Brightspace Knowledge Base - Instructor Panorama: Brightspace Web Accessibility

Panorama - Accessibility Tool

YuJa Panorama is a digital accessibility platform that helps instructors create more accessible course content. The Panorama Digital Accessibility Platform provides institutions with the unique ability to correct the accessibility of their digital content and provide alternative formats for users with learning disabilities. Panorama integrates seamlessly with all major Learning Management Systems (LMS).

File Alternate Formats

Panorama provides many alternative file formats to meet individual student needs. These formats will be available to your students in your course's Content by selecting the Panorama Alternative Formats icon next to compatible Content items.

Panorama's Alternative Formats include:

Source File: View the original file without alterations
PDF: View the file in PDF format.
Text File: View the file in a pure text format without any formatting styles.
Immersive Reader: Allows for customizations to text preferences, grammar options, and reading preferences while following along with the audio playback.
Gradient Reader: Enhances visual word recognition when reading by providing a guiding color gradient.
EPUB: View the file in an ebook format that is suitable for ebook readers.
Audio Podcast: Audio playback for documents.
OCR: Convert images with text into machine-encoded text that can be searched and read by screen readers.
Math Formats: Converts the file containing math equations into LaTeX, math Text, MP3 files, or MathML.
Language Translations: Translates the file automatically into over 100 languages.
Braille: View the file in braille grade 2 format for braille readers.

OCR Format Options

OCR converts images with text into machine-encoded text that can be searched and read by screen readers. There are a few extra options when the OCR option is chosen:

OCR Overlaid Tagged PDF: Generate a tagged PDF that allows for selectable text overlaid on the original document
OCR Reconstructed DOCX: Generate a new DOCX file from scanned documents or images.
OCR Reconstructed Tagged PDF: Generate a new tagged PDF from scanned documents or images.
OCR Reconstructed HTML: Generate a new HTML file from scanned documents or images.
OCR Text: Recommended for those who prefer plain text, the OCR tool extracts and displays text within images and GIFs as a TXT file.
OCR Immersive Reader: use the immersive reader for OCR content.
OCR Audio: Extract text within images and GIFs into an MP3 text-to-speech audio player.

Math Format Options

Math Formats converts documents containing math equations into LaTeX, Math Text (i.e., numbers and symbols to words), MP3 files, or MathML. There are a few extra options when the Math Formats option is chosen:

Latex: Convert documents into LaTeX document format.
Math Text: Convert documents into printed English, including numbers and symbols.
Math Audio: Convert documents to MP3.
MathML: Extract mathematical equations from documents and convert them into HTML files.

Note: If your students see a grayed-out symbol with a line through it, then Alternative Formats have been disabled for the file.

File Accessibility Report & Score

Panorama will generate an Accessibility Report for all compatible file types in your course's Content. These reports will score the file's accessibility and are generated based on the number and severity of accessibility issues present within the file. You can see all of your Content Item's scores at a glance in Content by locating the Accessibility Score icons next to each Content Item. You can view the Accessibility Report's score and more by clicking on the Accessibility Score icon.

Low Accessibility Score: The red octagon icon shows when the accessibility score of the file is less than or equal to 30%. This means that the file contains major accessibility issues that need to be fixed before it is used in the course.

Medium Accessibility Score: The yellow triangle icon shows when the accessibility score of the file is between 30% and 70%. This means that the file is below the acceptable accessibility standards, and may contain various levels of accessibility issues that need to be fixed.

High Accessibility Score: The green hexagon icon shows when the accessibility score of the file is between 70% and 90%. This means that the file meets acceptable accessibility standards, however, there may still be some minor accessibility issues that can be fixed.

Very High Accessibility Score: The green octagon icon shows when the accessibility score of the file is greater than or equal to 90%. This means that the file meets acceptable accessibility standards, however, there may still be some minor accessibility issues that can be fixed.

No Accessibility Score: The purple unfinished circle icon means a score has not been generated yet. Click on the icon to see if the score is still processing, or you can manually start processing the score.

Panorama is compatible with the following file types: DOC, DOCX, PPT, PPTX, PDF, HTML, TXT, GIF, XLS, XLSX, ODT, ODP, ODS, RTF file types, and editable HTML pages. If you do not see an Accessibility Score icon next to a Content item, please ensure the file is supported by Panorama.

