April 2026 Issue

Repost from  the USM Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation and the USM Digital Accessibility Work Group

Sprinting to the Finish: Part 2 of 2

As the April Title II compliance deadline approaches, you've assessed your materials, prioritized strategically, and built quality checkpoints into your workflow. Now it's time to look beyond the finish line. This month, we're focusing on what happens after April: establishing sustainable accessibility practices, planning for continuous improvement, and transforming the momentum of this endeavor into lasting institutional change. The skills you've developed and the systems you've put in place over the past eight months aren't just for meeting a deadline—they're the foundation for creating accessible content as your default practice. Whether you're putting final touches on remediated materials or already thinking about next semester, this newsletter will help you transition from sprint mode to sustainable accessibility practices that serve your students and colleagues for years to come.

Beyond the Deadline: At-a-Glance

• Where We Are: April deadline within reach; remediation work in final stages
• This Month's Focus: Sustainability over perfection (build habits, document processes, and plan for accessible-first content creation)
• Quick Win: Create a "lessons learned" document capturing what worked, what didn't, and what you'll do differently next time
• Key Principle: The April 2026 deadline isn’t a finish line; it's actually a starting line. Accessibility is an ongoing practice, not a one-time project
  
  

What’s Inside

• Why Planning Beyond the Deadline Matters

• Quick Fix Guide: Your Complete Accessibility Reference Library

• Tools & Tactics: Accessibility Automation and Efficiency

• Campuses in Focus: Accessibility Champions in Action

• Looking Ahead: Your Accessibility Roadmap for Next Semester and Beyond

• Learn More

Why Planning Beyond the Deadline Matters

The difference between a short-term compliance effort and a transformational accessibility practice lies in what happens after the deadline passes. Without intentional planning, it's easy to slip back into old habits like creating inaccessible PDFs, forgetting alt text, or skipping heading structures when you're in a rush. The workflows you've established during this year are valuable precisely because they can prevent that backslide.

• Documenting your processes ensures that the knowledge you've gained doesn't live only in your head. When you create templates, checklists, and standard operating procedures, you make it easier for yourself (and your colleagues) to maintain accessibility standards post-April.

• Building accessibility into content creation from the start is exponentially more efficient than retrofitting materials later. The time you invest now in setting up accessible templates, establishing review processes, and creating reusable accessible components will save countless hours in future semesters.

• Cultivating an accessibility mindset transforms how you approach all digital content. Instead of viewing accessibility as an extra step or compliance burden, it becomes an integrated part of high-quality content creation, just like checking for typos or ensuring accurate citations.

Most importantly, sustainable accessibility practices ensure that the students, faculty, and staff who benefit from accessible materials continue to have equitable access long after April. The deadline may be finite, but your commitment to inclusion won’t be.

Quick Fix Guide: Your Complete Accessibility Reference Library

Over the past eight months, each newsletter has included a Quick Fix Guide focused on one of theSix Essential Stepsor a critical accessibility strategy. Now we're bringing them all together in one place. This complete collection serves as your go-to reference library for accessibility practices; bookmark this section or save these guides where you can easily access them when you need a quick refresher.

The Complete Quick Fix Guide Collection

• • August 2025 USM Digital Accessibility Checklist: Your foundational overview of digital accessibility requirements and the Six Essential Steps that form the basis of accessible content creation. Download the USM Digital Accessibility Checklist.

  • September 2025 Headings Hierarchy 101 Quick Fix Guide: Master the use of heading styles to create logical document structure that helps all users navigate your content, especially those using screen readers. Download the Headings Hierarchy 101 Quick Fix Guide.

  • October 2025 Accessible Links in 5 Minutes Quick Fix Guide: Transform generic "click here" links into meaningful, context-rich hyperlinks that make sense when read out of context by screen readers. Download the Accessible Links in 5 Minutes Quick Fix Guide.

  • November 2025 Color & Contrast Quick Fix Guide: Learn to test and apply color combinations that meet WCAG standards, ensuring your content is readable for users with low vision or color blindness. Download the Color & Contrast Quick Fix Guide.

