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Blackboard Ally: Getting started with alternative content formats

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Printable version: Download the Printable version of Getting Started with alternative accessible formats guide.

The University of Reading is committed to providing you with the best and most inclusive digital learning experience possible. As part of this, we want Blackboard and its content to be flexible and accessible to all.

Blackboard’s in-built Ally tool makes content in your Courses and Organisations as accessible as possible and offers you a range of alternative content formats to download and engage with your content in a way that best suits your needs and preferences. Your lecturer might post up their PowerPoint lecture slides but you might prefer to use them in an audio format, for example, so you can listen to them on your commute.

The short video guides below details the alternative content formats available to you.

See how student Phoebe uses Blackboard’s alternative content formats to help her complete her assignment.

How you can use Blackboard Ally’s alternative content formats to help you.

Watch these short videos to find out how student Phoebe uses each of Blackboard’s alternative content formats to help her with her work.

How to access and download content in an alternative format

1. Find a file

Log into your Course and find the file you want.

2. Open the content format options

Click on the Alternative Formats icon to open the alternative formats window.

Black and white blackboard ally icon displayed next to items where an alternative format is available

3. Choose your preferred format

Choose the format, or formats, that best suit your needs or preferences and click ‘Download’.

Screen Shot of Alternative Format choices.
 

Which format should I use? You might not see every alternative format in your list of choices to download. The formats generated depend on the original file uploaded by your lecturer or course convener. For more information on formats available, as well as what each format offers, please visit this page on the Blackboard help site: More on alternative formats (opens in a new window).

Ally File Transformer: Blackboard has made its “Ally File Transformer” tool available for free. You can use this tool to convert any files to an accessible format.

Need help? Should you have any questions or experience any issues, please log a ticket using the DTS Self Service Portal.

Guide last updated on January 22, 2026

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