Product Updates

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be introducing new features to strengthen the integrity of online assessments, such as the ability to add exam aids for students, multiple usability updates to the YuJa Verity Lockdown App, and extended proctoring support to the YuJa Verity Proctoring Platform for improved user flexibility.

1. Multi-Day Live Sessions and Clearer Registration Details Improve the Live Proctoring Student Experience

   Instructors and students now have more practical features when using live proctoring in YuJa Verity.

   

   Key features include:

   • Increased flexibility for instructors: Instructors will now be able to host a single live session across multiple days instead of only 24 hours. The length of live sessions will also now populate into YuJa Verity depending on the LMS quiz settings.

   • Informative student emails and post-registration messages prior to assessments: Students who register for any live proctoring assessments will receive detailed session information on the post-registration confirmation page and the automated follow-up email, allowing them to take assessments with peace of mind knowing that they are not missing crucial details right before a test.

   • View upcoming live sessions for multiple-day assessments: Students can see the upcoming live-proctoring sessions for an assessment in one space on their Live Registration page.

2. Live Proctor Standalone Assessments Outside of Your LMS

   All proctoring methods are now supported for standalone assessments in YuJa Verity, giving instructors more freedom and customization for their assessment needs without relying on an LMS environment.

   

   In addition to Automated Proctoring, instructors can now:

   • Assign proctors for live sessions: With Live Proctoring, instructors can designate their own staff or YuJa’s official proctors to monitor assessments in real-time.

   • Enter the session only when suspicious activity is detected: Instructors can intervene and resolve questions and potential academic misconduct in the assessment session only when alerted by Verity’s automatic proctoring system.

   • Review test-taker performance after intervention: Instructors can choose to manually review each test-taker’s performance after the live session ends to add or remove any flagged events.

3. Refreshed Lockdown App Launch Workflow Helps Students Start Assessments Faster

   The YuJa Verity Lockdown App has been refreshed with a new and upgraded launch workflow that allows students to set up and take assessments in the lockdown browser faster.

   

   Key features include:

   • Launch modal redesign:Additional clarity is now provided to students when they are prompted to launch the Verity Lockdown App to complete their assessment, allowing them to easily identify whether they already have the app installed.

   • Intuitive loading indication: A splash screen will automatically appear when the Verity Lockdown App is launched to provide visual indication of background progresses, providing students with an ease of mind.

   • Automatically authenticate students: Upon installation, students will be directed to log in through their institution and will be automatically authenticated, eliminating manual authentication processes and allowing students to start their assessments immediately.

4. Start Assessments Faster in Moodle With Automatic Student Authentication

   Students are now automatically authenticated when they open a Verity proctored assessment in Moodle, allowing them to start the assessment or install the browser extension directly in the assessment workflow without locating and navigating to the Verity portal link first in their LMS environment.

5. Updated Confirmation Page Shows All Proctoring Configurations for a Convenient Review Process

   The Confirmation page has been updated to provide a comprehensive overview of the configurations applied to a proctored assessment. Instructors can now:

   • Review configurations using a clear table overview: Instructors can now see an overview of their chosen configurations in a clear and succinct table. All restrictions are now displayed at-a-glance without needing to scroll through the page, or return to previous tabs in the workflow.

     

   • Navigate through the workflow quickly using buttons: New buttons have been added to the Confirmation page which allows instructors to return to the specific tab to edit their configurations directly without needing to repeatedly use the back button.

     

6. Hide “End Proctoring” Button to Prevent Accidental Session Ending

   Instructors can choose to hide the End Proctoring button from students taking assessments in their institutions’ learning management system. This feature safeguards against unintentional clicks during assessments.

   

7. Provide Reference Material During Assessments to Simulate Traditional Exam Environment

   Instructors can now provide reference material to students during proctored assessments to facilitate a more traditional exam environment, simplifying the assessment set up process while providing additional assessment flexibility.

   

8. New Third-Party Integration with Willolabs Expands Assessment Flexibility

   Verity is introducing a new third-party integration with Willolabs, allowing instructors and students to create and take assessments on Willolabs using Verity’s proctoring configurations. Verity will also automatically inject assessment passwords for students, shaping a seamless and efficient assessment workflow without any new interruptions.

   

9. Verity Extends Proctoring Support to D2L’s New Learner Experience

   The YuJa Verity proctoring experience is now available in D2L Brightspace’s New Learner Experience, allowing existing and future users of the new interface to use all of Verity’s proctoring features for their assessment needs.

   

   This includes:

   • Enabling proctoring for assessments: Instructors can configure proctoring settings on all types of assessments, including LMS assessments, standalone assessments, and assessments created using the Verity Assessment Builder.

   • Choosing from different proctoring methods: Instructors can choose from automated, live, and hybrid proctoring options for different assessments according to their course goals and institutional standards.

