Quarterly Newsletter - January 2023

Happy 2023! In this first newsletter of the year, we’ve got a lot of exciting product news, upcoming events, new faces, and more opportunities to connect in 2023.

Next Generation DesignPLUS Update: Beta Testing Has Begun!

Screenshot of image tool in DesignPLUS

We’re extremely excited to report that the Next Generation DesignPLUS project is now in beta testing! What is now officially referred to as the new DesignPLUS Sidebar will be tested by 70 different institutions over the next 6 weeks in the Cidi Labs beta environment. We are excited to receive all the feedback!

What comes next? The next milestone we’re working toward is having a version of the new Sidebar that institutions can install alongside their existing version of Design Tools, with the ability to toggle between the two versions as a phase 2 of the beta testing.

Stay tuned for updates in future newsletters, where we’ll report back on the progress!

To learn more about this exciting project you can watch the overview from our Customer Meeting last September.

Looking for an advantage over accessibility issues? Introducing UDOIT Advantage

We’re excited to announce that the much-anticipated, accessibility-focused course file scanning and remediation features are coming soon as part of a new offering called UDOIT Advantage. These new capabilities will help institutions improve the accessibility of Canvas course files with the ability to:

  • Rapidly scan all files in a course to detect potential accessibility issues
  • Auto-generate alternative formats of a file, such as a Canvas page
  • Take actions to remediate the file issues without leaving Canvas
UDOIT Screenshot showing file replacement

To learn more, stay tuned for our launch announcement and be sure to register for the webinar below where you can see it in action!

Important notice for existing UDOIT Cloud customers:  Although UDOIT Advantage will be an optional add-on, all users will be asked by Canvas to re-authorize UDOIT when the new version is released.  We’ve added an on-screen message to reassure users that this is a routine action, but you may want to communicate this in advance at your institution.  More information to follow in the release announcement.  

2023 Cidi Labs Community Events

We have a lot of virtual events planned for the next few months and hope you’ll consider joining us!

UDOIT Advantage Webinar

A free, 45-minute webinar to take you on a tour of UDOIT and highlight the much-anticipated new offering that will give you an accessibility advantage.

February 10th at 10am MT / 12pm ET

Accessibility webinar flyer- February 10th

Quality Matters Webinar

Quality Matters and Cidi Labs present Dr. Susan Dellasega, from Pittsburgh State University, who will share how to use DesignPLUS templates and the Key Action Items feature to help faculty more easily meet Quality Matters Standards in their Canvas courses. March 1st at 11am MT/ 1pm ET
QM Webinar flyer March 1st

Save the Date! Cidi Labs Customer Day

This is the first of our two annual Customer Days that brings together our community for sharing, inspiration, and news. Thursday, March 9th from 10am MT – 12pm MT
Customer Day flyer for event March 9th
Educause logo

Digital Learning Tools Demo Day

As part of the Educause Digital Learning Tools Demo Day, we’ll be showcasing UDOIT Advantage.

April 27th

New Faces and New Roles

Cidi Labs is growing. Kristin joined us at the end of 2022, and in the new year, we’ve added two new teammates: Juli and Brad. Michelle, who is a familiar face to many, is now our Manager of Customer Success. Welcome and congratulations!
Photo of Kristin Powers

Kristin Powers
Director of Marketing and Customer Engagement

Photo of Juli Van Dorn

Juli Van Dorn
Manager of Training and Support

Photo of Brad Moser

Brad Moser
K-12 North American Sales Director

Photo of Michelle Muldowney-Stevens

Michelle Muldowney-Stevens
Manager of Customer Success

Conference Sponsorship for 2023

Come see us in person at one of these exciting conferences this year. Is there a conference that you think we should join in 2023? Send an email to kristin@cidilabs.com.

Tell Us a Story, Earn Some Swag!

Have you solved an important challenge using tools from Cidi Labs? Have you done something with the tools that you’re particularly proud of? We’d LOVE to hear more about the impact that our tools have had on your Canvas course design and development. Let us know if you’d be willing to share your success story, and we’ll be sure to equip you with some new Cidi Labs swag!

Connect With Us Online

Connect with Cidi Labs through one of our many social channels to stay up to date with events and news. We also have a Slack community for customers to ask each other questions and share resources.

Caricature person holding a megaphone

We hope your new year is off to a fantastic start, and we look forward to seeing you soon at one of our many events!

– The Team at Cidi Labs

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