  • December 2025 Quick Fix Guide Creating Alt Text for Images: Learn how to write effective alt text that conveys meaning without being overly verbose, when to mark images as decorative, and how to handle complex images like charts and diagrams. Download the Creating Alt Text for Images Quick Fix Guide.

  • January 2026 Quick Fix Guide for Tables & Data: Discover how to build tables that screen readers can interpret correctly, including proper header designation and keeping table structures simple. Download the Quick Fix Guide for Tables & Data.

  • February 2026 Multimedia Remediation Quick Fix Guide: Get practical strategies for captioning videos and providing transcripts for audio content, including how to edit auto-generated captions efficiently. Download the Multimedia Remediation Quick Fix Guide.

  • March 2026 Sprint to the Finish Checklist: Use the assessment, prioritization, and verification strategies to manage your final weeks before the deadline strategically. Download the Sprint to the Finish Checklist.

How to Use This Library

• • As a Learning Resource: If you're new to accessibility or missed earlier newsletters, work through the guides in order from August through January to build your foundational skills in theSix Essential Steps.

  • As a Reference Tool: Bookmark this page or save these guides in a folder you can access quickly when you encounter a specific accessibility challenge.

  • As a Training Resource: Share relevant guides with teaching assistants, new colleagues, or anyone who creates digital content for your courses or department.

  • As a Quality Check: Before publishing any material, run through the relevant Quick Fix Guides to verify you've addressed all accessibility considerations.

What’s Next

While this collection covers the essential accessibility practices you need for most academic content, accessibility is an evolving field. We'll continue to share updates, advanced techniques, and discipline-specific guidance in future newsletters. If there's an accessibility topic you'd like to see covered, let us know atcai@usmd.edu.

Tools & Tactics: Your Accessibility Workflow Toolkit

During the past eight months, you've become familiar with accessibility checking and remediation tools. Now let's explore tools and strategies that help you maintain accessibility with less ongoing effort.

Automate What You Can

• • Accessible Templates: Create and save document templates in Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, and your LMS that include proper heading structures, color schemes with sufficient contrast, and placeholder alt text reminders. Starting with an accessible template eliminates many common errors before they happen.

  • Style Libraries: Build custom style sets inWord and PowerPointthat include only accessible color combinations and properly structured heading styles. This prevents accidental accessibility violations when you're working quickly.

  • LMS Course Templates: Work with an instructional design colleague to create accessible course shells that include properly structured modules, accessible announcement templates, and assignment submission guidelines that request accessible formats.

Build Accessibility Into Your Workflow

• • Pre-Publication Checklist: Create a simple checklist that lives where you work (pinned document, browser bookmark, sticky note on your monitor) reminding you to verify the Six Essential Steps before publishing any content.

  • Peer Review Partnerships: Establish reciprocal arrangements with colleagues to review each other's materials for accessibility before they go live. A fresh perspective catches issues you might miss in your own work.

  • Scheduled Accessibility Audits: Set quarterly calendar reminders to spot-check a sample of your materials, ensuring accessibility standards haven't slipped during busy periods.

Leverage AI and Emerging Tools

• • AI-Powered Alt Text (with Human Review): Tools like Microsoft's AI-generated alt text can provide starting points for image descriptions but always review and refine them for accuracy and context. AI can speed up the process but shouldn't replace human judgment.

  • Automated Accessibility Scanning: Set up regular automated scans of your web content using tools like Siteimprove or similar platforms if your institution provides them. Automated monitoring catches new issues as they're introduced.

  • Caption Editing Efficiency: Use auto-generated captions as a first draft, then develop an efficient editing workflow. Many instructors find it faster to watch videos at 1.5x speed while editing captions rather than transcribing from scratch.

Pro Tip: The 20/80 Rule for Sustainable Accessibility

Focus your ongoing effort on the key 20% of practices that prevent 80% of accessibility issues: using heading styles instead of manual formatting, adding alt text as you insert images (not later), and starting with accessible templates. These habits, once established, maintain accessibility with minimal additional time investment.

Campuses in Focus: Accessibility Champions in Action

As we approach the April deadline, it's worth pausing to recognize the countless individuals across the University System of Maryland who have transformed accessibility from an abstract requirement into tangible improvements for their students and colleagues. This month, we're spotlighting two accessibility champions whose journeys demonstrate that meaningful progress is possible, regardless of where you start or what resources you have available.

