Fix Your Content Day: Let’s Make Course Materials More Accessible

NOTE: The Virtual Option is only available between 11 AM - 1 PM.

Fix Your Content Day is a campus-wide accessibility sprint happening on November 10, 2026. For one day, faculty and staff across UMBC will come together, virtually and in person, to tackle accessibility fixes in Blackboard courses using Ally.

Our goal: 1,600 fixes across at least 160 courses in a single day. That sounds like a lot, but it’s just 10 fixes in those 160 courses -- or less, if more faculty participate.

Here's a simple roadmap you can follow:

1. Review your Ally report.
Log in to your course and go to Books & Tools from the right navigation menu to access your Ally accessibility report. Note your starting score. Prioritize files you use most (syllabus, major readings, assignment sheets, etc.) or where you have inaccessible images that impact meaningful content.

2. Make at least 3 targeted fixes.
Use the Ally "repair" workflow (built into Blackboard) to take action:

• Add or improve alt text for images
• Fix heading structure (use proper heading levels rather than visual formatting)
• Add descriptive link text (avoid "click here")
• Ensure sufficient color contrast in slides or documents
• Replace scanned PDFs (if possible) with accessible ones or OCR them

3. Strive for 85.
As you make your fixes, aim for an Ally score of 85 percent or higher in your courses. This benchmark represents solid progress toward accessible, student-ready materials. Each improvement -- adding alt text, correcting headings, or replacing scanned PDFs -- moves your score closer to 85, or exceeds it, and helps ensure your course is usable for every learner.

4. Document or share progress.
Record which courses and files you've improved. If you'd like to be recognized with a microcredential for your portfolio or LinkedIn profile, submit your results using this Google Form. Instructional Technology will also share the top five departmental improvements.

5. Reflect and plan next steps.
Think about recurring patterns in your courses (e.g., many scanned articles, many images lacking alt text). Use that insight to inform future course redesign or content creation. Consider sharing your top three fixes with your department to help normalize accessible practices across campus.