This is a key focus of UM’s digital strategy as the university makes advances towards creating a digital environment that is responsive and accessible to learners, instructors  and support staff of all abilities.

When we make accessibility the universal approach, everyone benefits – regardless of whether they have a disability or not.

Consider: a non-native English speaker who uses captions to understand video content, or a user with unstable internet who connects via on low-bandwidth websites, or a busy employee who saves time using Copilot to organize their meeting notes.

Digital tools offer some of the most intuitive ways to improve equitable access. Here are some of ones currently available to UM students and employees.

Learning without barriers

Available to all current students, Student Accessibility Services should be the first point of contact for any student with a disability.

They offer accommodation plans tailored to each student, but some of the common requests involve exams, note taking and assistive technologies. This is where digital tools can play an invaluable role, giving students free access to software and apps that can help them succeed in the classroom.

For example, a student who is not a visual learner or has a reading disability could benefit from audio formats of textbooks or reading software to support comprehension, attention and focus.

Artificial intelligence (AI), when used appropriately, can also be a useful tool to help students stay organized and prepare for tests. Some of the apps recommended by the SAS are JamWorks, Quizlet, and OneNote, which can include AI-assisted notetaking capabilities, customized accessibility profiles (e.g. for ADHD or vision impaired users), and the secured capacity to summarize lectures and create action plans from them.

Teaching for all learners

The Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning supports faculty with integrating accessible practices into courses. Yuja-Panorama is a multi-faceted tool available to all employees. This tool can analyze current course material, generate reports that flag accessibility concerns and make recommendations to improve them.

For those looking to refine their approach or build accessibility into new materials, The Centre offers hands-on training using UM Learn and other UM-supported tools to develop content with accessible design principles in mind. These workshops happen regularly and are led by staff trained in universal design – a learning philosophy that aims to reduce barriers so all students can engage in meaningful learning. Faculty can also request individual support through accessible course design coaching.

Communicating equitably

In our daily work at the university, all of us will communicate and share information with others and there are a variety of tools available to help us do this in ways that are accessible to everyone.

All employees have access to M365 which includes apps with speech-to-text features for dictating and transcribing, virtual assistance with organizing meeting notes and creating accessible documents. Training on these tools is offered regularly through Learning and Organizational Development.

For those who share information on the university’s website or intranet, there are resources outlining best practices for formatting content, including images and links, in accessible ways.

SiteImprove is a website monitoring tool that UM content authors can use on a regular basis to identify and update their site to meet accessibility standards. Since it was adopted by the university in 2024, umanitoba.ca has increased its accessibility score by 37 per cent.

This article is part of the university’s ongoing efforts to develop our shared UM digital future, as part of the university’s digital strategy. Those interested in learning more about digital technology in the education environment can check out the following resources:   

Workshops at The Centre
Manitoba Flexible Learning Hub 
LOD Courses: practical, hands-on training for M365, accessibility tools and more.  
Digital Community of Practice: a forum to promote best practices and build common capabilities across UM in digital technology.  
Power Platform Community of Practice: a place for citizen developers using Microsoft’s Power Platform suite of tools to come together and share ideas, projects, and best practices.

UM’s approach to responsible digital innovation aligns with priorities in MomentUM: Leading change together, UM’s 2024–2029 strategic plan. Through the Digital Governance Council, we strengthen the digital systems that support ethical innovation and knowledge sharing across communities.

OET provides leadership and coordination for UM’s foundational commitment to advance equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility for our community. The new position was created to lead strategic coordination and collaboration between UM units and individuals responsible for anti-ableism, accessibility, and age-inclusivity, and to build institutional capacity in these areas.

“This new role signals UM’s commitment to advancing anti-ableism, accessibility, and age-inclusivity in a systemic and sustained way,” says Tina Chen, Vice-Provost (Equity). “As Anti-Ableism and Age-Inclusivity Specialist, Angie will lead the development of strategic frameworks and action plans, as well as the coordination of university-wide education and training, supporting a more connected and intentional approach to accessibility and inclusion.”

