Agent‐ALLY Assistant - RutgersGRID/VIDAHub GitHub Wiki

ALLY Assistant

Overview

ALLY (Accessibility Learning & Literacy Yielder) Assistant is an AI-powered tool within the VIDA (Virtual Instructional Design Assistant) ecosystem designed to help educators create accessible educational content. ALLY focuses specifically on ensuring educational materials meet accessibility standards, making learning content available to all students regardless of disabilities or learning differences.

Created by blackboard: Website

Image

Intro to Ally

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-UomH_7vME&t=17s

Purpose

The primary purpose of ALLY Assistant is to:

  • Help educators identify and fix accessibility issues in their educational content
  • Automate the generation of accessible alternatives for various content types
  • Educate faculty about accessibility best practices in an interactive way
  • Ensure compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA standards and legal requirements
  • Reduce the time and expertise needed to create accessible materials

Key Features

Alt Tag Generator

The Alt Tag Generator is ALLY's flagship feature, automatically creating high-quality alternative text descriptions for images:

  • Uses AI vision models to analyze image content
  • Generates contextually appropriate alt text based on educational purpose
  • Provides customization options for different educational contexts
  • Supports batch processing for multiple images
  • Offers editing capabilities to refine generated descriptions

Accessibility Checker

The Accessibility Checker analyzes educational content and provides:

  • Comprehensive accessibility audits of documents, presentations, and web content
  • Detailed reports highlighting accessibility issues
  • Prioritized recommendations for remediation
  • One-click fixes for common accessibility problems
  • Educational explanations of why each issue matters

Format Converter

Converts educational materials into accessible formats:

  • Transforms PDFs into accessible documents
  • Converts text-based content to audio versions
  • Creates properly structured HTML from various document types
  • Generates transcripts from video and audio content
  • Ensures mathematical and scientific content is accessible

Learning Path

ALLY includes an educational component that helps faculty learn about accessibility:

  • Interactive tutorials on creating accessible content
  • Just-in-time learning based on specific issues encountered
  • Contextual guidance integrated into the workflow
  • Progressive learning path from basic to advanced accessibility concepts
  • Certification options for accessibility skills

Technical Integration

ALLY Assistant integrates with the broader VIDA ecosystem through:

  • Shared authentication and user management
  • Common UI components and design language
  • Standardized API interfaces for cross-tool communication
  • Unified data storage and preferences
  • Consistent deployment and scaling infrastructure

ALLY is built using the VIDA development framework:

  • Streamlit frontend for rapid development and user interface
  • Hugging Face vision-language models for image analysis
  • AWS infrastructure for deployment and scaling
  • GitHub-based development workflow
  • Containerized architecture for reliable deployment

Canvas LMS Integration

ALLY Assistant integrates with Canvas Learning Management System through:

  • LTI 1.3 integration for seamless access within Canvas
  • Deep linking capability for embedding accessibility tools in course content
  • Ability to analyze and improve Canvas course materials directly
  • Grade passback for accessibility-related assignments (future feature)
  • Single sign-on for seamless user experience

Implementation Phases

Phase 1 (Current)

  • Alt Tag Generator - Core functionality
  • Basic accessibility checking for documents
  • Initial LMS integration

Phase 2 (Upcoming)

  • Enhanced Alt Tag Generator with contextual awareness
  • Comprehensive document accessibility checker
  • Format conversion tools
  • Expanded LMS integration

Phase 3 (Future)

  • Full course accessibility auditing
  • Automated remediation of complex accessibility issues
  • Advanced learning paths and certification
  • Integration with institutional reporting systems

User Roles and Permissions

ALLY Assistant supports different user roles:

  • Faculty/Instructors: Create and fix accessible content for their courses
  • Instructional Designers: Manage accessibility standards and templates
  • Accessibility Coordinators: Monitor institution-wide accessibility metrics
  • Administrators: Configure system settings and manage user access

Getting Started

To begin using ALLY Assistant:

  1. Access ALLY through the VIDA Dashboard or directly via [URL]
  2. Sign in with your institutional credentials
  3. Upload content or images for accessibility analysis
  4. Follow the recommendations to improve accessibility
  5. Save and export your accessible content

Best Practices

When working with ALLY Assistant:

  • Start accessibility remediation early in the content creation process
  • Review and customize AI-generated alternatives
  • Use the learning resources to improve your accessibility knowledge
  • Batch process similar content types for efficiency
  • Test with actual assistive technologies when possible

Support and Resources

ALLY Assistant is part of the VIDA Project - Virtual Instructional Design Assistant