Product Updates

August 23, 2023
YuJa Verity Test Proctoring Platform – “Nepheline” Version Released to US, CAN, AUS, and EU Zones
We have successfully pushed an update to all instances residing in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the European Union. This update includes assessment support for the standalone proctoring for students not enrolled in the LMS, AI-enhanced ID verification support for the browser extension, improved third-party integration with Pearson, live monitoring of student devices during proctored tests, and a new UI to enhance the student workflow.
1. Support for Proctoring Tests for Students Who Are Not Enrolled in the LMS In certain instances, institutions may require proctored assessments for individuals not enrolled in the institution’s LMS (example: an entrance examination or placement test to the institution). For these cases, instructors now have the option to create standalone proctored assessments that can be sent via email. These assessments are secured with a personalized password and require users to utilize the Lockdown App or Verity Browser Extension to create a secure testing environment. To learn more, please visit our guide on How to Create a Standalone Proctoring Session.
2. Verity Browser Extension Now Supports AI-Enhanced ID Verification Our optional AI-enhanced facial recognition used for ID Verification is now available for the Verity Browser Extension. This integration allows instructors to seamlessly incorporate authentication capabilities into any proctored assessment with Verity, ensuring a secure match between the test taker and their uploaded ID. Keep in mind that the use of AI-enhanced ID verification is an optional workflow.
3. Improved Third-Party Assessment Integration with Pearson Verity has expanded its integration with Pearson Assessments with an even tighter and more streamlined third-party assessment integration. Unlike standalone third-party assessments, the improved Pearson integration streamlines the initiation process for students taking a third-party assessment in the Lockdown App.
4. Auto-Detection for Disconnected or Additional Devices Added During an assessment, Verity will monitor all external devices to ensure proctoring restrictions are adhered to. Should devices be added or removed during the assessment, Verity will pause the session and prompt the student to follow essential steps to continue with their assessment.
5. Revised Student Workflow for Taking Proctored Assessments To enhance the student workflow for taking proctored assessments through the browser extension, we’ve introduced a more intuitive UI that leads students through each step of the process. By guiding students through verifying proctoring restrictions, setting up their recording devices, and using AI-enhanced ID verification, Verity is committed to ensuring a seamless process for students accessing their proctored assessments. In upcoming releases, we will also implement this UI for the Lockdown App.
August 20, 2023
YuJa Website Accessibility Widget Update – August 2023
We have successfully pushed an update to the YuJa Website Accessibility Widget for those residing in the United States, Canada, European Union, and Australia.
1. Refreshed Website Accessibility Interface The Website Accessibility Widget, designed to improve the usability and accessibility of any website, now offers an improved user interface with a tabular view organizing Color Adjustments, Content Adjustment, and Accessibility Profiles. Select any adjustment or Profile to quickly apply an accessible preset or apply custom granular adjustments for accessibility issues such as text color, background color, font sizing, letter spacing, and so much more.
August 18, 2023
YuJa Panorama Digital Accessibility Platform – “Mount Jasper” Version Released to US, CAN, and EU Zones
We have successfully pushed an update to all YuJa Panorama Digital Accessibility Platform instances residing in the United States, Canada, and the European Union. This release provides our users with reports for webpage accessibility scanning, a new interface for Website Accessibility, the option to adjust Accessibility Icon colors, unified HTML reporting, map Canvas custom roles to Panorama, the option to scan newly added courses, and more.
1. New WCAG 2.1-Aligned Webpage Scanning and Reporting To expand on Panorama’s Website Accessibility Widget, the Platform can now perform WCAG 2.1-aligned accessibility analysis on webpages and its linked content.
  
  Website Administrators can easily view low-scoring webpages within a dedicated table to identify web pages that may hinder students’ learning or compromise an institution’s commitment to website accessibility. In an upcoming release, we will be adding optional, automated domain-level website traversal to provide fully automated scanning of websites which can replace legacy website accessibility scanning tools.
2. Refreshed Website Accessibility Interface The Website Accessibility Widget, designed to improve the usability and accessibility of any website, now offers an improved user interface with a tabular view organizing Color Adjustments, Content Adjustment, and Accessibility Profiles. Select any adjustment or Profile to quickly apply an accessible preset or apply custom granular adjustments for accessibility issues such as text color, background color, font sizing, letter spacing, and so much more.
3. Adjust Branding Colors for Accessibility Icons Recognizing the diverse branding and accessibility requirements of different institutions, Panorama now offers administrators the flexibility to adjust color preferences for icons. Simply navigate to your institution settings and add any color to the accessibility icons.
4. Unified Accessibility Reporting for HTML Regions and Documents In an effort to unify how we present Accessibility Reports across Learning Management Systems, HTML pages will feature only the Accessibility Icon to access Alternative Formats and Accessibility Reports when additional HTML gauges are disabled.
5. Map Any Custom Canvas Role to a Panorama Role Administrators have the option to align their custom Canvas roles with Panorama’s Administrator, Instructor, or Student roles. This integration will allow unique institution roles to be recognized by Panorama, ensuring controlled access to accessibility features. To learn how to align custom Canvas roles with Panorama, please visit our support guide on How to Add Custom Canvas Roles to Panorama.