Angie joined the OET team on June 9, bringing extensive education and experience in accessibility and anti-ableism practice, policy, programs, and services. She holds an undergraduate degree in Community Rehabilitation and Disability Studies from the University of Calgary and a Master in Public Administration from the University of Manitoba.

Her professional background includes a range of program and policy development. Most recently, she held the position of Manager of Accessibility Policy at Canada Post. Prior to that, she worked in neurodevelopmental services with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (Mental Health and Addictions), in adult disability services with the Province of Manitoba, and for more than a decade with New Directions delivering social services to children, youth, adults, and families.

In addition to her professional experience, Angie is an active community volunteer. She currently serves as a member of the Technical Committee for Accessibility Standards Canada and as Chair of the Accessibility and Inclusion Advisory Committee of the City of Winnipeg’s Human Rights Committee of Council.

Describing her approach to this new role, Angie sees herself as a connector – an enabler of change. “In the few short weeks that I’ve been here, I’ve seen that there is already important work happening across the university in accessibility and inclusion,” she says. “Part of my role will be to help amplify those efforts so others can learn from them and adopt similar initiatives, while also identifying areas where we can grow together.”

She adds, “As a place committed to learning, curiosity, and innovation, UM is uniquely positioned to develop and implement practices rooted in anti-ableism, accessibility, and inclusion. Each year, we welcome new people to the UM community who bring fresh ideas and perspectives while still considering the voices of current community members. That combination of diversity and energy can drive meaningful, lasting change – and I’m excited to be a part of it.”

Anti-ableism resources

Visit OET’s anti-ableism webpage for a variety of resources including:

• Results from the Dismantling Ableism Survey, part of the project Dismantling Ableism for Persons with Disabilities: Institutional Action and Accountability. The survey gathered insights from UM community members who identify as disabled or as having chronic health conditions.
• Educational resources, created by Cade Kuehl, PhD candidate and coordinator for the above project, to support learning around key concepts and definitions related to anti-ableism.

“I was drawn to UM’s Labour Studies Program because I knew I would be off work for a lengthy time, and completing this degree would give me the best chance of returning to my career in a capacity that my body could tolerate in the future,” said Breddam. She hoped to leverage on the program’s field placement – which includes research experience – to eventually transition into a role that offered better accessibility options within her field.

She found a home in labour studies and became heavily involved with the Labour Studies Students’ Association, serving as president for two consecutive years. “The highlight of my time with LABSSA is the lasting friendships that have been formed within our small community,” she shared. “I am proud to graduate with four past and present council members this spring and excited to see what they accomplish next.”

Breddam took further leadership roles outside of campus – as Chair of the Provincial Council of the Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities and a board member of the Manitoba Association for Rights and Liberties. She also completed the prestigious United Nations Young Leaders Immersion Program, which culminated in a one-week experience in Geneva, Switzerland. “This experience solidified my desire to tackle human rights issues from a labour rights perspective by demonstrating how intrinsically interconnected the world of work is with all other human experiences,” said Breddam.

Breddam shared that these achievements did not come easily. She found herself regularly navigating ongoing accessibility challenges and advocating for herself to address the barriers she faced on campus. She fondly recalls that she found support in the Labour Studies Program. “My experience within labour studies was exceptionally positive,” she said. “When you have a disability, you unfortunately must consistently prove your need for accommodation because our society is hyper concerned about the few who might abuse the system. The professors in the Labour Studies Program take the approach that students know their needs best. They demonstrated time and time again that they prioritize removing barriers over gatekeeping and showed kindness. They truly made me feel welcome.”

