Category: email

Email sent to staff with a Blackboard course or organization

Dear Colleague, 

This is a final reminder that access to Blackboard will end on Tuesday, July 15, 2025. After this date, all content in your Blackboard courses and organizations will become permanently inaccessible. 

Please take the following steps as soon as possible: 

• Review Your Content: Log into Blackboard and select Courses or Organizations from the left menu. If you no longer need the content, no action is required. For help downloading content, visit the Blackboard retirement resources. 
• Need a Canvas Site? Review the Canvas Use Guidelines to see if your content qualifies for a Canvas site. Non-semester Canvas sites are called Community Courses (previously Blackboard Organizations). If your Blackboard site was not already migrated to Canvas, review manual course migration options. This migration must be completed before July 15. 
• Content Linked to Websites: If your Blackboard Organization contains documents linked on a university website, please review the WebDocs solution for options and best practices. 

Visit the LMS Transition Website for additional details and contact information.

Thank you for your attention to this important deadline. 

Charles Kreitzer 
Executive Director, Mason Online 
Office of the Provost 

Joy Taylor 
Executive Director, Learning Support Services 
Information Technology Services

Email sent April 16 to all non-faculty Blackboard course and organization owners

Dear Blackboard Users, 

You are receiving this message because you are an owner of one or more Blackboard courses or organizations. As part of the university’s transition to Canvas, all content housed within Blackboard will become inaccessible after Tuesday, July 15, 2025. This is the last day Blackboard will be available. We encourage you to review your content now to determine next steps. 

Steps to Take: 

1. Review Your Content: Log into Blackboard and choose Courses and/or Organizations on the left menu. Evaluate the material on your site(s). If you do not need the content, no further action is required. For guidance on how to download content, please review the Blackboard retirement resources. 
2. Request a Canvas Site: Refer to the Canvas Use Guidelines to assess if your content is appropriate for Canvas. A Canvas Community site or other Canvas course type may be a suitable replacement for specific types of non-instructional content. If your use case is within the guidelines, the last opportunity to have Blackboard content automatically migrated to Canvas is May 6, 2025. Submit your requests here.  
3. Have a Plan for Website-Related Content: If your Bb Orgs content is linked to a university website and you are hosting downloadable files like PDFs, Word documents and/or Power Point files, please visit the WebDocs solution resource page to determine if your content falls under this use case and to learn more. Here, you will also find best practices for hosting content on the web. 

More information is available on the LMS Transition Website. If you have any questions or need assistance with next steps, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected].  

Thank you for your attention to this important transition. 

LMS Advisory Committee
George Mason University

Hello, Web Managers, 

Web-downloadable documents currently stored in Blackboard Organization spaces will be migrated to WebDocs, the new web document management solution for George Mason websites. 

WebDocs, a joint project of the ITS WAS and OUB Web Teams, will store and manage web- downloadable documents that meet both WCAG 2.1 accessibility standards and content purpose criteria. 

WebDocs features include: 

• Continued Editing Access – Content editors will be able to update migrated files in the future, and new versions will retain the same URL. 
• Adding New Files – Editors can upload new documents to WebDocs. 
• Automatic URL Redirection – Existing Blackboard document links on SiteMasonry CMS pages will automatically resolve to the new WebDocs location—no manual updates required. 

Webpages Versus Downloadable Documents 

In most cases, content should be published as a webpage rather than contained in a PDF, Word document, or PowerPoint file. 

There are a few situations when a downloadable web document is appropriate: 

• Forms that require print-only submissions: Documents that must be printed, signed, or submitted in hard copy. 
• Reports or policy documents: Official publications that need to retain formatting for compliance, archival, or print distribution.
   

Industry best practices discourage the use of downloadable documents whenever possible. 

Content locked within a document is harder to access, navigate, and find compared to webpage content, creating several challenges: 

Difficult to access: PDFs and other formats often lack proper tagging, making them inaccessible to screen readers and assistive technologies. 