6. Enhanced Scan Management Tools to Scan New Courses or Re-Scan All Courses To enhance administrators’ control over scanning and processing courses, the Scheduled Scans panel offers new tools to scan newly added courses and rescan all existing courses. This will allow administrators to exclusively scan and process newly added courses or re-scan all existing courses according to their needs.
7. Self-Service Tools to Test the Correct API Access on the Institution and Course Level Administrators will be able to test Panorama’s LMS API access to ensure APIs can retrieve relevant information about the institution or course, such as a list of roles, the names of courses, files added to a course, HTML pages created, etc.
8. The Course Report Content Search Can Filter by Dates To allow admins and instructors to locate documents efficiently within a course, we have introduced a filtering option for the Content table that organizes search results by recently added.
9. The Accessibility Report Will Prioritize Showing Document-Wide Issues We’ve enhanced our Accessibility Report layout to prioritize listing document-wide issues at the top of the issues list, organized by severity. For instance, concerns such as malformed or untagged documents now appear before issues such as alt text or hyperlinks. This can be used to focus on and resolve critical accessibility issues that have affected the entire document.
August 5, 2023
YuJa Hardware Hub – “Aspen” Firmware Update Now Available
We have released a new Hardware Hub RCS 550 firmware that is available for update. This update provides our users with the option to self-manage firmware updates for the Hardware Hub, the option to remotely reboot the Hardware Hub, improved resolution and frame rates for USB cameras, deeper audit tracking for Hardware Hub events, offline support for pre-scheduled recordings, support for additional cameras and input devices, and support for embedding DVI-D audio.
1. Self-Manage Firmware Updates for the Hardware Hub Directly through the Video Platform’s Admin Panel Administrators will no longer be required to contact YuJa for firmware updates to their Hardware Hub. With our user-friendly approach, simply navigate to the Devices tab on the Video Platform and effortlessly update the Hub firmware with just a click of a button. To learn how to update to the Aspen RC3 release, please visit our guide on How to Update the Hardware Hub Firmware.
2. Remote Reboot Capability for the Hardware Hub As part of our ongoing commitment to increase remote management capabilities, administrators now have the option to conveniently restart the Hardware Hub device directly from the Video Platform.
3. Improved Resolution and Frame Rate for USB Cameras Our latest update introduces enhanced camera capabilities through the Hardware Hub, offering support for maximum resolutions of up to 2K at 30FPS or 1080p at 60FPS when utilizing USB cameras. If multiple cameras are selected, each can be configured to custom resolutions and frame rates, ensuring optimal flexibility and high-quality recordings.
4. Audit Tracking for Tracing Individual Events The new version of the Hardware Hub now provides audit logging of actions. This will make it possible to review and trace individual recording events and actions, such as:
  - Connected and disconnected devices.
  - The status of webcams and uploads to the Video platform.
  - Requests made to the Hub. (e.g. record, pause, resume, etc.)
5. Offline Support for Pre-Scheduled Recordings If the Hardware Hub is offline, pre-scheduled recordings will proceed as planned, ensuring timely and consistent capture. Once the Hub reconnects to the network, recordings are automatically uploaded to the Video Platform.
6. Expanded Support for Multi-Source Setup Previously limited to two USB or NDI cameras, we are pleased to announce the Hardware Hub now supports 4-5 USB or NDI cameras simultaneously. This expansion extends further by providing up to three media device inputs to our newest Hardware Hub devices, granting the flexibility to create engaging content with a wider range of sources.
7. Support for Embedding DVI-D Audio Imports While the Hardware Hub has always supported video recordings through DVI-D connectors, we now offer seamless audio embedding for devices that support audio transport using HDMI over DVI-D. This enhancement ensures a comprehensive recording experience, allowing captures for both high-quality visuals and synchronized audio.
August 3, 2023
YuJa Verity Test Proctoring Platform – Minor Update Released to US, CAN, AUS, and EU Zones
We have successfully pushed a minor update to all instances residing in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the European Union. This update focuses on enhancing the user experience for the Verity Lockdown App and includes a modal to launch the app from any LMS, a new welcome page, and a comprehensive system check to ensure all requirements are met.
1. Launch Lockdown App Assessments Directly from the LMS In response to providing students with seamless access to the Lockdown App, we have implemented an automatic launch feature. Now, when students click to begin their assessments within their Learning Management System, the Lockdown App will launch, if installed, granting them access to their assessments.
2. First-Time Steps to Access Lockdown App Assessments For students attempting to access a Lockdown assessment for the first time, we have introduced a new, user-friendly two-step process. This process ensures quick access to the app by guiding them through a seamless download and launch experience that will give them direct access to their assessment.
3. New Welcome Page for the Lockdown App In the event that the Lockdown App is unable to launch an active assessment, we have implemented helpful instructions in our new welcome page directing students to navigate to their Learning Management System and launch the assessment.
4. Detect System Requirements for the Lockdown App In certain situations, the Lockdown App might encounter permissions that need attention before launching an assessment. To address this, we have introduced a comprehensive system check that can be accessed when the Lockdown app is launched. This check will inform students of any unresolved issues that need to be addressed, ensuring that all necessary permissions are met before the assessment can begin.