These stories showcase different paths to accessibility success: one person who tackled a massive remediation project, and another who built sustainable systems for their department. While their approaches differ, they share common threads: persistence, strategic thinking, and a commitment to inclusive education that extends beyond compliance.

Louise Anderson, Co-Chair Music, Theatre and Dance, Salisbury University

• The Challenge: After achieving 100% accessibility on one Canvas course, Louise recognized that many faculty colleagues were struggling with the same technical issues she had worked through—particularly around PDFs and Word documents.

• The Approach: Rather than keeping her hard-won knowledge to herself, Louise documented her process while working through her next course. She created short, focused "nuts and bolts" video tutorials targeting specific accessibility fixes: one on PDF title elements and tags, and another on Word title elements and headings. She utilized campus support documentation from SU while also conducting her own research to find solutions to Canvas accessibility issues.

What is Digital Accessibility?

Digital accessibility ensures that everyone, including people with disabilities, can access and use digital content and tools. Building accessibility into websites, documents, and course materials from the start helps everyone. It reduces the need for last-minute fixes, improves usability across the board, and supports a wide range of users — including those with temporary or situational challenges. Accessible design is smart design.

Four Quick Tips

Are you looking for easy ways to improve your digital content today? Here are four quick tips that will help you improve your content's accessibility: 

1. Include Alternative Text (Alt Text) to describe images for screen reader users. Find additional resources for Accessible Images here. 
2. Use Headings (Heading 1, Heading 2) to create a clear structure rather than just bolding text in documents, presentations, myUMBC posts, and websites. Find additional resources for Accessible Documents and Presentations here.
3. Provide descriptive link text (e.g., "Register for the Workshop") instead of vague phrases like "Click Here." Learn more about Website Accessibility here. 
4. Ensure all videos have accurate captions. Utilize Video Resources and Audio Accessibility Resources. 

UMBC's Commitment to Digital Accessibility

Your Work Matters. Whether you are sending a newsletter, updating a website, or sharing a video, you are helping build a more inclusive UMBC. Accessibility is not just a technical checklist; it is a shared commitment to ensuring that every Retriever and guest can participate fully.

Together, we can build a more inclusive digital experience for everyone at UMBC. 

Cleaning up Your Email

Remove/Relocate Unnecessary Files 

Empty your Trash Bin

Within the past two years, multiple professional groups on UMBC's campus have come together to implement an application process for our very own Diagnostic Medical Sonography Program. Thanks to these efforts, prospective students can seamlessly apply to the program as they take a crucial step towards their future careers.

UMBC's Diagnostic Medical Sonography Program (DMSP) is a 13.5-month, full-time professional certificate program offering three tracks to prepare for an entry-level sonography role. The DMSP has a history that spans decades, including a lengthy headquartering at UMBC's Training Centers in Columbia, Maryland, until just a few short years ago. During this recent timeframe, the program needed to relocate to maintain its operations and moved to UMBC's campus as an official program within the Division of Professional Studies. 

While this is an exciting development, the program's move home to UMBC brought its own share of challenges, both technical and logistical. The Office of Academic Services was tasked with integrating UMBC's systems to function with the existing infrastructure of the DMSP, which included ensuring that 2024's cohort had access to classes and resources when they arrived. During this phase, and throughout the logistical side of implementation, Diana Spake from Student Business Services, Nate Czarnota from the Registrar's Office, and Andrea Cipolla from Financial Aid, along with their entire teams, were crucial in their support. 

Once the 2024 cohort had been onboarded and records were efficiently organized, building a new Continuing Education (CNED) application for 2025's cohort and beyond became the main focus of the initiative. With work beginning in the spring of 2024, extensive technical work was done within PeopleSoft and Perceptive Content to ensure that the data of every applicant could be accessed and evaluated by the DMSP director. This effort saw collaboration between numerous teams and spanned multiple divisions across campus, primarily the Division of Professional Studies and the Division of Information Technology. Frequent communication and partnership with the company CollegeNet also occurred throughout the process.

