January 2026 Tech News Continued
Wednesday, January 7, 2026
Wireless Upgrades Work Continues on More Than $1M in Campus Wireless Upgrades: EITS continues to work on more than $1 million in wireless upgrades across academic buildings and student housing on the Athens, Buckhead, and Griffin campuses. These improvements are part of an ongoing effort to strengthen wireless connectivity and coverage to support teaching, learning, and student life. The $1.2 million annual project, funded by Student Technology Fees, includes refreshing and redesigning wireless networks in many campus buildings. Recent upgrades have been completed at the Health Sciences Campus, the Lucy Cobb Complex (home to the Carl Vinson Institute of Government), the Rhodes Animal and Dairy Sciences Buildings A, B, and C, River’s Crossing, the Poultry Diagnostic Research Center (PDRC), and locations on the Tifton and Griffin campuses. EITS is also installing wireless access in new emergency call stations as they are deployed, supporting the university’s broader efforts to enhance campus security. For more information, contact David Stewart.
GACRC Buy in Program: The Vice President for Information Technology will continue the GACRC Buy-In Program for Fiscal Year 2026. This program helps faculty expand their use of UGA’s high-performance computing and AI cluster at the Georgia Advanced Computing Resource Center (GACRC). To support this effort, the Vice President for IT is providing $250,000 in matching funds. These funds will cover part of the cost for faculty or research groups who purchase dedicated computing resources on the GACRC system. For full program details, including eligibility requirements, matching structure, allowable purchases, and timelines, contact Guy Cormier.
Teams Phone Available for Campus Units: EITS now offers Teams Phone, a cloud-based, next-generation phone system provided by Microsoft. Teams Phone allows UGA employees to communicate and collaborate anytime, anywhere, on any device. It integrates seamlessly with the Microsoft Teams application on laptops, tablets, or mobile devices, allowing employees to access all calls, chats, calendar invites, and meetings in one place. EITS will transition all phone lines off the legacy PBX and onto Teams Phone by March 2026. Telephone Services is scheduling departments that have not already scheduled their transition to Teams Phone. DTRs should fill out a Teams Phone Onboarding Request for their unit as soon as possible. Upon receiving the onboarding request, approximately six weeks prior to the port date, Telephone Services will schedule a large group meeting to address any concerns and answer questions. The Teams Phone transition does not affect AT&T Centrex/HVS users or phone lines outside of the Athens area. Users should note that they will lose access to their voicemail if they are not transitioned over to Teams Phone before the March 2026 deadline. As part of this project, Telephone Services has successfully transitioned around 5,000 extensions off the UGA PBX and approximately 6,000 phone extensions now on Microsoft Teams phone with 2,500 remaining. Furthermore, there has been a reduction in PRIs resulting in significant cost reductions due to this transition. For more information, contact Steven Duffee.
New Digital Accessibility Tool for eLC Launched: Ally for eLC launched on October 15, 2025, to help instructors improve the accessibility of their course content. Ally is a tool that scans instructional materials for accessibility issues and provides clear visual indicators and feedback to guide improvements. This launch supports compliance with a new federal rule from the U.S. Department of Justice, which requires all state entities to ensure their websites and mobile apps are accessible to individuals with disabilities by April 24, 2026. Starting with Summer 2026 courses, all instructional materials must comply with the new federal standard. Students will also benefit from alternative file formats offered through Ally, which support diverse learning needs. A Q&A session will be held on January 6, 2025, at 11 a.m., with additional sessions scheduled throughout the semester. To register for the January 6 session and access past Q&A recordings, visit the EITS Major Initiatives Page. For more information, contact the EITS Digital Accessibility Services team.
Digital Accessibility Tool for Websites Launched: In November, UGA launched Ally for Web, a new digital accessibility tool designed to help identify and address accessibility issues in website content. This initiative supports compliance with a federal rule from the U.S. Department of Justice requiring all state entities to make their websites and mobile apps accessible to individuals with disabilities by April 24, 2026. Ally provides clear visual indicators and actionable feedback to guide improvements in accessibility. As part of the rollout, the Digital Accessibility Services team contacted Digital Accessibility Liaisons (DALs) to collect a list of their unit’s website domains. Once accounts are provisioned, DALs will gain access to Ally and can begin updating their sites to meet compliance standards. A Q&A session will be held on January 6, 2025, at 11 a.m., with additional sessions scheduled throughout the semester. To register for the January 6 session and access past Q&A recordings, visit the EITS Major Initiatives Page. For more information, contact the EITS Digital Accessibility Services team.
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