Accessibility Issues

As mentioned above, Panorama will automatically detect the number and severity of accessibility issues that a file has and generate a score based on these issues for the Accessibility Report. You can view these issues by clicking on the Accessibility Score icon next to the Content Item and then selecting the Accessibility Report. From there, the detected issues will be displayed on the right side of the window.

Severe Issue: The red octagon icon indicates a Severe Issue. These are accessibility issues that must be fixed as they greatly impact the accessibility of the file. Some Severe Issues include using a scanned document, using an encrypted document, and using a malformed document.

Major Issue: The yellow triangle icon indicates a Major Issue. These are accessibility issues that should be fixed as they moderately impact the accessibility of the file. Some Major Issues include documents missing a title, documents containing items without alternate descriptions, and insufficient contrast between the foreground text and the background color.

Minor Issue: The green circle icon indicates a Minor Issue. These are accessibility issues that can be fixed as they slightly impact the accessibility of the file. Some Minor Issues include some text's font size being too small, language is not specified for the document, and hyperlink text is not descriptive.

Fixing Accessibility Issues

The Accessibility Report offers various ways to resolve accessibility issues identified under the Review Issues list.

AutoPilot: Automatically proposes fixes for accessibility issues, which can be applied to your document immediately using the Panorama Remediation Engine.
Fix Issue (Panorama's Remediation Engine): Manually add fixes for accessibility issues within the report, and then apply those changes to your document.
How To Fix: Provides manual steps for updating the original document. Institution admins can adjust these steps.
Replace with Alternative Format: Replace the original document with an Alternative Format generated by Panorama.

Panorama Remediation Engine

The Panorama Remediation Engine is a tool that works within Brightspace to help fix accessibility issues for documents. The Remediation Engine can fix font-related issues, color contrast issues, alt-text issues, and more for DOC, DOCX, OTD, RTF, and HTML files. Click the "Fix Issue" button and the Remediation Button will help you fix the issue directly in the Accessibility Report! Once the fixes have been saved, click the "Apply Staged Changes" button to replace the current file.

Panorama AutoPilot

AutoPilot is an AI-powered tool that automatically proposes document accessibility fixes for PDF, DOCX, PPTX, and HTML files. AutoPilot will currently propose fixes for the following issue types: Font size, color contrast, and missing alt-text. Once accessibility issues are proposed, they can automatically be applied to the document. After the fixes have been applied, click the "Apply Staged Changes" to replace the current file.

How To Fix

While Panorama's Remediation Engine and AutoPilot tools can help fix many common accessibility issues, some require more in-depth changes that cannot be done within Panorama. To assist with these issues, Panorama provides written and video instructions that can be accessed by clicking the "How to Fix" button next to the issue. Once the issues have been fixed, you can use the Upload option at the bottom right of the report window to upload and overwrite the current document. Please note

Replace with Alternative Format

While students can generate their Alternative Formats for files in your course, there may be situations where you may want to replace current files with an alternative format. In the Accessibility Report, you can click on the Replace tab in the bottom right of the window. Then you can select the alternative format you wish to use and click Replace to replace the current Content Item. Please note that this will permanently update the document and cannot be reversed.

Panorama Course Report

When you access Panorama for the first time, you should be directed to the Course Report section. This will show you the overall accessibility score of all files in your current course. You can filter the report based on your course's Start and End Dates, and you export the report to a CSV file. If you click on the Panorama link on the NICC Brightspace Homepage, you will need to click the "Select Course" button and select the course you wish to review.

Processed Documents & Alternative Formats Downloaded

Just below the report, you will see two different charts. The first is the Files Processed by Document Type chart, which will show a breakdown of all of the unique file types Panorama has processed in your course. The second is the Alternative Formats Downloaded by Format Type, which will show a breakdown of all of the unique alternative formats students have downloaded.

Processed Documents & Alternative Formats Downloaded

The final part of the Course Report is the Search Issues and Content section. This section allows you to see all of the files that Panorama processed in your course. Instead of going through each file in your course's Content section, you can use this section to quickly review and fix all accessibility issues flagged by Panorama. You can also view the list of the Issues detected if you wish to fix more severe issues right away.

Panorama AutoPilot

AutoPilot is an AI-powered tool that automatically proposes document accessibility fixes for PDF, DOCX, PPTX, and HTML files. In Panorama, you can use AutoPilot to fix individual files or all supported files in a course. AutoPilot will currently propose fixes for the following issue types: Font size, color contrast, and missing alt-text. Once accessibility issues are proposed, they can automatically be applied to the document.