   • Reviewing test-taker performance using comprehensive reports: Each test-taker can be carefully evaluated for potential academic integrity violations using Verity’s timestamped post-assessment report.

   • Gaining clearer insight into institution-wide performance: Administrators and instructors can see institution and course-wide reports to evaluate behavior trends on a larger scale.

In the coming weeks, the YuJa Engage Student Response System will introduce automatic synchronization with the Canvas gradebook to eliminate manual grade inputting for instructors.

1. Automatic Canvas Gradebook Sync Reduces Manual Grade Input for Instructors

   YuJa Engage will now automatically import attendance and assignment poll results into the Canvas gradebook in real-time as polls close, eliminating manual efforts required for instructors to duplicate student attendance and poll results into Canvas.

   

Over the next few weeks, the YuJa Lumina Video Platform will be adding features such as direct caption editing in the Video Player, a redesigned integrations menu, the ability to toggle auto-scrolling when editing EAD, and additional enhancements to the Video Player that improve user workflows for faculty and students alike.

1. Effortlessly Edit Captions Directly from the Video Player Sidebar

   Content creators will now be able to edit captions directly from the Video Player sidebar, enhancing the caption-editing workflow and providing more options for how they edit their captions. This optimized workflow removes the need to open the Lumina Video Editor, while still allowing captions to be edited inline.

   

2. Viewers Can Now Propose Corrections for Captions

   While watching videos, viewers can now use the Video Player sidebar to suggest clarifying corrections for captions. By using the Suggest Correction feature, a viewer can propose a fix for typos or timing errors in closed captions, which will then be relayed to the video owner to review and accept, allowing the wider community of viewers to help institutions ensure their content is high quality and error-free.

   

3. Delete, Share, Edit, and Publish Directly From the Video Player Page

   The Video Player’s description box has been updated with new buttons that allow users to move content to the recycling bin, share resources, publish videos to channels, launch the video editor, and view media details, all from directly within the page. By providing users with a shortcut to these functions, the need to navigate multiple pages to perform key actions has been reduced, introducing a more seamless workflow that enables quicker video management.

   

4. Redesigned Video Settings Menu for Faster Playback Customization

   The Video Player’s Settings menu has been refreshed with a sleeker and more organized array of functions. In the new Settings menu, users will find menu items sorted into logical sections for easier navigation, relocated functions like Show Transcript, and new functions such as the Set Current Frame as Thumbnail tool. Users will be able to configure video settings to customize their playback experience more quickly than ever.

   

5. Provide Viewers with Key Information Before They Press Play

   Viewers will now be able to view key media information, such as titles and descriptions, directly atop the Video Player before they hit play. Providing viewers with key contextual information before they begin a video helps transform playback into a more meaningful learning experience as it helps establish relevance and aids comprehension. Additionally, when viewers hover over the Video Player during playback, the video title now also appears to create a consistent viewing experience.

   

6. Streamlined Integration Management with the Redesigned Integrations Page

   The Admin Panel’s Integrations page has been updated with a more intuitive layout that simplifies the user flow. When opening the Integrations page, admins will now see all their active integrations first, making it easier to get to the integrations that matter most. Admins will also be able to filter integrations by LMS, Video Conferencing, Captioning, SSO, and Other Integrations, reducing the need to sort and scroll through information.

   

7. Set a New Video Thumbnail Directly from the Video Player

   Content creators can now scrub through videos in the Video Player and set their current video frame as the video thumbnail by using the Set Current Frame as Thumbnail tool in the settings panel. By offering multiple workflows for setting thumbnails, content creators have more flexibility in how and when they select their videos’ thumbnails, creating a more seamless video management experience.

   

8. Toggle Auto-Scrolling When Playing Videos in the Enhanced Audio Description Editor for a Synchronized Experience

   Users will now be able to toggle auto-scrolling when playing videos in the Enhanced Audio Description Editor. For a synchronized experience while editing, users can enable auto-scrolling to ensure that the timeline editor for the enhanced audio description moves in time with the video.

   

9. Making the Synchronized Multi-Stream Livestream Playback Experience More Seamless

   The Synchronized Multi-Stream Livestream Playback beta feature will introduce new improvements to create a more seamless experience when switching view modes. When switching between view modes, the previous video layout will continue playing in the background while the new layout loads, to ensure that viewers don’t miss moments of their livestream. The live chat window has also been relocated when viewing a livestream in gallery mode to optimize the visual layout of multiple video streams.

   

10. Manage GenAI PowerPack Usage on a Sub-Organization Level

    Institutions can now enable GenAI PowerPack access on a Sub-Organization level. With this new permission scope, institutions will have more flexibility in how they grant access to GenAI tools across roles, users, and sub-organizations.

    

Over the next few weeks, the YuJa EqualGround Accessibility Governance Platform is adding new accessibility checkers, customizable scanning success criteria, and upgrades to remediation workflows such as bulk dismissal, automatic document write back, broken links report, and much more.

