What Does Accessibility Mean for the Classroom?

Accessibility ensures that everyone can benefit from instruction and participate in activities and discussions. Creating an inclusive classroom means everyone can be themselves and learn together.

Wentworth has resources for accessibility in Brightspace, including Panorama and Brightspace Accessibility Checker.

Accessibility in Brightspace

The Brightspace Accessibility Checker is available within the HTML Editor when you create or edit HTML content pages. It is located right beside the Spellcheck button. You can select Check Accessibility anytime while editing your content. Brightspace will also prompt you to add alternative (alt) text to any images you upload. Follow the guidelines below for using writing alt text.

Panorama

Panorama for Digital Accessibility works within Brightspace to help instructors identify and correct accessibility issues for several digital file types.  Panorama not only assesses your material, it guides you through suggestions of how to improve your course material’s accessibility and provides several alternative formats for users to be able to engage with the content in a more accessible way.

Click on the numbers in the image below to learn more about the Panorama accessibility feature. 

View the Accessible Version of this Interactive Content

How to Use Panorama

Panorama’s accessibility Icons and Gauges help you quickly identify what course content is accessible and what has accessibility issues.

Step 1: Navigate to your Brightspace Content.

Step 2: Click on one of the accessibility icons that appears to the right of the content item names. 

Clicking on an icon will open a pop-up window that shows you what the accessibility score is and the alternative formats available for download.

Note: Make sure you have allowed pop-ups in your browser settings. Chrome and Firefox browsers work best.

Step 3: Click on the gauge at the top right to view a full description of the accessibility issues and solutions.

Step 4: Click on the arrow to the right of the issue number to view each issue as well as how to fix it.

The Accessibility Report provides a view of the issues and allows you to address each one individually. In the example below, there are 52 issues that are ranked from minor to major. 

Panorama Course Reports

Access all of your course reports in one place and get detailed information about the overall accessibility of each course and specific accessibility issues found in each course’s content from your course reports page. 

To access your course reports page:

Step 1: Click on More from the Brightspace landing page menu. Select Panorama Accessibility Tool.

A new window will open in your browser which is your Panorama course reports web page. 

Step 2: To view your course reports, click the Select Course button at the bottom of the window. 

Step 3: A list of your courses will appear. Click on a course name to view the accessibility reports for a particular course. 

You will now see several different reports and, when you scroll down, a list of all course content and the accessibility score of each item. 

Writing Alt Text for Images

Adding alt text to images? Not sure what to say and how to say it? Use our Alt Text 101 guide!

Resources Around Campus