To run AutoPilot in your course, you will need to do the following:

In your course, select More Tools and then Panorama
Expand the "AutoPilot" section from the menu on the left of the Panorama screen
Click "Run AutoPilot"
Select the course(s) you wish to have AutoPilot run in
Click "Next" in the bottom right corner
Select/deselect the issues you want AutoPilot to process
Click "Next" in the bottom right corner
Review your list, and click "Run & Confirm" when done

From there, AutoPilot will process all of the selected issues and begin to remediate the files. Once the files have finished processing, you should see the new accessibility score based on the fixes from AutoPilot.

Panorama Course Settings

Panorama offers instructors many customization settings for their courses such as enabling/disabling course icons, certain alternative formats, etc. To access these settings, you will need to do the following:

In your course, go to More Tools and then Panorama
Expand the "Configuration" section from the menu on the left
Select "General Settings"

From there, you can adjust the Course Settings, such as enabling/disabling Automatic Report Generation, Disabling Alternative Formats, and more. You can also select the User Settings tab to adjust showing or hiding the Panorama icons, setting your preferred language, etc.

Tip! If you teach a language course, you can disable the Language Translations Alternative Format in the Alternative Formats Menu Options. This will keep students from being able to use Panorama to automatically translate files in your course.

Panorama DocHub

YuJa Panorama provides a centralized, Cloud-based digital accessibility media repository to help instructors and departments organize content and see accessibility scoring in one place. YuJa Panorama provides a My Content section, a digital, cloud-based storage space for users to see accessibility scoring, make changes to media files, and pre-generate Accessible Alternatives. You can access the DocHub by doing the following:

In your course, go to More Tools and the Panorama in the blue navigation bar at the top of the page
Select DocHub from the menu on the left
Click on one of the pre-made folders, or you can add a new folder to your DocHub
1. To create a folder, click the "Create Folder" button
2. Enter a name for the folder (Ex: class name, year, subject, etc.)
3. Select "Create" when done
Once you are in a folder, select the "Add a File" button to upload a file to your DocHub
1. Note: You can also add Sub Folders by clicking the "Add Folder" button

From there, you can select the file to open the Accessibility Report and fix potential accessibility issues and you can download Alternative Formats. You can also delete folders and files in your DocHub. To delete a folder, select the vertical ellipsis in the folder's tile and click "Remove". To delete a file, hover over the file and click "Delete".

Tip! You can share a file with a student, faculty, or staff member! Hover over the file you wish to share, select the "Share" button, enter the recipient's email address, and click "Share". They will then get access to the file and can generate their own Alternative Formats.

Panorama To-Do List

YuJa Panorama provides Content creators a way to efficiently manage documents they want to enhance the accessibility of by adding them to their To-Do List. The documents can then be updated within the To-Do List, or if the original documents are updated, the list automatically reflects those changes. You will need to do the following to add a document to your To-Do List:

In your course, select the Panorama Accessibility Score icon next to one of your files in Content
Click on the "Accessibility Report"
Select the vertical ellipsis on the right side of the Accessibility Report window
Click "Add To My To-Do List"
Repeat these steps for any other files you wish to add to your To-Do List
Select More Tools and then Panorama in your course's navigation bar at the top of the page
On the left, select "To-Do List"

From there, you should see all of the documents that you added to your To-Do List. Select a file to go into the Accessibility Report and work on fixing the detected accessibility issues. You can also remove a file from the list by clicking on the vertical ellipsis next to the file and selecting "Remove".

Panorama FAQs

Who should I contact if I have questions about accessibility in my courses?

If you want to learn more about using Panorama and accessibility in Brightspace, please reach out to online@nicc.edu and we will be happy to assist you.

If you want to learn more about accessibility and student accommodations, please reach out to the Accessibility Services department using the following link: https://www.nicc.edu/academic-support/accessibility-services/

Do all of my files need to have a score of 100%?

Not all files need a perfect score, however, it is recommended to try and achieve the highest possible score to ensure files are accessible to all students. All Major and Severe Issues should be fixed before the file is available to your students.

What should I do if I see a purple symbol unfinished circle icon next to a Content Item?

This icon means that the accessibility report has not been processed yet. Click on the icon and select Process Report at the top of the pop-up window to generate your report. Some larger files may take a while to process, however, you may reach out to online@nicc.edu if you notice an issue with a file not processing.

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