• Disruptive to read: Downloadable files interrupt browsing flow, requiring extra steps to open and navigate. 
• Not mobile-friendly: PDFs and other documents do not resize well, forcing users to zoom and scroll. 
• Obscured from analytics: Analytics are less available for documents than web pages. For example, when a web user finds a PDF using Google search, that web user’s click to the PDF isn’t recorded in George Mason’s analytics. 
• Lower search visibility: Search engines prioritize webpage content over document content, making PDFs harder to find. 

Prepare to Move to WebDocs 

For each document in your Blackboard Org space, take one of the following actions based on its content and purpose: 

• Delete: Remove outdated, redundant, or irrelevant documents.
• Relocate: Use the Solutions Matrix for Bb Orgs Transition to determine where a document should be moved, based on its purpose and content.
• Convert to Web Content: If the information is evergreen or frequently referenced, incorporate the content into webpage instead of keeping it in a downloadable file. 
• Confirm Accessibility Compliance: The Assistive Technology Initiative office can confirm that documents for public download meet WCAG 2.1 digital accessibility criteria. Documents left in Blackboard Org spaces for migration must meet digital accessibility standards.   

Transition Timeline 

• Now–April 2025: Review files stored in BB Org spaces. 
  • Delete outdated or unused documents. 
  • Move documents that are not printable forms, policies, or reports. 
  • Confirm the web downloadable documents (printable forms, policies, or reports) meet WCAG 2.1 accessibility standards. 
• May–June 2025: Migration process begins. If you have finished your cleanup early, let us know! 
• July 2025: Blackboard file storage is decommissioned. 

Have Questions? 

Have questions about the move to WebDocs? Finished your cleanup early? Let us know! 

Dear Colleague,

You are receiving this message because you are enrolled as a leader in a Blackboard Organization (Bb Org) accessed within the last 24 months. As you are aware, Bb Orgs will be retired on July 15, 2025, as part of the Canvas implementation. Below are reminders, updates, and new information on the transition.

Transitioning to the Canvas Community Site 
Not all Bb Orgs can transition to Canvas based on the Canvas Use Guidelines.We encourage those whose will not transition to Canvas to review the other options available to move your content to another collaboration or file storage solution. If your Bb Org does meet the guidelines, you can request a Canvas community course site. Each request will be reviewed to ensure it meets the guidelines.  

Automated Content Migration 
For use cases that can transition to Canvas, we are pleased to share that the next deadline to request a content migration from Blackboard to Canvas is Monday, December 2. After migration, the content will be accessible only to the individual who submitted the form. Additionally, it cannot be made publicly available, as it is simply a container for the migrated content. The content must be copied into a new Canvas site. To submit your request, please complete the December 2024 Content Migration Request Form by Monday, December 2. You will receive an email when the content has been migrated.

We recommend you request a community course site prior to requesting the content migration. Failure to do so could result in content that cannot be migrated to an active course site. 

SiteMasonry Sites – Transitioning Downloadable Documents from Blackboard Organization Spaces 
The Information Technology Services (ITS) and the Office of University Branding (OUB) web teams are developing a Web Document Repository to store publicly downloadable files compliant with the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Revised 508 Standards for accessibility. Recent updates to the ADA reinforce the requirement for public entities, including George Mason University, to provide fully accessible digital experiences, including accessible documents.

The new Web Document Repository will be available to SiteMasonry web managers in late spring 2025. A member of the OUB web team will reach out to each SiteMasonry web manager currently using a Bb Org to assist with creating a transition plan to:

• Identify documents for deletion
• Move non-public documents to appropriate platforms (e.g., Canvas, Mason Online sites)
• Ensure publicly downloadable documents meet ICT Revised 508 Standards for digital accessibility
• Ready digitally accessible, publicly downloadable documents for a move to the new Web Document Repository

Major/Degree Community Courses 
Finally, we are pleased to share that a Canvas community site has been created for each major at the university. This allows units to use the site to communicate and share content with students. Membership in each group will be managed automatically through integration with Banner. Read more and request access.

The project team hopes you have a successful end to your semester and will enjoy the upcoming winter break. As always, if you have questions about this transition, contact [email protected] or visit the project website at http://lms.gmu.edu/orgs.