January 2025 Newsletter

Greetings from the Cidi Labs team! We hope that 2025 is off to a great start for you. January ramped up very quickly for us, and as a result, we have a number of exciting product updates, resources, and events to share with you in this first Newsletter of the year.

Product News

Now Available! The DesignPLUS QuickStart Wizard

Now available as a Beta feature, the NEW DesignPLUS QuickStart Wizard is a tool that lets you rapidly design new content by selecting from your existing DesignPLUS Templates and Content Blocks–without opening the Sidebar! To see the Wizard in action, check out our recent webinar. In this webinar, we demonstrated, in a highly entertaining way, how easy the Wizard makes it for all your users to build engaging, accessible Canvas courses.

To get started, refer to our new Knowledge Base article: How do we enable the DesignPLUS QuickStart Wizard for our institution?

Coming Soon: Accessibility Scoring in UDOIT

Next month, UDOIT will be getting a significant update, which includes a customizable, interactive accessibility scorecard that measures the state of accessibility within and across your Canvas courses. Users at the course and account level will have the ability to drill down on an accessibility score to see how each type of issue was scored, as well as to see the impact level of those issues – all with the goal of helping you prioritize your accessibility work to make the biggest improvements. Finally, the scoring will be accompanied by expanded reporting capabilities to display historical trends that can demonstrate progress in your accessibility journey.

UDOIT Accessibility Scorecard

To see these new features in action, check out our recent webinar: A Less-Stress Path to Accessible Canvas Courses. If you’d like to learn more about UDOIT, you can request a live demo.

If your institution licenses UDOIT and would like to discuss these forthcoming changes in more detail, please request a Customer Success meeting.

ReadyGO Customers: New Version Now Available to Install!

The Beta version of the much-anticipated new ReadyGO is now available for existing ReadyGO customers to install. Why get started with the new ReadyGO now, during the Beta phase?

  • The implementation fee for installing the new tool is waived during the Beta period. You’ll receive live training and guided implementation support over several weeks to optimize the new version at no additional cost.
  • You can use both the existing and the new versions of the ReadyGO tool in parallel, at no additional cost for the remainder of your contract.
  • You’ll have more time to discover all the new ways ReadyGO can support your course development, term readiness, and special initiatives.

You can schedule an installation here.

Releases this Month

To learn more about what was released this month in each product, please refer to the respective Release Notes: To receive product release notifications, join our Customer Slack Community.

Events

Design Matters LIVE! Monthly Webinar Series - New for 2025!

The Design Matters Digest and live webinar series is off to a great start in 2025 with fresh new topics! Be sure to subscribe to receive the monthly digest via email and register for the webinars that are of interest to you, using the links below!

January: Increasing Instructor Presence & Interaction – recording available!
February: Consistent Design, Big Impact!
March: Removing Obstacles to Optimize Learning
April: Interactive Course Design Made Simple!

February 27th at 12pm MT

The University of Denver (DU) has prioritized a holistic approach to course design and accessibility, benefiting instructional designers, faculty, and students. By focusing on quality design practices, DU has streamlined processes, elevated student engagement, and fostered a sense of ownership among faculty. Join us as we delve into the specific strategies and tools that have contributed to DU’s success, providing valuable insights for anyone seeking to enhance their online course design and delivery.

Upcoming In-Person Events

Our 2025 tradeshow schedule is still evolving, but here are the events that we know we’ll be attending in the first part of 2025 – we hope to see you on the road!

February 2025

  • TCEA: 1-5 in Austin, Texas
  • Intersections: 19-21 in Orlando, Florida
  • DLAC: 24-26 in Atlanta, Georgia
  • UCET: 25-26 in Salt Lake City, Utah

March 2025

  • ITC: 2-5 in Charleston, South Carolina
  • NCTIES: 5-7 in Raleigh, North Carolina
  • Spring CUE: 20-22 in Palm Springs, California
  • TxDLA: 30-2nd of April in Denton, Texas

April 2025

Helpful Resources

In case you missed it, we shared 10 of the most valuable resources of 2024 in our December Newsletter.

This month, we’d like to remind you that the sunset date for Legacy DesignPLUS Sidebar (Design Tools) is December 31st, 2025. If you haven’t started your transition to the new Sidebar, a great starting point is to set up a time to meet with your Customer Success Manager, who can help you develop a plan and connect you with the wealth of resources we’ve created to support you.

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Wishing you all the magic and efficiency of the QuickStart Wizard,

The Cidi Labs Team

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