Blackboard is fully committed to delivering product experiences that conform to the highest levels of global accessibility standards. We know that a mature digital accessibility program must establish a sustainable organizational culture around accessibility.
Blackboard’s Accessibility program is built on the following core beliefs, which provide guidance for achieving program goals and objectives:
As inclusive thinking spreads across the education landscape, we have a unique opportunity to positively impact the lives of people with disabilities. To do so we must deeply integrate accessibility into all aspects of our organizational culture.
Teachers and students’ fundamental goals remain the same, regardless of their physical or cognitive abilities. We must endeavour to fully understand the needs of people with disabilities. However, awareness is not enough. We must act.
The edu-tech industry’s accessibility focus is rapidly increasing due to the tremendous promise technology offers to people with disabilities. We must focus on providing tools and services that deliver on this promise and inspire people of all abilities to learn.
Learners enrolled in online, hybrid, and blended programs require more than technology-enabled courses – they anticipate and expect a holistic learning experience that is focused on their success. When programs present barriers to students who have visual, auditory, cognitive, and/or physical disabilities they can’t fully engage in their education. Blackboard helps institutions understand their accessibility challenges and plan for change. Our solution results in a comprehensive eLearning accessibility plan to provide a barrier-free experience.
Blackboard Ally is designed to help institutions gain greater insight into the accessibility of their digital course content; to provide guidance to teachers about how to improve the quality of their content for everyone; and to provide students of all abilities with immediate access to content in formats that may be more suited to their specific needs. Blackboard Ally will ultimately be available to any educational institution looking to better understand and improve the accessibility of their content, regardless of what Learning Management System they use.
Our products are designed and developed in accordance with the internationally recognized Web Content Accessibility (WCAG) Guidelines 2.0 Level AA as well as the Section 508 standards in the United States. A third party conducts regular audits of our software to ensure quality expectations are met and maintained.
Learn more about accessibility compliance information for the new learning experience.
Access VPAT and WCAG 2.0 conformance documentation as well as helpful details about using Learn with assistive technology.
Access VPAT and WCAG 2.0 conformance documentation as well as helpful details about using Collaborate with assistive technology.
Learn more about accessibility compliance information for the new learning experience.
Learn more about accessibility compliance for the Web Community Manager.
Learn more about accessibility compliance information for the Moodlerooms platform.
Provides practical advice on how to approach inclusive education and key things you need to consider when building a truly inclusive classroom.
Read this Ovum report to learn more about how Blackboard Ally, an LMS-agnostic tool, helps promote accessibility.
Hear from 20 educational leaders about how to use technology to improve education for all students, including those with differing abilities
Guest post by Bob Solis. Bob currently serves as a member of Blackboard’s Advisory Council. When a learning experience has been created without barriers, all students are able to more effectively focus on the main objective.
There are many accommodations we can design in our student’s learning experience that would help all students not only the 60% to 80% of students with an undisclosed disability.
Worldwide, one billion people experience some type of visual, hearing, or cognitive disability—roughly 15% of the world's population. Learn why accessibility is the educations moral and legal imperative.