Tag Archives: Gmail

Navigating Gmail’s Shift from HTML to Standard View for Accessibility

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Google’s decision to phase out the Basic HTML view of Gmail, a mainstay for screen reader users, marks a significant move towards a more accessible web. By early 2024, users are encouraged to transition to the Standard view, which has seen numerous enhancements in usability and accessibility.

What’s Changing?

The Basic HTML view, familiar to many in the university’s accessibility community, is set to be disabled in favor of the more feature-rich Standard view. Google has prepared resources, including a detailed guide, to assist screen reader users in adapting to this change.

Improved Accessibility in Standard View

Google has significantly upgraded the Standard view, focusing on easier navigation for keyboard and screen reader users. This improvement is part of Google’s commitment to enhancing digital accessibility for all users.

Implications for University Community

This transition is pivotal for our university community, particularly for those who depend on screen readers. While adapting may present initial challenges, the enhanced features and improved accessibility of the Standard view offer long-term benefits.

Embracing the Change

As we move towards a more inclusive digital environment, Google’s support resources are invaluable for a smooth transition. For more information and access to the guide, visit Google’s Support Page.

Using Advanced Search in Gmail

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Remember that email with the attached Word document that had an article listed in the works cited section that you could really use right now? It was sent by your classmate from two semesters ago whose name you can’t quite remember at the moment, and it had something to do with statistical anomalies in urban demography or maybe statistical models of emerging democracies? You know, that one?

First, take a deep breath. Then, use advanced search in your Simmons Gmail to find it. To access the advanced search options, click on the small triangle on the right side of the search bar.

Gmail search box

From there, you can use the fields in the dropdown menu to search your email by who sent it, when it was sent, if it contained an attachment, or even how large the attachment is.

Gmail advanced search options

Use these advanced options to quickly narrow down your search and find that one email you’re looking for. To learn more about how to use advanced search, click here.

An Update on Google Apps for Faculty and Staff

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The Technology team is moving rapidly to prepare for the Google Apps migration for faculty and staff. As we get ready to kick things off in January, we wanted to let you know when you’ll be migrated and what you can do to prepare.

We have recently posted the full migration schedule on ourproject website. The timeline is broken down into departments and schools. As your migration date approaches, Technology will work with a department or school liaison to coordinate individual migrations based on your availability.

Prior to your migration date, you will receive additional information about what to expect. If you want to get a jumpstart on migration, you can take a few steps to prepare. These include cleaning up old email folders. If you have email from several years stored on your computer, this is a great opportunity to get rid of old emails and files you no longer need. If you have questions about how to do this, please contact us. If you want to know more about the Simmons College email retention policy, please visit theSimmons College Policy Index or contact the College Archivist, Jason Wood.

If you’d like to learn more about Google Apps and how to use it, we recommend checking out the Quick Start Guides on the project site or attending an introductory training. We’re scheduling these sessions now and they’ll be available starting in January. Each session will provide an overview of Google Apps for Education and we’ll be available to answer questions you might have.

A question we’ve been hearing a lot recently is, “What’s happening to Meeting Maker?” To make this transition as smooth as possible, we’re going to keep Meeting Maker running for the time being. Once everyone has been moved to Google Apps (late April), we will set a timeline for shutting it off. One reason for keeping Meeting Maker active is that not all faculty and staff are moving to Google Apps simultaneously. If your department is moving early, you might still need Meeting Maker for appointments set by colleagues in other departments. Additionally, there is no foolproof way to move all meetings from Meeting Maker to Google Apps without potentially losing data. You will need to manually create any recurring appointments in Google Calendar. We estimate that this will take no more than an hour, even for those of you with complex recurring meetings. The Service Desk and migration team are also here to help you with the transition.

We hope you will take time to look at the project site and to familiarize yourself with Google Apps for Education. We’ll make announcements about training and additional resources after the winter break.

An Update on Google Apps for Faculty and Staff

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As we continue to plan the migration of faculty and staff email and calendaring to Google Apps for Education, we want to keep you up to date on the project. We respect your need for information, so we will be transparent throughout this process as we bring these powerful new tools online for the community.