1. Minimize Manual Uploads with Automatic Document Replacement in SharePoint

   Documents remediated in the YuJa EqualGround interface can now automatically replace the existing document in the user’s SharePoint repository if the user chooses to activate the toggle on the Configurations page. This eliminates the need for users to manually save the remediated document and re-upload it to their CMS site. In upcoming releases, this functionality will be supported in other CMSs including Drupal, Cascade, and TYPO3, and TerminalFour.

   

2. Automatic Document Replacement for WordPress Repositories Streamlines Document Remediation Workflows

   Automatic document replacement has been added to WordPress, saving users time and effort otherwise needed to replace the document in their WordPress repository with a remediated version after using YuJa EqualGround’s accessibility report. In upcoming releases, this functionality will be supported in other CMSs including Drupal, Cascade, and TYPO3, and TerminalFour.

   

3. Reach Compliance Faster with AI-Powered Content Generation

   YuJa EqualGround now provides the option to automatically generate accessible and descriptive attribute content to help users reach compliance, eliminating the need for manual remediation and any technical HTML knowledge.

   

   Key features include:

   • Alt Text: Users can generate proper alt text for images and image buttons that do not have alt text, or have been flagged for non-descriptive and duplicate alt text.

   • ARIA Label: Users can generate ARIA labels for elements that have inaccessible, placeholder, or no ARIA labels. Elements supported include interactive elements, form inputs, text inputs, and buttons.

   • Link Purpose: Users can generate descriptive text for links with no specified purpose or ambiguous descriptions.

   • Title Attribute: Users can generate a title attribute for any input element that does not have a title.

   • iframe Title: Users can generate an iframe title for iframes without a title or ARIA label.

4. Improved Remediation Workflow with New Bulk Dismissal Functionality

   The Accessibility Issues Report now allows users to bulk dismiss issues flagged by the Accessibility Engine instead of manually dismissing each issue. Users can:

   • Dismiss for this instance only: Only the selected issue will be dismissed.

   • Dismiss for all instances on this page: All instances of the same issue type on the current page will be dismissed.

   • Dismiss for all instances with the same code snippet: All instances of the same issue type across the website will be dismissed.

   

   The following new features are also available:

   • Dismiss with comments: When users dismiss an issue, they can leave a comment explaining the reason for the dismissal for future or inter-team reference.

     

   • View all dismissed issues: A tab has been added under websites for users to view the entire history of all previous dismissals, tracking remediation actions performed by users on the platform.

     

   • View dismissed issue details: For each dismissal action, users with the correct permissions can view the type of issue that was dismissed, the number of instances dismissed, the user who performed the action, the date of the dismissal, the affected web page URL, and any available comments.

     

   • Restore changes: Version control capabilities have been added to allow users to restore any dismissals at any time, ensuring that all changes are reversible.

     

5. Upgraded Usability Report Provides Transparency into All Broken Links

   Improved usability has been added to YuJa EqualGround for users to remediate broken links faster and more efficiently across their web assets. The following features were added:

   • Broken Links Report: The Usability Report now includes a separate Broken Links Report that displays all broken link URLs, all webpages that contain the selected broken link, and instant navigation capabilities that direct the user to the affected pages for remediation.

     

   • Data Filtering: The Broken Links Report includes data filters, scope dropdowns, a search bar, and a table displaying all broken links for the user to analyze and locate broken links they wish to prioritize.

     

   • Data Exporting: The Broken Links Report can be exported in Excel, CSV, and JSON file formats, and contain columns for the broken link URL, the web page URL in which the link can be found, and the number of instances of the broken link.

     

6. Align with Specific Organizational Needs With Customizable Accessibility Conformance Standards

   In addition to WCAG success criteria, YuJa EqualGround now supports conformance with other regulatory and policy frameworks such as Section 508, ADA, AODA, and other regional, global, or industry standards. Users can also set up their own custom compliance standard, effectively aligning their website to their own organizational needs.

   

7. Easily Copy URLs to Embedded Documents for Faster Navigation

   Full URLs to embedded documents are now automatically copied to the user’s clipboard with the click of a button. This allows the users to quickly navigate to the document for review from the documents table without manually investigating its location.

   

8. New Accessibility Checkers Track and Help Remediate Site-Wide Issues

   New accessibility checkers and suggested fixes have been added to YuJa EqualGround to improve website accessibility conformance. The following checkers were added:

   • Missing Accessible Name for <textarea>: <textarea> elements must include a descriptive and accessible name using “aria-label”, “title”, or “aria-labelledby” for assistive technologies to understand the content.

   • Missing Submit Button: Forms without any submit buttons will be flagged to ensure that form content is sent back to the server and processed.

