On Sept. 18, 2025, Winona State University Accessibility sent out an email to all students and faculty stating their excitement in announcing “the launch of YuJa Panorama, a new tool in D2L Brightspace designed to improve accessibility and give [users] more options for how they engage with course materials.”
This new learning tool allows users to download files from D2L in different formats to tailor to the learning style and needs of each individual. Formats include (but are not limited to) an audio file to listen to documents, an immersive reader that allows users to change font size and color contrast, and simplified text to aid in reading and focus.
Aurea Osgood, learning management system administrator, has been working closely with the introduction of YuJa Panorama. She explained the reason for the new tool at Winona State and other public schools around the nation.
“What sparked the current interest in accessibility is new federal requirements that all public institutions have all of their digital content accessible by April of next year,” Osgood said. “We refer to it as Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act.”
The tool is meant to allow students to learn in a way that suits them best. To make this happen, faculty can see how accessible the materials they post on D2L are and are able to make adjustments based on that.
“What the faculty sees are three different colors- red, orange, and green- indicating the level of accessibility [of a document],” Osgood said. “…There’s a weighted formula that goes into this to come up with what color [a document] gets assigned. As faculty make improvements, the color will change and become green.”
Ideally, every assignment on D2L will be green, meaning it is accessible as possible. That will take time, but faculty members and access services staff are working to make necessary updates and modifications.
Claire Duval, a graduate assistant in access services, works with students to set up accommodations and helps to run the testing center where YuJa Panorama is starting to be implemented. Although Duval spends most of her time working with students who have alternative learning plans, she recognizes that having a tool like YuJa Panorama open to all students will benefit everyone.
“Making it so everyone can use [YuJa Panorama] removes a stigma of students actually using those tools,” Duval said. “…Honestly, I feel like it’s just a benefit for all students.”
Second-year Harrison Klaphake has experienced what it is like to lack the tools necessary to learn effectively. As someone with dyslexia, Klaphake is grateful to have access to YuJa Panorama in order to find other ways to understand information.
“With having dyslexia, reading in general is very difficult at times,” Klaphake said. “So being able to have ways that I can read it differently or have [YuJa Panorama] read it to me will be very helpful to be able to keep focus and make sure my brain is actually decoding what I’m reading.”
Klaphake is a Special Education major and advocate of inclusivity. As a future educator, he recognizes that YuJa Panorama will be helpful to students of all abilities.
“My whole thing in life is trying to make sure that everyone has the tools they need to learn,” Klaphake said. “That’s what my job will be. It’s making sure I’m able to make accommodations and modifications, and having a tool that can do that help do that takes so much of a burden off of educators.”
YuJa Panorama is new at Winona State, but it is already making a positive difference in the lives of many users. By giving students more options on how to intake information and giving faculty the resources to help make their assignments and information more accessible, the tool is making learning more inclusive for everyone.
