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  3. Course Accessibility

Course Accessibility

Federal and state mandates require all digital materials meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA accessibility requirements by April 24, 2026.  

For instructional purposes, these requirements apply to all digital content for courses delivered online and in person.

If you are struggling to understand the mandated accessibility requirements and how to apply them in your courses, contact our team. We can help you troubleshoot, connect you to additional resources, and provide guidance to make necessary content changes.

In addition to one-on-one support and information provided on this page, we’ve developed resources and training to help you ensure your course materials meet the new accessibility requirements, including a suite of Accessibility Articles in our Knowledge Base and a self-paced online course, ODL 120: Designing Accessible Online Courses. 

Accessibility Standards & Expectations

WCAG accessibility principles specify that digital content, such as pages, text, images, graphics, videos, documents, tools, etc., must be perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust.

In meeting these standards, you'll ensure an equitable learning experience for students, regardless of student ability.  

Importantly, these standards are now an expectation required by law for all active course content. Students are not required to file an accommodation request for these standards to be met.  

Panorama: An Accessibility Tool

Panorama is an accessibility tool integrated with Moodle. Aligned with WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards, the tool checks course content for accessibility issues and, in some cases, can provide quick fixes within Moodle.  

Review Panorama's main features below, and reference our Panorama Q&A to learn more. 

Panorama Features

After Panorama scans course content, you will see an icon — green smiley, orange neutral, or red frowny face — next to the course content, which rates the level of accessibility. These icons are not visible to students.  

  • Green Smiley Face: Indicates the content is accessible and follows best practices.
  • Orange Neutral Face: Signifies content that requires work to become accessible.  
  • Red Frowny Face: Indicates the content is inaccessible and needs immediate remediation.  

While students will not see the green, orange, and red accessibility icons, if material was scanned by Panorama, the student will see a generic, blue accessibility icon (a person in a circle) next to the material.

Learn how to fix accessibility issues with Panorama through our Knowledge Base. 

Clicking on any icon will bring up the Alternative Formats Menu. From here, students and faculty have the option to access the original source file and alternate formats automatically generated by Panorama, including a podcast, immersive reader, braille, EPUB, and OCR.

Additionally, faculty will see a detailed Accessibility Report that provides:  

  • Issue Breakdown: Panorama categorizes issues as Minor, Major, or Severe.  
  • Learning & Fixing: For every flagged issue, there is a "Learn More" link explaining the problem and a "How to Fix" tab with step-by-step instructions or videos.  
  • In-Platform Fixes: In many cases, instructors can use the "Fix Issue" button to correct problems (like document hierarchy or missing captions) directly within the Panorama interface and apply the fixes immediately. 

Learn more about alternative file formats through our Knowledge Base. 

Panorama provides instructors with access to additional tools by navigating to the “Reports” tab in your Moodle course and selecting “Panorama.”

The Course Report feature enables instructors to view an overall accessibility rating for their course, as well as a list of all course documents and their individual accessibility scores and reports. The DocHub feature can be used to upload, check, and fix documents before moving them to other courses or sharing with students.  

Instructions for accessing your Panorama course report are available in our Knowledge Base.

Self-Paced Course on Accessibility

ODL 120: Designing Accessible Online Courses is one of many faculty development courses offered by our office for all UL Lafayette faculty members.  

This course provides an overview of accessibility requirements as well as practical solutions for making course materials accessible. Faculty earn a certificate upon completing all course activities and passing all quizzes. The course counts toward completion of ULearn Certified Online Teacher preparation.  

Enroll in the course at any time by submitting an access request form.