   • Missing Language Attribute: Elements using a “lang” or “xml:lang” attribute must have a specified language subtag such as “en”, “eng”, or “fr” to help assistive technologies interpret, pronounce, and translate content correctly.

   • Insufficient Color Contrast for Links: Links that appear in a block of text need to have a color contrast ratio of at least 3:1 compared to its surrounding text to help users with visual and color impairments identify the link. If contrast is not reached, users will be prompted to add an underline to better distinguish the link.

   • Missing Attribute <autocomplete>: Form fields collecting personal information such as name, address, and birthday should include <autocomplete> to automatically populate the field with the user’s information.

   • Improper ARIA Grouping: All radio or checkbox inputs in a group with more than 1 item must be wrapped in a container element with proper attributes and naming conventions.

   • Improper <title> Attribute for Decorative Images: Decorative images with empty alt-text attributes should not have a <title> attribute as they should be ignored by screen readers.

   • Insufficient Space Around Interactive Elements: Interactive elements such as buttons, links, icons, and checkboxes need to be wrapped in an element that is at least 24px by 24px to prevent accidental overlapping with surrounding and other clickable elements.

Over the coming weeks, the YuJa Panorama LMS Accessibility Platform will introduce a series of new enhancements designed to further streamline document remediation workflows, expand platform interoperability through PowerSchool LMS integration, provide unlimited usage for select Panorama modules, and deliver additional capabilities that strengthen accessibility management and compliance initiatives.

1. Experience Streamlined Remediation Workflows Using the Redesigned Accessibility Report

   The Accessibility Report now features a streamlined interface that provides users with more intuitive access to key remediation options, including AutoPilot AI-powered fix suggestions, escalation to YuJa Accessibility Experts for complex documents, and advanced modifications through the Structural Remediation Max module. With its new minimalist design, the Accessibility Report helps users quickly identify and prioritize the most critical accessibility issues within their documents. The redesigned Accessibility Report features:

   The redesigned Accessibility Report features:

   • Optimized Issue Remediation Workflows: All available remediation workflows offered by YuJa Panorama, including Full-Circle Inline Remediation, AutoPilot AI Remediation, Structural Remediation, and DocAssist Remediation, are now consolidated into one menu where users can select the most appropriate workflow for their document.

     

   • At-a-Glance Prioritized Issues: When opening the Accessibility Report, the Issues panel will automatically show the most common issues in the document so that users can instantly understand which accessibility issues are most pressing.

     

   • Comprehensive Guided Remediation: Easily remediate common accessibility issues with the Accessibility Report’s guided remediation suggestions. Understand the issue and take simple steps to resolve it in seconds, significantly speeding up the remediation workflow.

     

2. YuJa Panorama Now Integrates with the PowerSchool LMS

   YuJa Panorama now integrates seamlessly with the PowerSchool Learning Management System (LMS), providing K-12 institutions with enhanced accessibility and digital compliance capabilities directly within their learning environment. Through the integration, PowerSchool users can access Panorama’s core accessibility tools, including Accessibility Reports, Alternative Formats, and Full-Circle Inline Remediation, while also leveraging advanced modules such as Structural Remediation and AutoPilot AI-powered remediation to streamline accessibility workflows.

   

3. Scale Accessibility Remediation with Unlimited AI-Powered Workflows in YuJa Panorama

   Institutions can now scale accessibility remediation efforts more efficiently with new unlimited usage options for YuJa Panorama’s AutoPilot, Structural Remediation, and SmartSpeaker modules. The upgraded licensing model removes traditional credit limits and user restrictions, enabling institutions to expand AI-powered remediation workflows across significantly larger volumes of content without interruption or incremental credit consumption. Please note that Course AutoPilot credits are not included as part of Unlimited AutoPilot access.

   

4. Improved Support for Remediating Table Issues in DOCX

   Users of YuJa Panorama can now use Full-Circle Inline Remediation to add captions to tables. With this new remediation workflow, users will be able to provide captions that can help users with assistive technologies find, navigate, and understand tables.

   

5. Instantly View the Total Number of Files Remediated in Course Reports

   Course Reports now contain an extra data card that displays the total number of files remediated in the course. This data card saves instructors from manually calculating the number of files remediated, reducing the risk of miscalculation and offering information at first sight instead.

   

6. Audit Logs Now Track The Success of Document Substitutions

   The capability to log information on the success and failure of document substitutions has been added to Panorama’s audit logs. In the Activity History panel, instructors and administrators can now easily confirm whether a file replacement was successful and gain insight into how often files are being replaced within their LMS.

   

7. Improved Accuracy for Inline Remediation in Microsoft PowerPoint Documents

   Enhancements to YuJa Panorama’s Remediation Engines have improved the identification and resolution of issues within PPTX documents. With these engine improvements, the Accessibility Report will provide more precise flagging and increased accuracy when performing fixes.