Ally Office Hours-Submit your Question (form)

Western Region Ally User Group Meeting: to better accommodate our Ally users on the West Coast, we’ve launched a new Ally User Group for the western region. Please join us for our next meeting on Thursday, June 18^th at 10:00 am PST. No need to register, simply join the following Teams link prior to the meeting: June 18th Western Region Ally User Group Meeting Teams Link.

Building Blackboard Together 2026: we are excited to share that the agenda has been posted, and it is full of innovative sessions! To view the accessibility track agenda, visit the link shared above, select filter by track, select accessibility, and explore all the exciting sessions available. And if you haven’t registered yet, don’t worry, there’s still time!

Did you Know?

Did you know that if you upload the same image multiple times in a course, alt text added to one instance won’t apply to the others? This is intentional so you can tailor descriptions based on context, ensuring instructors remain in control as the subject matter expert of their content. For instance, an image used in a history course might appear once to illustrate a specific event and again to highlight a broader theme, each use may call for a different description.

To show how alt text should reflect the context in which an image is used, consider the following example of the Declaration of Independence.

An image of the Declaration of Independence might focus on the text and what is being declared in one context.

The same image might instead highlight the document’s coloring, aging, and physical condition in another, from a historical preservation perspective.

As a history instructor myself, this distinction is especially meaningful. Depending on the lesson, I might want students to engage with the document’s words, or to consider it as a physical artifact shaped by time.

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