Syllabus Management Program

Syllabus Management Program

I built a web-based Syllabus Management Program to retire a mountain of PDFs and replace them with clean, accessible, versioned HTML. This was a solo build over multiple months; I partnered with the curriculum team for the canonical structure and content migration.

Why it exists (and why PDFs had to go)

  • PDFs were slow to update, hard to search, and inconsistent across departments and campuses
  • Accessibility was hit‑or‑miss, and archiving wasn’t reliable

What I shipped

  • Form‑driven content with inline HTML editors for the parts that need rich text
  • A normalized schema for syllabus sections (course info, outcomes, policies, ADA statement, schedules, etc.)
  • Auto versioning and archival by term/course/department/campus, with diffs and audit logs
  • Role‑based auth, reporting, and a dead‑simple “copy forward to next term” flow

Tech that matters

  • Backend: PHP + SQLite (portable, dead simple to back up, no ops drama)
  • Frontend: Vue + Bootstrap for a responsive, fast authoring UI
  • Editor: TinyMCE with custom plugins/templates to keep content consistent and accessible
  • Integrations: REST endpoints and LTI hooks
  • LMS: Brightspace (D2L) integration to auto‑load the correct syllabus inside the course—no manual linking, it just shows up

Accessibility wasn’t an afterthought

  • WCAG‑minded UI: heading structure, contrast, keyboard navigation, focus management
  • ARIA where it counts (form labels, descriptions, live regions)
  • Sanitization + link checking to catch common screen‑reader traps

Operationally sound

  • Immutable snapshots per term with diffs and audit trails
  • Department templates + shared institution components so it scales across campuses
  • Because content is HTML, it’s searchable, responsive, and stays readable in 5+ years

Impact (in short)

  • Thousands of PDFs → accessible, web‑native syllabi
  • Faster start‑of‑term updates and fewer support pings
  • Consistent look/feel and stronger compliance across departments

If you care about the nuts and bolts: this is a small, well‑factored stack with clear contracts between the editor, API, and storage. It’s the kind of system that’s easy to extend (more sections, new templates, richer LMS integrations) without rewriting the core. The result is a durable syllabus workflow: accessible by design, simple for editors, and trustworthy for institutional records.

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