Issue or Question
What is YuJa Panorama, and how do I use its accessibility features in Canvas?
YuJa Panorama is a digital accessibility tool integrated with Canvas. It reviews course content for accessibility issues, provides instructors with accessibility reports and scores, and gives students access to alternative formats for supported course files.
This article answers common questions about accessing Panorama, interpreting accessibility indicators, using alternative formats, reviewing captions, resolving unprocessed files, and requesting additional accessibility support.
For digital accessibility guidance beyond Panorama and Canvas, review Digital Accessibility Introduction: What, Why and How? and the Digital Accessibility OneStThomas page.
Environment
This information applies to:
- YuJa Panorama within Canvas
- University of St. Thomas Canvas courses
- Faculty, teaching assistants, and others assigned an instructor role in Canvas
- Students enrolled in Canvas courses
- Supported desktop and mobile web browsers
- Course pages and supported document formats
Resolution
Before You Begin
Important: YuJa Panorama is integrated with Canvas at St. Thomas. A separate browser extension is not required. Panorama features and indicators vary according to the user's Canvas role and the type of course content being reviewed.
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YuJa Panorama helps identify and address accessibility issues in digital course content. Its Canvas integration includes:
- Accessibility indicators and reports for instructors
- Issue descriptions and remediation guidance
- Alternative formats for supported course files
- Tools for making some accessibility corrections within Canvas
- Course reports and analytics available to authorized instructor roles
- Display adjustments for features such as contrast, font, and font size
Panorama supports accessibility work, but instructors must still review identified issues and determine the appropriate corrections for their course content.
Panorama indicators appear alongside supported content in Canvas.
- Navigate to your Canvas course.
- Locate a supported file, page, assignment, or other course item.
- Select the Panorama accessibility indicator associated with the item.
- Review the options available for your Canvas role.
Instructors can use Panorama indicators to open accessibility reports and review available alternative formats. Students see the blue universal-accessibility indicator used to open the alternative-formats menu. Students do not see the accessibility scores displayed to instructors.
Review YuJa Panorama: Your Digital Accessibility Assistant for additional information about Panorama icons and the instructor experience.
Panorama evaluates identified accessibility issues according to their severity. More severe issues have a greater effect on the overall score.
- Minor issues: The score is generally between 70% and 100%.
- At least one major issue: The score is generally between 30% and 70%.
- At least one severe issue: The score is generally between 0% and 30%.
- Processing indicator: Panorama is still processing the file, and a score is not ready.
- Blue universal-accessibility indicator: Opens the alternative-formats menu available to students.
Important: Accessibility scores are informational indicators for instructors and teaching assistants. Students do not see the file scores displayed to instructor roles.
Review YuJa Panorama Scoring: Understanding the Accessibility Scoring Model for score ranges, issue severities, and file-specific accessibility checks.
Panorama evaluates each file according to the accessibility issues identified in that file. Documents that appear similar may contain different headings, images, alternative text, tables, reading orders, document properties, or other structural elements. The type and severity of the identified issues affect each document's score.
Alternative formats provide another way to access supported course content. Depending on the source file and available course settings, formats may include:
- Audio versions of text documents
- HTML versions of files
- Immersive Reader formats
- Formats designed for mobile access
- The original source file when available
Students can open the alternative-formats menu from the Panorama accessibility indicator associated with a supported file.
- Locate the file in Canvas.
- Select the blue universal-accessibility indicator associated with the file.
- Select an available alternative format.
- Follow the displayed prompts to generate or download the format.
Expected result: Panorama provides the selected format when that format is available for the file.
Use the Canvas image editor or an available Panorama accessibility report to review an image's alternative text.
- Open the Canvas page containing the image.
- Enter the Canvas editing view if you have permission to modify the page.
- Select the image.
- Open the image options or image editor.
- Review the image's alternative-text field.
- Enter concise alternative text that communicates the image's purpose or important content.
- Mark the image as decorative when it does not communicate information and the editor provides that option.
- Save the page.
Caution: Do not add filenames or generic wording such as “image” as alternative text. Describe the information or purpose needed to understand the surrounding content.
Panorama may identify whether captions are present for supported video content. Caption availability, accuracy, and correction remain separate from the accessibility of surrounding Canvas content.
For captioning assistance, use the service options described in Digital Accessibility Introduction: What, Why and How?.
Important: The presence of captions does not confirm that the captions are accurate. Review machine-generated captions and correct errors before relying on them for course access.
The processing indicator means that Panorama has not completed the accessibility review for the file.
- Confirm that the file finished uploading to Canvas.
- Refresh the Canvas page.
- Open the file to confirm that it is not damaged and can be downloaded.
- Confirm that the file uses a format supported by Panorama.
- Replace the file if it is damaged or cannot be opened.
- Submit a support request if the file remains unprocessed.
When requesting support, include the course name, file name, file type, approximate file size, upload location, and a screenshot of the processing indicator.
Quizzes: Panorama reviews supported content in the quiz description. Alternative formats associated with the quiz apply to the description, not individual quiz questions.
Discussions: Add meaningful content to the discussion instructions or directions area so Panorama has content to review.
No browser extension is required to use the St. Thomas Panorama integration in Canvas. Access Panorama through Canvas unless University support documentation directs you to use another method.
- Review the related Panorama articles associated with this article.
- Review the Digital Accessibility OneStThomas resources.
- Use the applicable digital-accessibility service request for support with Canvas, Panorama, documents, captions, or an accessibility consultation.
- Contact the Tech Desk when the issue involves access to Canvas, a system error, or general technical troubleshooting.
When requesting support, include the Canvas course, affected content, file name, browser, device, steps already attempted, screenshot, and complete wording of any error message.
Troubleshooting
If Panorama is not working as expected:
- Confirm that you are signed in to the correct St. Thomas Canvas account.
- Confirm that you have access to the affected Canvas course.
- Confirm that the file has finished uploading and opens correctly.
- Refresh the Canvas page.
- Close and reopen the browser.
- Try another supported browser.
- Clear active browser extensions that may interfere with Canvas, when permitted.
- Do not install a Panorama browser extension as a troubleshooting step.
- Confirm that cookies and scripts required by Canvas are not blocked.
- Record the complete wording of any error message before contacting support.
Information to Include in a Support Request
- Canvas course name
- Course section, when applicable
- Page, module, assignment, discussion, quiz, or file where the issue occurs
- File name and file type
- Your Canvas role
- Browser and device
- Panorama indicator or score displayed
- Steps already attempted
- Screenshot and complete error text
Additional Resources
Related Information
Use the following resources for Panorama instructions, digital-accessibility guidance, or additional assistance: