UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Among Penn State’s digital accessibility tools is Anthology Ally, a Canvas LTI plugin that helps create a more inclusive campus environment. The tool provides students with alternative content formats while offering instructors feedback to improve the accessibility of their course materials.
For students, Anthology Ally automatically generates alternative formats such as MP3 audio, Immersive Reader, BeeLine and Braille. Additional formats and more information are available on the Penn State Accessibility website.
For Instructors, Anthology Ally provides accessibility reports for individual Canvas items and uploaded files, as well as a composite score for the entire course. An Instructor Quickstart guide is available on the Anthology Ally service page.
Overall, Anthology Ally scores across the University improved over the past year. However, the Penn State Accessibility Team has not mandated a minimum "passing" score because the reporting tools are only intended for auditing.
It is important to note that Anthology Ally may occasionally report false positives and false negatives. Increasing familiarity with different file types through accessibility training can help instructors interpret reports more effectively and use the tool more efficiently.
The Penn State Accessibility Team also suggests the following quick tips to help instructors improve their course accessibility scores:
- Remove old files and pages. Anthology Ally scans all course content, even files hidden from students. Commonwealth Campus Teaching Support provides a helpful method to spot and remove outdated Canvas content.
- Use built-in accessibility checkers before uploading files. In Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, select the “Review” tab, then run the Accessibility Checker before uploading files or saving them as a PDF. This will help ensure files are more accessible from the start.
- Use the Canvas Accessibility Checker. Review individual Canvas pages, quizzes and announcements directly within Canvas to identify and fix issues.
If you have any questions about Anthology Ally or other accessibility resources, contact the Penn State Accessibility team at accessibility@psu.edu.