Right now, Technology is working with the Leadership Team to determine dates for migrating faculty and staff. The migration will be done in phases so we can provide individual assistance and instruction to everyone. Our goal is to begin the migration in January and continue through the Spring semester. We hope to have the full migration schedule available for you in December.

In order to prepare for the migration and to better anticipate issues that might arise, we are currently moving all Technology employees to Google Apps for Education. This pilot period will help us work through technical challenges so we can minimize disruption during the larger migration. During this period, our staff is also completing additional Google Apps training and certification so they can provide expert-level support.

With regard to training and support, we are evaluating options for online and on-site training sessions and preparing a project website that will provide you with the migration schedule, answers to commonly asked questions (for example, what if you have a personal Gmail account?), links to support resources, and more. You can access the site here, and we hope you’ll continue to check back for updates as we move forward.

We will continue to communicate updates frequently via this newsletter, the project site, and individual messages as necessary, and we are always available to answer questions you have.

Google Apps for Education: Core vs. More

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In addition to Google Apps for Edu Core Apps such as Gmail and Calendar, Simmons has enabled Consumer Apps, such as Google+, Blogger, YouTube, Maps, and more.

These additional apps present a wealth of resources for the Simmons community, but they do differ from the Core Apps in a few important ways. For example, Core Apps are covered in the contract that Simmons has with Google, meaning that none of the information in those apps will be used by Google for any purpose other than providing service and support for our Google Apps for Education account.

Consumer Apps are additional services provided by Google that Simmons has enabled to improve your experience using Google Apps for Education. The first time you use any of the Consumer Apps, you will be asked to agree to a separate set of terms and conditions that cover those products. These products are not covered by the same agreement that governs use of the Core Apps and using them with your Simmons account is equivalent to using a personal Google account.

Because the Consumer Apps are not covered under our agreement with Google, no one at Simmons will be required to use any of the Consumer Apps and choosing not to use them will in no way affect your use of the Core Apps.

To find out more, please see this article on the Google Apps for Edu project website. If you have any questions about Consumer Apps, please contact us at 617-521-2222.

Faculty and Staff Moving to Google Apps for Education

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Earlier this month, we sent an email from Debra Orr, Simmons College Chief Information Officer, to the entire Simmons community about faculty and staff email. We’re sharing her note again here just in case you missed the previous announcement:

In May, the Technology department worked with students to transition them to Google Apps for Education. This change involved not only using a new email platform, but also adding a powerful calendaring tool and a host of collaborative and productivity tools. We have gotten very positive feedback from our students. At that time, I let you know that Technology would be working to determine the needs of Simmons faculty and staff to help us choose an email and calendaring platform that would provide capabilities far beyond our current email platform and Meeting Maker.

I am pleased to share that we have reached a decision and that we have begun planning a transition of all faculty and staff email to Google Apps for Education. We believe that choosing Google Apps for Education will provide cutting edge tools for managing day-to-day work, and collaborating with colleagues and students. In addition to basic email and calendaring, Google Apps for Education offers tools for creating documents, spreadsheets, and presentations; interactive utilities for text and video conferencing; opportunities for real-time collaboration on projects; and so much more.

I want you to know that this decision was made after a careful assessment of the community’s needs and a review of how students have been served by Google Apps for Education over the last several months. The Technology team has also reviewed our agreement with Google and I can assure you that, beyond the cost and efficiency advantages of having the entire college on one email system, we will also benefit from improved data security. Simmons College will continue to own our data and Google will store it securely and will not use it for advertising or marketing purposes. In addition, moving to Google Apps for Education will create opportunities that greatly exceed those that could be developed in-house or by selecting a la carte products from multiple vendors.

Since May, I have been asked by many faculty and staff when they might be able to use Gmail and Google Calendar and how it will help with daily interactions with students. In the next thirty days, I will share a timeline for this project, as well as some additional details about how the transition will work and the hands-on training and support we’ll be offering. In the meantime, please let me know if you have questions or concerns about this change. I am confident that you will see immediate advantages over our current systems and I know that the entire Technology team is excited to begin working with you on this important project.

