Category: Announcements

Announcements/Updates to the BMC community

Microsoft 365 Accessibility Checker Now Enabled by Default

In support of the College’s commitment to accessibility, LITS has enabled Microsoft’s accessibility checker by default within college-licensed Microsoft 365 apps (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook). These apps are available to current students, faculty and staff online, on college-owned computers (including public lab computers), and on personal devices.

The accessibility checker works much like a spell checker, alerting you if elements in a document or email might be inaccessible and suggesting possible fixes, which you can often apply by clicking.

For more info, see:

Microsoft also offers online, self-paced training and video tutorials on making documents accessible.

For info about Microsoft 365 features that help you view, read and hear documents and email in more accessible ways, see Office 365: Immersive reader accessibility features (Ask Athena) and  Microsoft Outlook: Accessibility features (Ask Athena).

For more info on the College’s commitment to ensuring that all individuals, including individuals with disabilities, have equal access to courses, programs, and events, see Bryn Mawr’s Web Accessibility Policy, Accessibility Policy for Classroom Instruction, and Accessibility Policy for College Events.

Contact the Help Desk with questions: help@brynmawr.edu or 610-526-7440.

RESOLVED: Microsoft 365 Login Message

Update, 1:30pm: We have confirmed that this is a legitimate pop-up from Microsoft. You can click on “Confirm” to get past the screen. For more information see: How to verify your Outlook.com account – Microsoft Support

We haven’t got any information as to why many community  members started seeing this message now, but we will update here if we learn more.
Thank you for your patience while we investigated this.

Starting late last week, some community members have reported getting a message asking to confirm account details before signing in to Microsoft 365. Please close the window without clicking on anything and then go back to webmail. You should be access email as normal at that point. If you’re still having trouble, the Outlook Desktop Client is working without issue. If you need help setting it up, please contact the Help Desk.

We’ve escalated the issue to Microsoft and are waiting to hear back.

Please remember that you should never click on unknown or strange buttons or links. Please contact the Help Desk if you have any questions: help@brynmawr.edu or 610-526-7440.

RESOLVED: No Internet Access in BYC

Update: Internet access in BYC has been restored. Thank you for your patience.

Due to some equipment issues, Betws- y -Coed is currently without internet access. LITS is actively working to resolve the issue and get people back up and running as swiftly as possible. Thank you in advance for your patience.

Please contact the Help Desk with any questions or concerns: help@brynmawr.edu, 610-526-7440.

Reminder: Moodle Downtime and Upgrade on August 14, 2023

Moodle will be down on Monday, August 14, 2023, while LITS completes the final steps of upgrading to version 4.2:

  • The Moodle interface will be updated, but content on moodle.brynmawr.edu (including fall 2023 courses) and that URL will NOT change.
  • Access to Moodle Archive (moodlearchive.brynmawr.edu) will end. Teachers who want personal back-up copies of courses on this site should create them ASAP. LITS has archived back-ups of fall 2017-summer 2020 academic courses and will continue to copy them into new Moodle shells on request after August 15.

Want a sneak preview of the new interface? Log into our Moodle 4 sandbox using one of these username (password) combinations:

  • Student view sample course — lpalpantine (SithLord!83) or dvader (IAmYourFather!80)
  • Instructor sandbox – okenobi (JediMaster!77) or lskywalker (JediRule!83)

We will provide details about the changes, video demos, and user tours with the upgrade and in-person support will be available by appointment and at a drop-in event on August 28.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us via the Help Desk (help@brynmawr.edu, 610-526-7440).

Sophos Home Antivirus Expiring

Please note that your College-provided antivirus subscription to Sophos Home expires at the end of July. If you have Sophos Home installed on your personal device(s), you may see a notification regarding the expiration in the coming weeks.

Your options after Sophos Home expires are:

  1. Uninstall Sophos Home and enable Windows Security (Windows computers only)
  2. Uninstall Sophos Home and use a different College recommended anti-virus software
  3. Keep Sophos Home by activating a personal subscription

As always, let the Help Desk (help@brynmawr.edu or 610-526-7440) know if you have any questions!

RESOLVED: Trouble Scanning on Canon Devices

Update: This has been resolved and scanning should be functioning normally again. Please report any lingering issues to the Help Desk.

Starting this morning, community members have reported that they are unable to scan from Canons. The scans seems to start successfully, but then give an error stating, “The server was unable to add the scanned page to the document. Scan job aborted!”

LITS is actively working with Canon to diagnose and resolve the issue. Thank you in advance for your patience.

If you have any questions, please reach out to the Help Desk: help@brynmawr.edu or 610-526-7440.

RESOLVED: Internet Connectivity Unavailable in Brecon and Batten

Update, 9:40am: Internet connectivity has been restored to both Batten and Brecon. Please report any lingering issues to the Help Desk.

Due to some equipment issues and a power outage, both Brecon and Batten are currently without internet access. LITS is actively working to resolve the issue and get people back up and running as swiftly as possible. Thank you in advance for your patience.

Please contact the Help Desk with any questions or concerns: help@brynmawr.edu, 610-526-7440.

VPN Unavailable: Monday (7/3) 8am-12pm

On Monday (7/3), LITS will be performing a significant upgrade to our VPN service. During this time, community members will be unable to access their College network drives (H:, S:, Q:, etc.) from off-campus. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes.

Once the upgrade is complete, community members will be prompted to upgrade their Pulse Secure clients. Once the client has been upgraded, community members will see the following changes:

  • Branding will change from Pulse Secure to Ivanti Secure Access
  • College network drives (H:, S:, Q:, etc.) will no longer be available via ingress.brynmawr.edu.
  • All community members will need to use the Ivanti Secure Access client to access network drives via File Explorer and Finder.

Instructions for performing the upgrade on your computer and more details about Ivanti Secure Access will be available closer to the date of the upgrade. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Help Desk at 610-526-7440 or help@brynmawr.edu.

RESOLVED: Intermittent Office 365 Access Issues Today (6/27)

UPDATE: Microsoft reports that this issue is fully resolved. Please report any lingering issues to the Help Desk.

Starting this morning, some community members are reporting issues accessing their email via the web and desktop clients. Community members have had success with the Outlook mobile app. Please contact the Help Desk if you need help setting it up.

This is a Microsoft wide issue and we don’t currently have an estimated time for resolution. We will provide an update as soon as we have one from Microsoft.

If you have any questions, please contact the Help Desk: 610-526-7440 or help@brynmawr.edu.