Ally Alternative Documents Tool

Documents are one of the most challenging aspects of making a course fully accessible. Now the Ally tool generates alternative formats for documents in Canvas. When you add documents, Ally automatically generates alternative formats. This improves your course accessibility by allowing document content to be accessed in different ways.

Ally provides professors with an accessibility "gauge" to help you identify the documents that need the most accessibility work. The gauge is only visible to faculty and does not display to students. Learn more about Ally:

Cidi Labs is a design tool that is integrated into Canvas and can be found under the "rocket" in the upper right corner whenever you are in "edit" mode where content can be entered, such as a page, assignment, or announcement. This tool has multiple uses and benefits that include improving design, adding graphical elements, and using existing templates to rapidly generate materials. The  "Check Accessibility" portion of the design toolbox checks headings, links, and photos and displays a red eye icon if there are errors. Headings, photos, and links can all be reviewed and fixed without having to click on each item. When color tools are enabled, it will check color contrast for elements on the page. Learn more about Cidi Labs tools, including the accessibility tools:

ReadSpeaker reads pages in Canvas or on the Mt. SAC website for you! It will not (yet) read files and documents including within your Canvas course-- but keep an eye out for updates! The following documents and videos explain how to use ReadSpeaker.

Questions or comments about ReadSpeaker? Feel free to email FCLT () or contact the IT Help Desk at 909-274-4357 or ).

ConferZoom

California Community College professors (and employees) can request a free membership in the institutional Zoom account that is managed at the state level by the CCC Tech Connect team. This tool can be used for live conferencing and is available within and outside of Canvas. The institutional account allows for no time limits on 

Otter is an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that can be synced to ConferZoom to translate speech to text in real time (it does not sync with free Zoom accounts--the Otter and Zoom accounts must be institutional accounts). Professors hosting Zoom meetings can offer a live smart transcript as an accessibility option.  Otter has a one-time setup in Zoom and can be enabled or disabled in Zoom as desired.

If students require accommodations, a live captioner or interpreter can be added to the course with not conflict (students or faculty arrange with Mt. SAC ACCESS). Otter records both the audio and creates a transcript. For now, Otter's transcript appears in a separate tab on a web browser so it is best used on a computer.  Transcripts and/or audio can be shared with specific individuals or entire classes, or can be exported in multiple formats including an .srt caption file to apply to the video recording of the session.

Respondus: Test Conversion to Canvas Honorlock: Proctoring in Canvas 

Screencast-o-matic: Make, Edit, Caption, and Stream Videos in Canvas

Screencast-O-Matic Premier accounts are free for Mt. SAC Canvas professors. The Screencast-O-Matic recording tool is a downloadable program that you can use to record videos of your screen and anything you display on it (screencast), such as slides, documents, etc., or to record your webcam. It also has a mobile app that can be used to record videos. This program allows you to edit and add captions to videos. 

Once you have completed the creation and editing of your videos, you can upload them into the Screencast-O-Matic Cloud.  The online storage is integrated into Canvas, allowing you to see your library and add videos anywhere within Canvas. Videos do not have to be made in Screencast-O-Matic tools to be stored to the Screencast-O-Matic Cloud and can also be shared outside of Canvas as a link or an embedded video. This tool is available to all employees (staff, managers, and faculty) but is not Mt. SAC accounts are not available to students. Within Canvas, Screencast-O-Matic can be accessed by enabling in course navigation (Settings > Navigation tab) or accessed under the blue "V" in the Rich Content Editor. 

Want to learn more about Screencast-O-Matic? See our workshop offerings in POD or visit:

3C Media is an educational media repository and distribution source for video content, streaming services, and event coverage. Think YouTube for the CCC system.  3C Media stores large media files securely. It also allows you to upload a caption file and you can request free captions that are funded through the Distance Education Captioning & Transcription Grant. 

3C Media is integrated into Canvas, allowing you to easily stream videos into your courses without taking up lots of space. Enable it in your Course Menu (Settings > Navigation). You can also add videos to PlayPosit from 3C Media. 

3C Media is free but you need to sign up for an account. Use your Mt. SAC email, making sure that it matches the way your email appears in Canvas. To set up your account: you can set up your account by registering at  3C Media Solutions.

PlayPosit allows you to add videos so you can track the usage by students. You can add annotations or make videos interactive with discussion questions, reflection points, or quiz questions that sync to Canvas Gradebook. 

Where is it? Access PlayPosit in the Rich Content Editor or in Assignment (in Details page, under Submission type, choose "External Tool" and find "PlayPosit"-it integrates to Gradebook).

PlayPosit was adopted by CCC TechConnect and they manage the license and offer assistance on this tool.

Upload videos from YouTube, Vimeo, or 3C Media to PlayPosit

Learn how to make a "bulb" lesson with quizzing, annotation, or reflection questions

Get Analytics on how your students are using the videos in your course(s)