CollegeNet is where the applicant's data was submitted and delivered from. All of this data, which included transcripts and other sensitive material, needed to be sent to and stored by UMBC, which in turn required logistical communication with CollegeNet. After being received, the data needed to be transported into PeopleSoft, which functions as UMBC's data warehouse and system of record. Due to the way these different files and systems operate, getting everything into PeopleSoft would not be seamless. This is where Dondre Hatef's work came in, successfully bridging the gap. 

ImageNow, also known as Perceptive Content, is the other software involved in this process. While PeopleSoft serves as a comprehensive repository of applicant data, ImageNow is a document imaging system for PDFs and other unstructured types of documents. To handle these documents, the team created new technical workflows to capture files and link them to relevant data from PeopleSoft. DoIT managed the technical development, while DPS and CollegeNet worked together to ensure each PDF was correctly formatted. Kashka Donaldson played a pivotal role on this side, onboarding the DPS team into this new system. Meanwhile, Steve Ostrove tackled the challenge of digital storage, ensuring that vital PDF documents arriving from CollegeNet were stored securely and were easily accessible. Ultimately, all necessary technical work was completed, and documents were made searchable by specific criteria, such as name. 

The application successfully went live in December 2024, with all technical work complete aside from annual maintenance. For many of the teams involved, this was a routine project, while for others, such as the Sonography team, it was crucial to the program's functioning. All of the services relied on by the campus community do not run on their own, and initiatives of this nature happen more often than many think, often going unthanked and under-appreciated. This is work that touches everyone, and the Sonography applicants are just one group that relies on professional efforts like the one just described every year. 

Many thanks to the following team members: 

•   Lindsey Sarangoulis and Jeremy Matthews for the project requirements and details.

•   Dondre Hatef for the PeopleSoft implementation part of the project.

•   Steve Ostrove for helping with the storage of the PDF files arriving from CollegeNet. 

•   Kashka Donaldson for coordinating and onboarding DPS into Perceptive Content.

•   Diana Spake, Nate Czarnota, Andrea Cipolla, and their teams. 

As we approach our late-April accessibility compliance deadline, we want to share a clear roadmap of the changes coming to myUMBC and what they mean for you.

Phase 1: Content Checks & Preview

Coming later during the week of March 23rd.

Content Checks

When editing a Post or Event, you'll see a new Content Checks section that flags accessibility issues before publishing, such as missing alt text on images or broken links.

Previously, you could publish posts and events without addressing accessibility issues. That is no longer the case, flagged issues must be resolved before content can go live.

Preview & Publish

The publish button has been replaced with a Preview & Publish button. Clicking it takes you to a preview of your content where you can:

• Review how it will appear to readers
• Return to edit if needed
• Send a preview of the notification email to yourself
• Share the preview link with teammates for review
• Publish to make it live

Phase 2: Content Archiving

In late-April, any content with unresolved accessibility issues published before January 1, 2023 will be marked as archived. The most common issue is images missing alt text.

Admins will have access to a report showing all of their group's flagged content. If you resolve issues before mid-April, that content will not be archived.

Here's what to expect for content that is archived:

• It will appear under a new Archived filter in your group
• URLs will not change, so existing links won't break
• Archived content is read-only, but you can edit and republish it at any time
• It will display a prominent banner indicating the content is archived and may not be current

For departmental websites: If your site pulls in myUMBC group content, no changes are needed on your end. Archiving will be reflected automatically on your site.

Why This Matters

These changes reflect UMBC's institutional commitment to making myUMBC accessible to everyone. The goal is to make compliance as manageable as possible — catching issues early, giving you visibility into your content, and providing time to act before archiving occurs.

Questions? Reach out to collier@umbc.edu.

Dear UMBC Community,

Imagine a stranger secretly using your home internet or your laptop to hide their tracks. Recently, security experts have found that certain apps are doing exactly that! They are secretly turning personal devices into "digital masks" for cybercriminals. 

When you download a seemingly harmless app, it may contain hidden code that shares your internet connection with a global network of hackers. This makes their activity look like it is coming from your device and our campus.

How to spot strange activity on your device:

Your device might be working for someone else if you notice: 

• Performance Issues: Your phone or laptop suddenly runs slowly, gets hot for no reason, or has a battery that dies much faster than usual.
• High Data Usage: You see a massive spike in your internet data usage that you can't explain. 

