Blackboard Ally Launch

We are excited to announce the addition of a new tool to promote accessibility and inclusion at the University of South Dakota! Blackboard Ally, a dedicated accessibility tool that provides a dashboard that will help instructors engage in universal design for their course documents, is live and ready to support your teaching this term.

Teaching at USD this term and want more support on improving the accessibility of your course? Access our Blackboard Ally training in our Digital Accessibility Training (D2L Course)!

Blackboard Ally Resources

• Introducing Ally for Brightspace
• Ally D2L Brightspace Explainer
• ​​​​​​​Blackboard Ally - Impact on Students

Disability Studies Resources

Learn more about accessibility and disability studies:

• Universal Design for Learning Guidelines: This tool offers suggestions for facilitating flexible learning environments.
• Learning Something New - Rosemarie Garland-Thomson's Convocation Address: A leading disability justice theorist discusses the impact policies have had on our accessible construction of the world.
• Can You Read My Lips?: Rachel Kolb, an up-and-coming disability studies scholar, co-wrote this short film reflection based on the essay "Seeing at the Speed of Sound."
• Creating a More Inclusive Environment for Students with Disabilities: This recent article from Disability Studies Quarterly highlights twelve themes about student campus-life experiences.