eLearning Annual Report 2020-2021

2020-2021 ANNUAL REPORT - 13 BlackboardAlly’s 2ndAnnual Global Competition I n keeping with the spirit of Global Accessibility Awareness Day or GAAD, Blackboard held its second annual “Fix Your Content Day” this past May. Fix Your Content Day is a 24-hour chal- lenge to all Universities to create a more accessible online environment by updating and improving course content. TAMIU placed 16th among 114 other participating Universities, and surpassed its own record from last year with a total of 4,084 fixes (last year’s total being 1,753). For reach- ing over 4000 fixes, TAMIU was recognized by Blackboard under “diamond club” among 8 other universities, the highest distinction among the four established achievement clubs: Diamond, Gold, Silver and Bronze. What’s a Fix? Blackboard defines a fix as an improvement to the accessibility score determined by its service Ally. A fix is anything that heightens the online experience of a user, such as adding a text descrip- tion for an image or adjusting text contrast against a page for easier readability. Why is Accessibility so important? The growing attention towards bridging the gap of accessible content for all users doesn’t come from an increasing need for it, but the acknowledge- ment of its absence for a greater part of educational history. If we want every student to succeed, our job as facilitators of education is to give them the tools they need to do so. “‘Fix Your Content Day’ served as a unifying opportunity to highlight the importance of creating accessible learning environments. While the competition may be over, the work continues.” Dr. Pat Abrego FixYourContentDay