Students in Sarah Bass’s chemistry courses who use the course-grounded AI assistant say it feels like talking to their professor. Many of their classmates, though, don’t know the assistant exists or aren’t sure what it’s for.

That gap between a well-designed support and the student who actually uses it was the focus of “When Good Design Is Invisible: Helping Students Recognize UDL,” a National Distance Learning Week panel on November 2. Four UMBC faculty from social work, chemistry, modern languages, and dance shared how Universal Design for Learning (UDL) shapes their courses, and how they help students see and use the choices built into them.

Panelists: Sarah Bass, Jill Vasbinder Morrison, Milvia Hernández, and Tiffany Banks

1. Building a Structure Students Can Predict

With more than 300 students in each chemistry lecture section, Bass relies on consistency. Deadlines follow a predictable pattern and appear everywhere students look: Blackboard, their calendars, and the slides posted after class. After a deadline passes, the material reopens so students can keep practicing. Bass tells students why the course runs this way. 

Predictable organization means less energy spent figuring out what to do and more spent on chemistry. She also explains the purpose of each kind of practice, from reviewing foundational concepts to taking practice exams. The goal isn't simply to help students navigate chemistry, but to help them recognize what they need and develop strategies for managing their own learning.

2. Counting More Than One Kind of Participation

In dance courses, participation is essential, and Jill Vasbinder Morrison grades it. She doesn’t define it as raising a hand. Students can talk in pairs, add to shared slides and spreadsheets, serve as class scribe, or join an optional discussion board after a missed class. When she explains this on the first day, she can see the relief. She repeats it in the Start Here folder, the syllabus, every slide deck, and VoiceThread. 

A syllabus quiz with multiple attempts reinforces these expectations and helps students locate important course information. When a student still isn’t using any of the options, she reaches out one-on-one to remind them that the choices are real and that they count. By making participation options explicit and reinforcing them throughout the semester, Morrison helps students recognize that contributing to learning doesn't have to look the same for everyone.

3. Explaining the Small Routines

Some of the most effective supports in Milvia Hernández’s asynchronous Spanish courses look almost too simple. Students copy each chapter’s vocabulary by hand, even though it’s in the ebook, and a short video explains why handwriting helps language learning. For a student who can’t handwrite, recording the words aloud serves the same purpose. 

Projects unfold in connected stages with feedback along the way, so the final product gathers work students have already done. Students rarely see the point at first, but by the end they say it’s what helped most. In the first week, instead of handing out study tips, Hernández has students find strategies for learning a language online, share them in a forum, and pick one or two to try. Whether students are practicing vocabulary, building a project, or choosing study strategies, Hernández helps them understand why they're doing the work and how those routines support their learning.

4. Making It Safe to Ask

Tiffany Banks opens each semester in her social work courses by telling students what it means to her to be a neuroaffirming educator. Students can ask her for flexibility, such as an extension, even without a diagnosis or formal accommodation. When she can’t say yes, usually because grades are due, she tells them why. In class, she makes it clear that not every activity is graded. A quick thumbs up, sideways, or down tells her whether to slow down or try another approach. 

Some of those new approaches last: a visual that one cohort created to understand a difficult concept now appears in her slides for the next class. As Banks emphasized, there's never a perfect solution. UDL is an ongoing process of listening, adjusting, and recognizing that students may need different kinds of support at different times.

Across four very different disciplines, the panelists demonstrated that UDL doesn't require redesigning an entire course. It starts with noticing where students encounter barriers, making one purposeful change, and helping students understand how that change supports their learning. Sometimes the most meaningful improvement isn't adding another activity or resource. It's helping students recognize and use the thoughtful design already built into their learning experience.

Explore UDL in Your Teaching

Interested in applying Universal Design for Learning to your courses? UMBC's Instructional Technology team can help you identify barriers, explore practical strategies, and make purposeful changes that support student learning.

The University System of Maryland (USM) has launched its Digital Accessibility Communities of Practice in STEM and Music & Arts, bringing faculty together to identify challenges, share innovative practices, and develop practical solutions that make teaching and learning more accessible. They're looking for feedback from STEM and Music & Arts faculty.

• STEM Faculty Digital Accessibility Survey
• Music & Arts Faculty Digital Accessibility Survey

Your feedback will directly inform the resources, tools, strategies, and guidance developed by these Communities of Practice throughout the 2026–2027 academic year.

Note: These surveys are IRB-approved through the University of Maryland, College Park.

Accessibility is a shared responsibility, and meaningful progress begins by listening to faculty. Please take a few minutes to participate, and help us spread the word by sharing this opportunity with your colleagues!

Beginning this month, UMBC will introduce Mathpix Snip as a new resource to support the creation of accessible STEM course materials. With 300 licenses available through Instructional Technology, this new tool represents a major step forward in making handwritten mathematical, scientific, and technical content more usable for every learner -- particularly those who rely on screen readers, text-to-speech tools, or alternative formats.

Why Mathpix?

Mathpix is a tool for extracting text, and particularly math, from images and documents. This text/LaTeX can then be pasted into a document editing tool such as a LaTeX or Markdown editor. Powered by advanced OCR and AI-driven parsing, Mathpix can:

• Convert handwritten equations, diagrams, and formulas into accessible MathML, LaTeX, HTML, and Mathpix Markdown.
• Transform images, screenshots, and PDFs into structured text that supports screen readers.
• Recognize tables, code, and complex expressions often found in STEM disciplines.
• Streamline remediation of legacy course materials, including scanned notes, worksheets, problem sets, proofs, and solution keys.

These features allow instructors to move from static, image-based materials to content that is both editable and accessible, reducing the time and technical expertise required to meet federal accessibility standards. While Mathpix is a powerful engine for character recognition, it is a tool for extraction, not for authoring or delivery, and it cannot describe images for accessibility.

For those who want to explore the capabilities further, Mathpix offers a snipping tool, browser extension, handwriting recognition engine, PDF and image conversion tools, markdown workflows, and accessibility-focused use cases. Mathpix is available as a desktop application for Mac, Windows and Linux; on mobile (iOS and Android); and as a web browser (Chrome extension).

Who Is Eligible?

Licenses are reserved for instructors who teach in disciplines where handwritten or non-digital content remains common, including:

• Mathematics and Statistics
• Chemistry
• Physics
• Computer Science
• Engineering

Faculty who regularly create handwritten materials or who need to convert existing handwritten materials for accessibility compliance will receive priority access to Mathpix. 

How to Request Access

To request one of UMBC's 300 Mathpix licenses, instructors should submit an RT ticket to Instructional Technology with the following information:

• Name and email
• Course ID and course name
• Anticipated number of students
• How many new handwritten files you typically create each semester
• How many existing handwritten files you need to remediate for accessibility

This information helps the Instructional Technology team allocate licenses equitably and determine where additional support should be directed.

Training and Support

Access begins in January, accompanied by future training opportunities hosted by Instructional Technology and a group of faculty Mathpix ambassadors. These sessions will provide demonstrations, best practices for creating accessible STEM materials, and hands-on time with Mathpix workflows, ranging from quick equation conversions to full-document remediation.

If you'd like help determining whether Mathpix is a good fit for your course materials, Instructional Technology is happy to consult. This initiative supports UMBC's broader commitment to digital accessibility and ensures that all students, especially those in STEM pathways, have equitable access to the content they need to succeed.

For more information about digital accessibility, please visit UMBC's Digital Accessibility site or run an Ally course report today. Support is also available from Student Disability Services and Instructional Technology.