Tips to keep your tech private: 

• Look Before You Click: Even in official app stores, check the reviews. If a simple app (like a flashlight or a calculator) asks for permission to access your files, contacts, or location, it's a red flag. 
• Beware of the "Too Good to Be True": Be skeptical of "cracked" software or free versions of paid apps. They often come with a hidden "tax" on your security. 
• Cheap Smart Tech: Very inexpensive "Smart Home" or Internet of Things (IoT) devices often have weak security, making them easy targets for hackers. 

What to do if you suspect trouble: 

If your device is acting strangely or you receive a suspicious email, do not click any links. Please forward any suspicious emails to the security team at security@umbc.edu.  

If you suspect a phishing or cybersecurity attempt, do not reply, click any links, or open any attachments. Instead, forward the email immediately to the security team at security@umbc.edu. Your report helps protect everyone!

Thank you all for your continued awareness and assistance in keeping our community secure.

Cybersecurity Assurance and Digital Trust
UMBC Division of Information Technology (DoIT)

We are writing to address a recent issue regarding an email that some of you may have incorrectly received, which welcomed you to UMBC as a new employee or new student worker and provided instructions on setting up your UMBC account. These emails were sent within the last week with the subject line of 'Your MyUMBC Account.' This email was sent in error to an unintended recipient group due to an internal mailing list issue.

Please note the following:

• No Action is Needed: If you are already a current student or employee, or if you received this email in error, please disregard the message. You do not need to take any action regarding the account setup instructions within that email.
• Account Safety: We want to reassure you that your existing UMBC accounts and personal information are safe and secure. This incident was purely a mailing error and was not the result of a security breach.

We want to thank those watchful individuals who reported these emails as potential phishing attempts. An unexpected email is a possible indicator of phishing, and we appreciate everyone who took the time to report it.

We apologize for any confusion or inconvenience this may have caused. If you have any questions regarding this notification, please feel free to reach out to our support team at UMBC's Help Service or 410-455-3838.

Thank you for your understanding. 

Sincerely,

Division of Information Technology

University of Maryland, Baltimore County

The UMBC Albin O. Kuhn Library recently partnered with the Division of Information Technology (DoIT) to solve the challenge of accessing information for all. There is a need for rapid and high-quality transcriptions. An automatic transcription is an AI-powered process that converts audio or video recordings into text in minutes. The library wanted to find a way to automate the transcription of recorded meetings, lectures, and other forms of audio media that are not already transcribed. An automated service would be beneficial for providing immediate transcripts, eliminating the need to wait for someone to manually transcribe each recording. This type of service would ideally allow a user to upload a recording of a lecture or talk and receive a transcript as a PDF or Word document. Another use case would be helping to differentiate multiple speakers in a recording by identifying "Speaker 1", "Speaker 2", and so on. 

Solution

During one of his Internet2 Cloud meetings, DoIT's own Associate Director of Research and Enterprise Computing, Tim Champ, learned of an open-source transcription program from Indiana University (IU) that was shared for testing at other institutions. Tim, having heard of the library's problem a year prior, decided to experiment with the program as a possible solution. Tim's coordination with the technical setup and creating an AWS account for the library has offered a successful process for transcripts. Additionally, there is no regular maintenance needed for this application as it uses AWS-managed services. 

The collaboration has since proved successful with the library transcribing media in their archives and on UMBCScholarworks, as well as with two weekly podcasts, I Hate Politics and I Hate the News, created by UMBC Shady Grove Political Science Faculty Member Sunil Dasgupta. At the moment, this tool is only available to the library; however, Tim sees this as a tool that could be implemented in other departments at UMBC to support increased accessibility. 

Future Opportunities

For any department or researcher interested in learning more about accessing and using this tool, you can Request Help under AI tools. 

Improving accessibility at UMBC is a major priority, both towards UMBC's mission and recent federal accessibility standards. Everyone has different needs, and it is our responsibility to adjust and adapt our existing methods to meet the needs of our community, whether in lecture halls or virtual environments. This ongoing commitment is strengthened by the collaboration between faculty and staff to improve tools and resources. 

Learn about the Indiana University Automated Transcription Service.