“YuJa Panorama is transformative for our entire college, both from a faculty and staff perspective and from a student perspective.”
Erin Richardson Director of Digital Teaching and Learning & Instructional Designer
Case study
How Meridian Community College Brought Accessibility Awareness from ‘Zero to 100 Percent’
Introduction
MCC Puts Accessibility Directly Into Students’ Hands With YuJa Panorama
Meridian Community College (MCC) has served Meridian, Mississippi, since 1937, growing from a two-grade extension of the local high school into a comprehensive community college with a deep commitment to the families and students of Lauderdale County. Through its Tuition Guarantee Program, any student who graduates from a Lauderdale County high school or home school can attend MCC tuition-free—a reflection of the college’s mission to remove barriers between students and their education, both financial and otherwise.
That same mission is what led MCC to YuJa Panorama, the institution’s very first dedicated accessibility platform. “YuJa Panorama has transformed our institution into one that not only supports the accessibility needs of our students, but also supports our faculty and staff in creating content that supports student accessibility needs as well,” said Erin Richardson, Director of Digital Teaching and Learning and Instructional Designer at MCC.
1937
Founded
Meridian, MS
Location
40+
Programs
~3,400
Enrollment
About the Client
About Meridian Community College
Meridian Community College is a public community college serving Meridian, Mississippi, and the surrounding Lauderdale County community. Founded in 1937 as an extension of the local high school, MCC is the only one of Mississippi’s 15 public community colleges to have originated through the initiative of a local school system. Today, the college offers more than 40 career and technical education programs alongside a robust University Transfer program, serving around 3,400 college credit students each year along with thousands more through continuing education and community enrichment programs. Through its Tuition Guarantee Program, MCC ensures that any graduate of a Lauderdale County high school or home school can attend tuition-free, reinforcing the college’s role as a true community anchor.
“YuJa tells you what standard your content isn’t meeting and how to fix it, robustly, and with tutorials.”
A Comprehensive Solution
Gaining Accessibility Awareness
Helping Reduce Instructors’ Workloads
Driving Student Success and Autonomy
Continuous Innovation and Support
A Comprehensive Solution
YuJa Panorama Offers Instructor and Student Components
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.”
Gaining Accessibility Awareness
Gaining Awareness of Accessibility Issues
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.”
Helping Reduce Instructors’ Workloads
YuJa Panorama Reduces Workloads and Helps With Development
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.”
Driving Student Success and Autonomy
Students Can Customize their Learning Environment
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.”
YuJa Panorama Has Been ‘Transformative’
Administrators Advocate for Expanded Use Throughout the State
“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.
“We felt like we were giving the students something beyond just meeting regulation.”
Highlights
01.
MCC chose YuJa Panorama because it was the only solution that put accessibility tools directly in students’ hands, not just on the institution’s side of the digital divide.
02.
The Website Accessibility Widget and on-demand alternative formats give every student, not just those who ask, a way to access course content on their own terms.
03.
Students actively use self-service features to customize their learning experience within the LMS.
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