Post - Discussion - Ally User Group

Jeremy Harper

Discussion · Mar 16, 2026 ·

I’m trying to put together a process and structure to ensure that we have reliable, robust longitudinal data to see how we are progressing in terms of accessibility. So I want to make sure that I understand the historical data that Ally is capable of presenting. Is the following a correct understanding? - Ally’s Institutional reports by term, month, or year, are not snapshots of the accessibility at that point. Rather they are filters on the current accessibility data—either by term (if you have terms associated with courses) or by creation date. So they’re more proxies for changes in accessibility over time than direct measures. Is this correct? Ally isn’t saving snapshots on some sort of regular basis of all accessibility data, is it? - On the other hand, Ally does associate datetime data with each record in the usage report (instructor feedback launch, instructor fix, alternative format usage, etc.). So those do present snapshots in time, and thus are a more direct depiction of changes over time. - If we want a more direct measure of the changes in Ally scores, total error counts, total files, etc. over time, we just need to routinely export and store institutional reports. Does that seem like the best way? Is that how most institutions handle it?

- Permalink

Matthew Deeprose · Mar 17, 2026 · Last updated Mar 17, 2026 - 7:22 AM

I capture a monthly snapshot so we can track changes over time.\ \ You can also use courses.csv to observe changes in course each year, assuming you have a new course in the LMS for each delivery you can compare the 23/24, 24/25, 25/26 courses etc\ \ This is quite handy to track changes in types of accessibility issues. For example when we moved to Ultra we had a big growth in image description issues but a drops in other issue groups…

- Permalink

Jeremy Harper · Mar 20, 2026

Yeah, I’ve been getting things set up to go ahead and start capturing regular snapshots. I just wanted to double check whether anyone knew if Ally is preserving its own snapshot data or if the institutional reports are using something else to put together the by_term, by_month, and by_year reports. If the data already exists and is being stored somewhere, I’d rather just pull it when we need it than develop a storage schema and worry about where it’s going to live at our institution.

Blackboard Ally User Group Terms of Use · Blackboard Privacy · Powered by HumHub

Choose language:

Hidden Gallery

‹ › ×

How We Use Cookies We use cookies and similar technologies on our websites, as almost all websites do. We also use cookies when you access some of our products and services. Cookies allow us, among other things, to store your preferences and settings, authenticate and log you in, provide you with a personalized experience, keep our websites secure, and analyze how our websites and online services are performing. The following table provides information on the types of cookies we use for our websites and products and services. Type of Cookies Description Sign-in and authentication These cookies help us authenticate you, keep you signed in, and personalize the services where you use websites and services with sign-in, such as Behind the Blackboard and Blackboard Learn. Preferences and settings These cookies help us remember your settings and preferences and deliver a personalized experience even if you are not logged in. For example, we can store which language you prefer. We also use such cookies to help you fill out forms and surveys more easily. We use third-party cookies such as Eloqua, Acquia Lift, and GetSiteControl for these purposes. Security Security cookies support our security features and help us detect malicious activities. Analytics We use Blackboard and third-party cookies such as Google Analytics and Siteimprove to gather information about user activities and performance. This helps us analyze and improve the performance of our websites. It also lets us understand, improve, and research how our products and services are used and what type of devices you use to access them. The information we receive from these third-party providers is de-identified, meaning we cannot track it back to you. For Google Analytics we have enabled IP Anonymization to anonymize your IP address. Learn more about IP anonymization in Google Analytics. Social Sharing On some of our websites we use buttons and cookies from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media services that allow you to share content via their services if you are a member and signed in. These social media companies may recognize you and collect information about your visit to our websites, and they may set a cookie or employee other tracking technologies. Your interactions with those features are governed by the privacy policies of the social media companies. Please read their privacy statements and cookie policies to understand how they use your information. Marketing and advertising We use cookies from third parties like Eloqua to recognize you when you return to our websites and to understand which pages you visit. If you submit your information on our pages (such as in a web form), we will link this information to the information stored on the cookie. We use this information to personalize your experience on our websites and to make sure we are communicating with you in the most relevant way possible. We also use third-party cookies from services such as Google AdWords, Facebook Business, LinkedIn Campaign Manager, and Twitter Ads. This allows those services to show you relevant ads and campaigns from us in their environment when you previously visited one of our websites. We also receive information from some of these services about which of our ads or campaigns you have interacted with. Learn more about Google Analytics and Advertising in the "Client Engagement & Marketing" section in our Privacy Statement. How to Control Cookies & Opt-Out You have a variety of tools to control and opt out of cookies and similar technologies. For example, you can use browser controls to block and delete cookies. You can also use controls made available by some third-party analytics service providers to opt out of data collection through web beacons and similar technologies. In some browsers you can set your cookie preferences for each site, which means you can disable cookies in general but allow them for websites that you trust. Please remember that many of our services may not function properly if you disable cookies for our websites or services.