How Meridian Community College Brought Accessibility Awareness from “Zero to 100 Percent”

Richardson noted that a key differentiator in MCC’s selection of YuJa Panorama was its unique dual approach to accessibility, which was lacking in other solutions the institution explored. While all of the products assessed accessibility of the course, they did not identify why a score was low or how to fix it, Richardson shared. “YuJa tells you what standard your content isn’t meeting and how to fix it, robustly, and with tutorials.”

“What we found with all other products we evaluated,” she added, “was that they didn’t have a student component, which still put a lot of work on instructors.” With YuJa, she said, students can “transform Canvas into their own learning environment.” Holley Purvis, Canvas Administrator at MCC, agreed. “It’s been a game changer for our students,” she said. “They are definitely using the tools, which has made us very happy.”

When Dr. Gonzales joined the institution, she said “knowledge of accessibility was probably close to zero.” With a background in Department of Defense and FEMA accessibility regulations, she said she immediately recognized the gap in awareness.

Through YuJa Panorama’s comprehensive tools and guidance, faculty awareness has grown exponentially. “If you ask instructors ‘what was your accessibility knowledge before and after, on a scale from zero to 10,’ most would be below a five prior to YuJa, and probably within a seven to 10 after,” Richardson said. The Platform’s guidance on accessibility issues, remediation steps, and training has helped create a culture where accessibility is understood and prioritized, with Dr. Gonzales noting that “the awareness level has risen to 100 percent.”

YuJa Panorama has been integrated into the college’s course evaluation process. Instructors are required to meet accessibility scores each year. “Being able to identify individual file types as problematic and really understanding where problems were so when they developed new content, they knew ahead of time what the problems were,” Richardson said. “They are able to get in front of that and meet accessibility requirements as they’re developing new content.”

Richardson added that YuJa Panorama has helped ease the burden on faculty, who first had to contend with the pandemic and then with new regulations and standards. “They’ve had to grow leaps and bounds over the past few years,” Richardson stated. “There was such a magnifying glass on online learning and distance education, and then regulations and standards started ticking up, which required more work from them. YuJa Panorama has helped reduce some of their workload and some of their cognitive load as they’re creating their courses.”

Students at MCC have embraced YuJa Panorama’s self-service capabilities, actively using the platform’s features to customize their learning experience, Richardson shared. For example, a student who preferred audio learning was able to independently convert text content into podcast format rather than requiring the instructor to create videos. “Students can go in there and do it themselves in real time,” Richardson said. “It’s better for the student and it’s better for the instructor.”

All incoming freshmen receive training on digital learning tools, including YuJa Panorama, during orientation. They learn how to download different file types, use the accessibility widget in Canvas, and other tools they may need. “It’s been a game changer for our students,” Purvis said. “The institution is now developing more comprehensive student training programs to ensure all students, including those who don’t attend orientation, can fully benefit from the platform’s features.”

“The best summary of our experience with YuJa is ‘transformative,’” Dr. Gonzales said. “As an administrator and being part of our consortium in Mississippi, I wish to continue to push for this particular product in that it meets all of the (regulatory) requirements, not just a few of them, and it decreases the workload for our faculty as well. In higher education, anytime faculty can have their workload lessened makes them a more effective instructor.”

“It gives them autonomy in a way not everything else can,” Richardson concluded.