In FIU’s continued commitment to providing students an inclusive learning environment, FIU Online is pleased to announce “Accessibility and Support” webinars that will provide faculty teaching in FIU Online supported courses training, guidance, and resources on how to create accessible course content and leverage technology to ensure accessibility.
Course Content Accessibility: Ally Tool
As outlined in the “Course Content Accessibility: Ally Tool” email sent to faculty on February 25th, FIU introduced a new technology tool called Ally. Ally is an accessibility tool that is integrated into Canvas courses and automatically alerts faculty to issues of accessibility and provides detailed guidance to instructors on how to improve student accessibility in course design, available content, and course materials. FIU has already enabled some of the Ally functionalities, including the availability of alternative formats that not only help ensure students with disabilities can access their materials, but also improve the learning experience for all students.
On Monday, April 12th, we will be turning on the Ally faculty-specific features in FIU Online supported courses (Mode I and Mode H) within Canvas, as the next step in our ongoing efforts to improve accessibility. Starting on Monday, FIU Online courses will have Ally “gauge” icons displayed next to some of your content. Ally will score the accessibility of your course’s content, and provide guidance and tips to instructors and FIU Online instructional designers in making lasting accessibility improvements to your academic content. Learn more about Ally at FIU.
Accessibility & Support Webinars
In supporting faculty to have their course content accessible and understanding how the Ally technology functions, we are offering the following four training webinars. These webinars will cover accessibility considerations and best practices, and how our FIU Online instructional design professionals will support you along this journey. You may use the links below to register for one of these upcoming webinars.
- April 19, 2021 from 2pm to 4pm EST
- April 22, 2021 from 10am to 12pm EST
- April 27, 2021 from 2pm to 4pm EST
- April 30, 2021 from 10am to 12pm EST
We thank you for your ongoing efforts in providing students a more inclusive and accessible learning environment. If you have questions regarding these workshops, please email online@fiu.edu.