If you got a dramatic-sounding email from someone named Daniela at Acquia (formerly Monsido), please don’t panic. There’s no need to schedule a call, reply, or fill out any forms.

We are renewing our campus-wide license like responsible adults. You can carry on with your usual site scans, accessibility checks, and passive-aggressive link audits.

This email was just… a little overly enthusiastic and may have landed in a few hundred inboxes it didn’t need to.

TL;DR: You’re covered. We’re on it. Please ignore and delete and tell her how dumb it was for her to email the entire Univeresity to renew.

You may notice a new informational banner has been added to the top of all UMBC Sites websites. This banner links to a central resource page at umbc.edu/federal-changes, which provides updates and support in response to recent federal executive orders and related agency actions. 

This update was implemented at the direction of campus leadership to help ensure our community is informed and supported. The banner is consistent across all Sites and is not editable or removable by site administrators.

The resource site includes:

• FAQs for international students, financial aid, and federally funded research
• A form where students, faculty, and staff can submit questions
• Campus communications and guidance
• Information on rights, protections, and university support resources

We’ll continue to update that page as new information becomes available. No action is needed on your part—this is just a heads-up for your awareness. 

And on a lighter note: you can now add Bluesky to your list of social media links if your department uses it!

Thanks,
—The UMBC Sites Team

This webinar is being hosted by Deque, an organization that specializes in accessibility and digital equality.

We're hoping you will share your feedback with us as we develop new features and training.

Ready to get started? 

Thanks!

Drop by our virtual meeting room any time from 11:30 a.m. through 12:30 p.m. today.

RSVP and join from the link below.

Monsido Monthly Accessibility Webinar

Sites Office Hours

If you have a question about Sites, want an opinion about your Sites website, or need any help creating a page element, consider stopping by our virtual Sites Office Hours.

Here you can meet with some of the team responsible for building and maintaining the platform, and receive expert advice.

This month's office hours will be held on Nov 29 between 11:30am and 12:30pm, so drop by anytime within those hours to get your questions answered.

Join our virtual WebEx meeting: https://umbc.webex.com/wbxmjs/joinservice/sites/umbc/meeting/download/76bd0c7d468a4aa7ad7c2888a51b238b?siteurl=umbc&MTID=mb22bf43529854f8d7f01f3c90e38a339

Consider dropping by a virtual Sites Office Hours, and meet with some of the team responsible for building and maintaining the platform. 

Office hours will be available between 12 and 1 p.m., so drop by any time during that period to get your question answered.

Our new host, Pantheon, provides a stable and fast environment for serving UMBC websites, and also keeps our websites secure. 

Special shout out to Billy Schneider, and Timothy Boyle from the Division of Information Technology for completing this important work over the weekend. 

If you notice any bugs or have questions about Sites, please make use of our support ticketing system at this link: 

Maintenance is scheduled for the whole day, and during this migration, the Sites Administration Dashboard will not be available. Live website content should not be affected during this time, and we are planning for no outage time for website viewers.

As a reminder, you can post any Sites questions you have on our myUMBC sites user group.

We will share an update once work is complete.