YuJa Panorama for Digital Accessibility in D2L
Shippensburg University is committed to digital accessibility and inclusive learning. Beginning in Winter 2025 and Spring 2026, all D2L Brightspace courses include YuJa Panorama, a tool that will help improve course content accessibility and provide students with alternative formats.
This tool supports Shippensburg University's commitment to digital accessibility and meets the ADA Title II federal compliance deadline of April 24, 2026.
What is YuJa Panorama?
YuJa Panorama integrates directly with D2L to improve accessibility of course content. It automatically scans uploaded materials (PDF, Word, PowerPoint, etc.) and provides:
- Accessibility Reports – Instructors see real-time feedback and tips to improve their documents.
- Alternative Formats – Students can instantly download course materials in formats that work best for them (e.g., audio, ePub, electronic braille, immersive reader).
- Accessibility Score Indicators – Simple colored gauges (red, orange, green) show the accessibility level of each file.
Who is responsible for making sure a course's digital content is accessible?
- Panorama will be enabled in all courses and thoroughly identifies accessibility issues. It's important to note that while Panorama flags accessibility problems, faculty are responsible for reviewing and making sure all digital content used in their course (including that in D2L) meets the accessibility guidelines.
- Ensuring accessibility in course materials is a key responsibility of the faculty member. However, faculty are not expected to navigate this process alone. While the implementation of changes must be made by faculty, support is readily available from Instructional Design & Technology and the Office of Accessibility to provide guidance, tools, and resources.
- The Faculty and Leader roles in D2L will find icons by each D2L page and files that you can select to find the document’s Accessibility Score and Alternate Formats. For each accessibility issue identified, written information, occasional videos, and step-by-step instructions are offered addressing accessibility and ensuring materials are compliant with industry best practices.
We hope that as you begin using Panorama, you'll become further knowledgeable about and committed to accessibility practices. We look forward to collaborating on accessibility to ensure the success of Shippensburg students.
When should I be reviewing my course materials?
- Summer 2026 and Fall 2026 courses will be loaded into D2L the week of April 20. Begin reviewing the digital course content in those courses as you build them. Use the Spring 2026 semester to familiarize yourself with the YuJa Panorama tool and how to make that course content accessible.
- Reviewing a course for accessibility and remediating its content takes time. You do not need to do it all in one sitting, but you should budget enough time to complete the task.
YuJa Panorama notes both Major and Minor issues in my course. What does this mean?
Major issues create substantial barriers for students using assistive technologies (e.g., screen readers, keyboard navigation) or for students with visual, auditory, or cognitive disabilities.
- High Priority – Address First
- All Major issues MUST be addressed.
Minor issues generally do not block access, but they can reduce usability, clarity, or efficiency for some learners. They are considered "polishing" or "best practice" items. They do not usually prevent a student from accessing the information but can make the experience less fluid or consistent.
- Lower Priority – Work to improve.
Recommended Faculty Workflow
- Start with red or low-scoring items
- Fix major issues in high-use materials (syllabus, weekly readings, assignments)
- Work to address minor issues over time
- Aim for continuous improvement, not perfection
What is a good Overall Accessibility Score?
Yuja Panorama is just a tool to help identify accessibility issues, not an absolute test of accessibility.
Thus, it is a difficult question to answer definitively, so the best response is: as close to 100% as possible.
- The Federal rule requires that all digital content meet the guidelines.
- Digital content that scores under 70% has a severe or major barrier to accessibility.
There are some items that Yuja Panorama flags as issues (as they are), which do not block access for assistive technologies.
- For example, text smaller than 9pt should not be used in the body of something and thus is flagged as a minor issue; it is acceptable to use 9pt or smaller if it is subscript, or in a footnote/reference page, but YuJa does not distinguish that, it just says you have small text.
In addition, YuJa Panorama may also miss some things.
- For example, it does not scan the content of quizzes, that must be reviewed manually.
Ultimately, all major issues need to be addressed, with the understanding that all content has to be accessible.
Understanding Panorama's Icons
Panorama displays 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 image below depicts various file types and D2L assignments. To the right of almost every item or file is a Panorama accessibility icon. Red arrows point to an HTML page with a yellow triangle icon containing a person, a red pentagon icon containing a person, and a green hexagon icon containing a person.
The second image 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.
For further step-by-step detailed directions, read the Getting Started in Panorama for Instructors in D2L and more on YuJa's Panorama Resource site.
Icon Key
The following Icon Key table provides the icon, what the icon means (title and description), and who has access to that icon.
Note: Students will only view the blue universal accessibility person icon below, and students will never see the file scores. Only the Faculty and Leader roles will view these file scores.
| Icon Title and Icon | Description | Who Sees the Icon? |
|
Green hexagon with person |
The green thumbs up icon indicates that there are either no issues or only minor accessibility issues identified by Panorama. The file score could be between 70-100%. The more minor issues the score moves closer to 70%. | Faculty and Leader roles in D2L |
|
Yellow triangle with person |
The triangle icon indicates one or more major accessibility file issues have been identified by Panorama. The file score could be between 30-70%. The more major issues the score moves closer to 30%. | Faculty and Leader roles in D2L |
|
Red pentagon with person |
The red pentagon indicates one or more severe accessibility file issues have been identified by Panorama. The file score could be between 0-30%. The more severe issues the score moves closer to 0%. | Faculty and Leader roles in D2L |
|
Incomplete circle around person's body |
A file is being processed and not ready to view the score yet. | Faculty and Leader roles in D2L |
|
Blue circle around person with arms and legs outstretched |
The icon is always displayed to students. This serves as their access to the alternative format menu for a given file. An instructor may also view these icons when viewing the page as a student view. | Student role in D2L |
|
Empty page or alternative formats disabled for that file |
In some cases, instructors, programs, and/or administrators may disable specific alternative file formats depending on the course. |
Faculty and Leader roles in D2L Student role in D2L |
Fixing Issues
You can fix (some) issues directly within D2L without needing to upload a new file.
In the image below, you can see that the HTML page "Module 1" has an overall accessibility score of 68%. The Accessibility Report in the right panel lists both a major and a minor accessibility issue involving alternative text and text description. In this case, both of these issues are fixable within D2L.
If the issue is not fixable within the LMS, Panorama will display a "How to Fix" button you can click on for more information on correcting the problem.
Need Help?
- For technical support, please email Instructional Design at ID@ship.edu or call 717-477-1816
- For accessibility guidance, please contact the Office of Accessibility at 717-477-1364, email oar@ship.edu, or refer to the Office of Accessibility webpage.
- Visit YuJa's Panorama Resource Site for information, tutorials and more!