Ally Product Pulse

# Accessibility

# Ally

April Edition

Katie Grennell, PhD.

Issue #7: April Edition 🌷

Spring is often framed as a season of change, but it’s also a season of care—tending, adjusting, and giving things the space they need to grow, while patiently accepting that neither spring weather nor regulatory timelines bend to optimism alone. Ally is built to support sustained, thoughtful accessibility progress as teams prepare for Title II and beyond (even if it can’t help with the weather!).

Inside this month’s issue:

Topic spotlight: Title II Deadline

New content: Microlearning Video Series

Release Highlight

Title II-Related Content

Upcoming Events

Did you Know?

Topic Spotlight: Title II Deadline

With less than 30 days until the Title II deadline for institutions serving populations over 50,000, we’re reaching a milestone shaped by nearly two years of planning and preparation. As we move closer to that deadline, Ally remains focused on continuous support and improvement, supporting institutions as they build and strengthen a culture of accessibility.

This edition of the Ally Product Pulse brings together key resources and practical guidance to support institutions as they prepare for the Title II deadline. These materials are designed to help teams take informed action now and continue making progress with Ally’s support well beyond the deadline.

New Content: Microlearning Video Series

We’re excited to launch Ally For Instructors: Microlearning for Accessible Teaching, a new microlearning video series designed to help faculty quickly build practical skills for creating accessible, inclusive course materials using Ally. The series is available on Vimeo and includes reviewed captions for accuracy. Each short video focuses on one practical concept, from common accessibility issues to quick, actionable Ally tasks. Our first video, Getting Started with Accessibility using Ally's Course Accessibility Report, is now live. This would be great to share with instructors feeling overwhelmed with the upcoming deadline and looking for guidance on how Ally can help.

We truly want this series to reflect what institutions need most, so please share the topics or challenges you’d like to see us cover next.

Release Highlight

In our March 26^th release, we announced that a new feature flag is now available in the Ally Configuration options that allows the Library Reference workflow to be turned off. Turning this feature off would remove the instructor's ability to add Library References to PDFs when the original file is unavailable while working through various PDF-specific issues. To learn how to enable this feature flag, visit our March 26th Ally Release Notes.

Title II-Related Content

Sprinkled in with these Title II resources, you’ll find several instructor‑focused materials intended to support remediation work and day‑to‑day accessibility improvements.

Title II Strategy Guide & Playbook

The Compliance Trap (blog post)

Higher Ed Prepares for New Era of Accessibility-Inside Higher Ed Article

How to Meet the New Title II Requirements-University Business Op-ed by Dr. Amy Lomellini

From Compliance to Culture: Building a Sustainable Accessibility Strategy (on demand webinar)

Accessibility Strategies to Address the Impact of ADA Title II Updates (on demand webinar)

Get Ready for Title II (blog post)

Quick Fixes Big Impact Accessibility Wins for your PDFs (blog post)

How you Can Make Quick PDF Fixes in Anthology Ally Right Now (Blog post): includes instructions and a video!

PDF Remediation Options (Ally Support Article for Instructors)

Scanned PDFs (Ally Support Article for Instructors)

Course Accessibility Report (Ally Support Article)

Add Image Descriptions (Ally Support Article for Instructors)

Upcoming Events

Ally Office Hours: Our next office hours are on Monday, April 13^th at 11 am EST. Register at: Ally Office Hours Registration Link.

Building Blackboard Together 2026 is coming to Dallas this summer and will include a dedicated Accessibility & Inclusion track for Ally community members and campus accessibility leaders. Please consider joining us!

Did You Know?

Did you know that admins that admins can enable expert help in Ally to give instructors and students direct access to your institution’s accessibility team from the alternative formats and instructor feedback panels? Help requests can include links to shared accessibility resources, such as internal knowledge bases or your accessibility services office, as well as an email address for additional support. To learn how to enable this, visit our Configure Expert Help in Ally support article.