Her advice to UM students and grads who are facing accessibility barriers is to be mindful of the emotional burden they are carrying and share it with others. “When requesting accommodation, it’s crucial to recognize that you are best equipped to determine what you need for success, but that doesn’t imply you’ll have all the solutions,” said Breddam. “Surrounding yourself with encouraging voices can significantly impact your ability to identify opportunities to alleviate and address accessibility barriers.”  Her message to the UM community is to expand and deepen campus accessibility practices. “Accommodations aren’t just about wheelchair accessible classrooms or having a quiet place to write an exam. It’s also the little things like making sure someone puts the doorstop in before I get to class so I don’t need to ask for help opening the door, allowing me to leave 10 minutes early or be 10 minutes late because it takes me longer to wheel across campus between classes, and using short sentences and plain language on exams because dyslexia makes reading long complicated paragraphs more difficult,” explained Breddam. ”Without this support, I would not have had the energy to spare to fight for accessibility changes on campus.”

As for the future? Breddam has been accepted to Brock University’s MA program in social justice and equity studies. “I am truly excited about this opportunity. Not long ago, I couldn’t envision myself completing a bachelor’s degree, and now I’m a graduate and move on to graduate studies,” she said. “My goal is to enhance my skills in policy development and research through this program and apply them in an NGO that focuses on labour rights, or within Canadian unions and labour groups.”

Learn more about the Labour Studies Program in the Faculty of Arts.

——————————————

UM Bisons are at the centre of it all, making a difference here in Manitoba and around the world. 3058 degrees were awarded at Spring Convocation 2025 (over 620 are from the Faculty of Arts), bringing the total number of UM graduates to 4200 so far this year. Many of these new alumni will stay in Manitoba, supplying high-demand skills to the labour market and contributing to UM’s $7.3 billion economic impact on our community.

In its first year, the Social Justice Hub is supporting three groups of student organizers in developing campaigns that build community and address challenges faced by the QTBIPOC community (queer and trans Black, Indigenous, People of Colour), anti-xenophobia, and accessibility/disability community.

At the Social Justice Hub Open House on December 10, UM community created artwork for the theme, “A different world is possible,” which invited students and staff to portray the just world they hope to work towards.

Through the Social Justice Hub, students gain knowledge on how to put anti-oppression and EDIA into action and develop skills through training workshops and hands-on campaigns. Organizer teams are exploring how they can create safer spaces for QTBIPOC, challenge xenophobia and racism experienced by international students, and advocate for a sensory-friendly campus for neurodivergent students.

Having the chance to address inequities that directly affect students and their communities is one of the most impactful parts of the Social Justice Hub, and plays an important role in the development of future leaders and change-makers.

Elinam Okae-Yeboah, a fourth-year student in Women and Gender Studies and English, reflected on the impact of participating in the QTBIPOC team: “The university has many commitments to equity, diversity, and inclusion, but it seems like the administration falls short when it comes to making material change or decisions that will support marginalized students. I think the Social Justice Hub is important because it provides marginalized students with the training that can help them advocate for themselves.”

The wider UM community is invited to participate in the Social Justice Hub by attending our upcoming events. Join us for the Social Justice Hub Drop-Ins on the last Thursday of each month from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. to engage in critical conversations on community organizing and social justice work. Register in advance or drop-in.

Upcoming Social Justice Hub Drop-Ins:

• February 27, 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. – Self-care is community care, community care is self-care (CEL Office 203 – 55 Chancellors Circle)
• March 27, 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. – Group agreements, safer spaces, and relational accountability (CEL Office 203 – 55 Chancellors Circle)
• April 24, 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. – The revolution will be from bed (virtual) 

To receive notifications about other Social Justice Hub events, sign-up for our mailing list and follow @CELumanitoba on Instagram to learn about more upcoming workshops, programs and events from Community Engaged Learning.

Developed by CAST, a nonprofit education research and development organization, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework to improve teaching and learning, based on scientific insights into how humans learn. The framework includes three principles and nine sub-categories, each with individual elements.

