Digital accessibility ensures that everyone can effectively use digital content and technologies. And in today’s higher education landscape, digital materials are a cornerstone of the learning experience. It's crucial that our resources and websites are accessible and user-friendly for everyone, including students with disabilities. By focusing on digital accessibility, we don't just support students with specific needs — we enhance the overall quality of our courses and learning for all students.
As we step into the new academic year, we’re excited to introduce a new digital accessibility tool: YuJa Panorama. Academic Technology & Innovation is pleased to announce that St. Thomas will be moving from Blackboard Ally to YuJa Panorama during summer 2024. The new tool offers the same functionality as Ally – but with even more features!
For Starters
- Panorama replaces the Blackboard Ally accessibility tool in the Canvas learning management system, beginning July 1, 2024.
- In August 2024, we will share additional information and learning resources for using Panorama.
- In the meantime, if after reading this article you need additional support sooner, please select “Request Service”, select “Academic Technology Accessibility (Canvas, YuJa Panorama, other)” and share your question or need.
How might Panorama affect you?
- Panorama is as easy or easier to use than Ally.
- The main difference is that, instead of a gauge in front of your files, you will see an icon at the end that you can select to find the document’s Accessibility Score and Alternate Formats. The guidance for each issue that it finds is easy to understand and includes a video as well as step-by-step instructions.
- There is support for you in using this tool, and we will gradually add in other parts of the tool and training/learning resources to help you to grow in your success with this tool.
We hope that as you begin using Panorama, you'll become more enthusiastic about and committed to accessibility practices. We look forward to furthering our collective work on accessibility.
Curious about the Icons?
For starters, it is fine to just ignore all the icons until you are ready to learn and explore more.
For step-by-step detailed directions, read the Getting Started in Panorama for Instructors in Canvas and more on YuJa's Panorama Resource site. However, this article briefly introduces the Panorama icons and a few features.
Panorama provides distinctive icons to provide instructors with useful information about the degree of accessibility for the files in your course. Instructors can click on the icons to access Panorama's accessibility report and alternative formats.
The two following images depict examples of some of the icons that instructors may find useful as you learn this new tool. The first image depicts various Office Documents, PDF Documents, and OCR Documents, with Panorama accessibility icons to the right of each file. A red arrow points to a pdf file with a green high accessibility icon. The second image Alternative Formats Menu depicts 3 different arrows. One arrow points to the right at a speed gauge icon, another arrow points down and to the right at a download icon for a PDF, and the third arrow pointing down and to the left indicating the download option for the original source file. The image also depicts 9 other format options.
Icon Key
The following Icon Key table provides the icon, what the icon means (title and definition), and who has access to that icon. Important: Students will only view the blue universal accessibility person icon below, and students will never see the file scores. Only Canvas instructors and TA's will view these file scores.
Fixing Issues
You can fix (some) issues directly within Canvas without needing to upload a new file.
Image description: The left side image shows a Cooking Tools page that is missing a title as Issue #1. The right side image depicts the accessibility report with an overall score of 95%. And, there is still additional information on what the issue is and instructions on how to fix the identified issues.
Additionally, you gain access to comprehensive course reports and analytics, showing which alternative formats your students are using. More remediation options will be introduced over the coming months to further simplify and automate many digital accessibility remediation use cases.
The included customization tool allows both you and your students to adjust Canvas pages to your personal preferences, such as contrast, font, and font size. Your settings can be saved for future visits to Canvas.
YuJa Panorama also Supports UDL
Whether teaching fully online, hybrid or in person, St. Thomas faculty are encouraged to incorporate Universal Design for Learning (UDL) approaches into their teaching and learning. Additionally, the Center for Faculty Development’s Inclusive Classroom Institutes are an excellent opportunity to weave digital accessibility into your UDL strategies.
By incorporating both digital accessibility and UDL, we enhance the quality of our digital content and experiences for everyone. YuJa Panorama helps you create content that works seamlessly on phones and tablets, provides alternative format options to your Canvas content, and checks and improves accessibility of content added into Canvas.
Next Steps
- If you are teaching Summer II 2024, or do not teach until Fall 2024 or later, Ally will be deactivated before your course launches, with Panorama becoming available by the end of June 2024.
- Check back on this knowledge base article for updates and information throughout the summer!
- Also, continue to learn about other tools and areas of digital accessibility by enrolling in the Digital Accessibility Basics badge site and learning hub; join a community of learners striving to create a more accessible St. Thomas!
Visit YuJa's Panorama Resource Site for information, tutorials and more!