01 · Operator
Who operates Blackboard Ally
- Company
- Anthology Inc.
- Type
- Other bot
- Official docs
- help.anthology.com
02 · Behavior
What Blackboard Ally does
Ally for Websites checks website content for accessibility issues. It also offers visitors alternative formats of documents. Institutions that license Ally let the crawler scan their own sites. The crawler identifies itself with the token blackboardally.
03 · Impact
Why Blackboard Ally matters for your site
If you allow it
- Needed if your institution uses Ally for Websites
- Helps find accessibility problems
If you block it
- No benefit if your organization does not use Ally
- Crawler details are not publicly documented
04 · Allow
How to allow Blackboard Ally
robots.txt
User-agent: blackboardally
Allow: /Cloudflare
# Security › WAF › Custom rules › Create rule
Expression: (http.user_agent contains "blackboardally")
Action: Skip › All Super Bot Fight Mode rules
# Also check Security › Bots: "Block AI bots" can block it regardless of robots.txt.WordPress
# WordPress serves a virtual robots.txt. Edit it with your SEO plugin:
# Yoast: SEO › Tools › File editor · Rank Math: General Settings › Edit robots.txt
User-agent: blackboardally
Allow: /nginx
# nginx serves every user agent by default.
# Make sure no rule like this blocks it:
# if ($http_user_agent ~* "blackboardally") { return 403; }Apache
# Apache serves every user agent by default.
# Make sure .htaccess has no rule like this:
# RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} blackboardally [NC]
# RewriteRule .* - [F,L]05 · Block
How to block Blackboard Ally
Start with robots.txt. If Blackboard Ally keeps showing up in your logs, block it at your CDN or web server.
robots.txt
User-agent: blackboardally
Disallow: /Cloudflare
# Security › WAF › Custom rules › Create rule
Expression: (http.user_agent contains "blackboardally")
Action: BlockWordPress
# WordPress serves a virtual robots.txt. Edit it with your SEO plugin:
# Yoast: SEO › Tools › File editor · Rank Math: General Settings › Edit robots.txt
User-agent: blackboardally
Disallow: /nginx
# In your server { } block:
if ($http_user_agent ~* "blackboardally") {
return 403;
}Apache
# .htaccess
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} blackboardally [NC]
RewriteRule .* - [F,L]
</IfModule>06 · User agents
User agents we see for Blackboard Ally
The user agent published by the operator:
blackboardally07 · Verification
Is it really Blackboard Ally?
Blackboard Ally’s operator publishes no IP ranges or hostnames, so requests cannot be verified. Treat the user agent as a claim, and watch your logs for unusual request rates.
FAQ
Questions about Blackboard Ally
What is the blackboardally user agent?
It is the crawler of Blackboard Ally, an accessibility tool by Anthology. It scans sites for Ally for Websites customers.
Why is Blackboard Ally crawling my site?
Usually because your organization, often a university, uses Ally for Websites. Check with your web or accessibility team before blocking it.
How do I block Blackboard Ally?
Add 'User-agent: blackboardally' and 'Disallow: /' to robots.txt, or block the user agent in your server configuration.
Last reviewed Oct 7, 2026