“When you first engage with the UDL framework, it can be overwhelming because there’s so much to look at, it can be hard to know where to start,” says facilitator Johnathan Bevan, an Educational Developer with The Centre. “Our goal with this series is to break down the overall framework and look at the discreet elements, one at a time, and work through how to put them into practice.”

Each workshop will include a brief presentation on a framework concept, followed by working through an exercise on how to apply the concept to course materials. Each workshop explores an individual consideration. Each event in the series is self-contained, you do not need to attend the entire series to understand and participate.

“It is important that we start to dismantle the ableism that exists in higher learning. For those who do not experience barriers to engaging in education, it is difficult to perceive how people are being excluded,” says Bevan. “Taking the time to work through an individual UDL principle will help understand where there are barriers in your practice. Incorporating one element of UDL to your pedagogy will influence other aspects of your teaching. This is because each element functions individually and is also complimentary to the wider philosophy.”

Bevan notes that integrating UDL is an ongoing process of learning and refinement. “Universal design should not be understood as a destination or a checklist. It is a process that exists in conversation with the people who are engaging with our practice,” he says.

Bevan is hopeful this series helps faculty, both in integrating concepts into existing course materials and to look at including UDL in their course design—something Bevan can also support.

“The whole point is to engage critically with pedagogical practice to remove barriers,” he says. “The more we practice implementing UDL principles, the more meaningful our pedagogical design will be for the students we are seeking to teach.”

Universal Design for Learning Workshops – Winter Term 2025

UDL in Practice: Optimize Relevance, Value, and Authenticity
Thursday, January 30, 12 – 1 pm

Description: The session will focus on CAST’s UDL principle of optimizing relevance, value, and authenticity and how it can be directly applied to pedagogical practice.

Register

UDL in Practice: Clarify the Meaning and Purpose of the Goals
Thursday, February 27, 12 -1 pm

Description: The session will focus on CAST’s UDL principle of clarifying the meaning and purpose of the goals and how it can be directly applied to pedagogical practice.

Register

UDL in Practice: Recognize Expectations, Beliefs, and Motivations
Thursday, March 27, 12 – 1pm

Description: The session will focus on CAST’s UDL principle of recognizing expectations, beliefs, and motivations and how it can be directly applied to pedagogical practice.

Register

UDL in Practice: Represent a Diversity of Perspectives and Identities in Authentic Ways
Thursday, April 24, 12 – 1pm

Description: The session will focus on CAST’s UDL principle of representing a diversity of perspectives and identities in authentic ways and how it can be directly applied to pedagogical practice.

Register

How Panorama helps

Panorama scans your content and creates an accessibility report that flags issues and provides suggestions for how to resolve each of them. This allows you to ensure the accessibility of your content before it is distributed or published. It can also create accessible alternative formats for you or your readers to use.

Using Panorama’s Alternative Formats Menu, you can make various changes to text to improve readability. For example, you can change the text size, increase line spacing, select a readable font, and change themes. You can also highlight parts of speech and use Line Focus to facilitate focused reading. Panorama can also create accessible PDF, high contrast, text to speech, braille and audio files.

How to access Panorama

Panorama is integrated into your UM Learn courses and requires a plugin to view the Alternative Formats menu, which you install through the integration. You can find Panorama through the integrations menu in your course.

Learn more from The Centre

The Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning is your campus resource for accessibility. Visit Panorama on The Centre’s website for more information about this tool.

Support

Panorama is a YuJa Inc. product. If you have questions about Panorama, visit the Panorama Digital Accessibility Platform Overview on the YuJa Help Center website. You’ll find video tutorials, quick start guides and general documentation.

You can also contact YuJa Inc. directly between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. central time:

By phone: 1-888-257-2278

By email: support [at] yuja [dot] com

Through Twitter: @yujanow

Panorama is an accessibility tool that has been available on UM Learn since 2022. Now it’s also being relaunched as a password-protected portal, which means you can also review documents for accessibility outside UM Learn. You just log in to Panorama using your UM password—which means that UM staff and students can now also use it for any materials they produce.  