Debra Orr
Executive Director of Technology/CIO
Simmons College

Gmail and Google Apps for Education for students are here!

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Just in case you missed all of our announcements and emails and the ads on the T (okay, we didn’t actually put ads on the T), we want you to know that all students have now been migrated to Gmail and Google Apps for Education!

What does this mean? No more Webmail. No more tiny quota. No more searching for ways to share documents and projects with other students.

Other than changing how your email looks and adding functionality, nothing else will change. You’ll still have the same Simmons email address and you’ll still use it to interact with other students and your professors.

What do you need to do now?

• If you haven’t done so, go to gmail.simmons.edu to log in to your email.

• We’re also recommending that all students change their password. You’ll need to do this if you want to check your email on a mobile device or with other email software like Apple Mail or Thunderbird. You can update your password at preferences.simmons.edu.

• Speaking of mobile devices, you can find instructions for setting up your iPhone, Android phone, Blackberry and more by clicking here.

• If you have other question, visit gonegoogle.simmons.edu or contact the Service Desk at 617-521-2222 or servicedesk.simmons.edu.

Remember, we’re here to help you start using this new and exciting service. Contact us with any questions or problems you’re having and we’ll do our best to find a quick and simple solution for you.

Gmail and Google Apps for Students are on the Way!

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At Simmons Technology, we are always looking for ways to provide our customers with the best technology and to do so in ways that increase efficiency and value. As part of these efforts, we are constantly assessing our current services and upgrading them when it is clear that we can improve performance and customer satisfaction. This is one of those moments.

In late May, following the conclusion of spring semester and graduation, we will be introducing Google Apps for Education (including Gmail) to all students as part of our Simmons Connection project. At that time, all student email will be migrated from Webmail to Gmail, including any email you have stored in Webmail. We recognize that this will be a big change and we want to take this opportunity to let you know what will happen, when it will happen, and how it will impact and improve your use of technology.

First, we’d like to tell you why we are making this important change. We’re aware that many students at Simmons already use Gmail for personal email and that many also forward their Simmons email to Gmail. This alone presents a distinct advantage over our current Webmail client. In addition, Gmail includes services like integrated chat, voice, and video conferencing, as well as simple syncing with mobile devices (iPhone, iPad, Android, Blackberry, etc.). These are all significant upgrades to our current service. Google also provides a range of other services beyond Gmail, which will be useful to students, including Google Calendar and Google Docs.

On top of the direct benefits to students, moving to Google Apps represents an important organizational and budgetary improvement. Google Apps for Education is free and it is hosted and supported by Google. This means that we will be able to free up resources at Simmons for other significant technology initiatives and to refocus the work of our support staff on other services important to you. A practical example of the savings is reflected in the storage quota that will be included with Gmail. Students will soon have a 25 gigabyte storage quota. This is more than one-hundred times the amount of storage we are currently able to provide based on our budget and server capacity.

We do recognize that there will be many questions about this change and how it will work. To help answer those questions, we will be including more information in the April and May newsletters, creating an informative website that will help you navigate Google Apps, providing training sessions in April, June, and September, and having technology staff host information sessions on both the Academic Campus and the Residence Campus. Of course, you are always welcome to call or email the Service Desk to get answers to your questions directly.

Right now, we are in the process of testing Google Apps and we are looking for students to use the service and provide feedback. Clicking this link will take you to a sign-up form where you can volunteer to be an early adopter. Based on your availability in the coming months, we will choose volunteers from this list and help you switch to Gmail and begin using other Google Apps. It is very important to us that we get feedback from students before we open this new service to the entire student body. Your questions and comments will help guide us as we move forward. If you currently have a Gmail account for personal use, your new Simmons Gmail account will work alongside it and you can switch between accounts at any time without having to log out of one account and log in to the other.

Our goal is to make the transition to Google Apps on May 25th. Making this change between semesters will minimize any disruption in email services and allow students time to adjust before a new semester begins.

We hope you will also read the other two articles in this month’s TechNews. They will address data security and privacy concerns at Google and our plans for faculty and staff email and calendaring.