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PDFs are a staple of academic life, used for everything from syllabi to complex research articles. However, without intentional design, they can create significant barriers for students using...

Slide decks get built fast. A lecture the night before, a workshop the morning of -- we’ve all done it. Accessibility is often the first thing to slip when you're racing a deadline. But a few...

Imagine a student opening a Google Docs syllabus with a screen reader. They expect to easily skip from section to section. Instead, they hit a wall of text. Why? Because simply making text bold...

Microsoft Word is one of the most common tools used for creating flyers, handouts, syllabi, readings, and assignments. It’s also one of the most common sources of accessibility problems in...

Let’s enhance meeting productivity for all attendees! Whether you are hosting a departmental meeting, conducting a 1:1 check-in, or moderating a large-scale event,  the organization and execution...

Social media is one of the most powerful tools departments use to share news, celebrate achievements, and build community. It’s also one of the most consistently inaccessible corners of...

Email is one of the most universal communication tools we have at UMBC, and one of the most commonly overlooked places where accessibility breaks down. Whether you’re sending a department update,...

If you've ever run an Ally course accessibility report and found a long list of untagged PDFs, you know the feeling: the problem is clear, but the path forward is time-consuming. Tagging PDFs for...

Links are everywhere -- in syllabi, announcements, email, assignments, websites, and Blackboard pages. They’re one of the most useful tools for connecting students to resources and one of the most...

Imagine a student learning Spanish who relies on a screen reader to access course materials. They open a PDF of a restaurant menu and instead of hearing the items and prices their classmates are...