It’s the law 

As of May 1, 2024, the University of Manitoba must abide by the Accessible Information and Communication Standard Regulation—part of the Accessibility for Manitobans Act. The regulation states that educational institutions and other bodies must, among other things, make educational materials accessible.  

How Panorama helps you 

Panorama checks how accessible your materials are and provides suggestions for improvement.  

Panorama scans your content and creates an accessibility report that flags any issues and provides suggestions for how to resolve each of them. This allows you to ensure the accessibility of your content before it is distributed or published. It can also create accessible alternative formats for your users who have disabilities and different abilities, including high contrast, text to speech, braille, and audio files.  

The Panorama platform also includes Panorama’s PDF Remediation engine, which uses AI to address issues such as contrast, font size, alternative text, missing headline structures, hyperlink context issues and more.  

You are the only person who can access your accessibility reports—no one else will see or evaluate you on them. The product has been vetted by UM’s Access and Privacy Office and Information Security and Compliance. 

To access Panorama, log in to the Panorama portal with your UMnetID and password. 

Learn more from The Centre 

The Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning is your campus resource for accessibility. Visit Panorama on The Centre’s website for more information about this tool.

Training 

An online workshop, Panorama – Improving Digital Accessibility, is being offered Wednesday, September 25 from 12-1 pm. This workshop will be facilitated by YuJa staff and will cover how to use Panorama to scan courses and documents and automatically improve the accessibility of digital media and course content, identify and fix issues for a variety of file types.  

Training topics: 

• Accessibility Reports 

• • Finding Accessibility Reports for Documents 
  • Understanding Accessibility Reports
  • How to Improve Files 

• Alternative Formats 

• • Overview of Alternative Formats 
  • Understanding Different Types of Formats 

• Accessing the Panorama Reporting & Panorama Settings 

• • How to access Course Reports 
  • My Content Area 

You can also book an appointment with the media team at The Centre for help to make your course materials or other digital content more accessible. Please email us at TheCentre [at] umanitoba [dot] ca.  

Support 

Panorama is a YuJa Inc. product. If you have questions about Panorama, you can visit the Panorama Digital Accessibility Platform Overview on the YuJa Help Center website where you’ll find video tutorials, quick start guides and general documentation.  

You can also contact YuJa Inc. directly between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.: 

By phone: 1-888-257-2278 

By email: support [at] yuja [dot] com 

Through Twitter: @yujanow 

At this year’s Teaching Café, hosted May 1 by The Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning, four UM panelists presented basic concepts of accessibility, shared thoughtful approaches for the classroom, and encouraged both small, cumulative actions and strategic planning to bring about positive change.   

Removing the burden of proof for everyone’s benefit

Event moderator, The Centre’s Johnathan Bevan, opened the session with a series of broad definitions and invitations to help set a foundation for discussion.

As an Educational Developer specializing in accessible course design, Bevan acknowledged that the topic of accessibility presents a complex narrative, and moving toward accessibility in teaching begins with recognizing that universities are inherently ableist in their design. Institutions have often excluded individuals based on arbitrary barriers such as mobility, sensory impairments, cognitive and psychological diagnostic criteria, and many other categories.

“We want to examine our practices, examine how we are interacting with each other and how to make room for all kinds of people,” he said.

Accessible design benefits both those who identify as disabled and those who do not; for example, a noisy HVAC system in a classroom can negatively affect those who don’t identify as hearing impaired, or some people may be disabled for short periods of time due to illness or injury. Inclusivity, noted Bevan, helps those who don’t know that they might need accommodations to be successful and also those who don’t know how to ask for help.

“Embracing accessible pedagogy means respecting people’s right to exist,” he offered. “When we begin from a place of trust and move to design courses to be inclusive, we remove the burden of proof regarding a disability from the individuals.”

Rethinking classroom practices for a positive impact

Panelist Dr. Stephanie Hladik, Assistant Professor in the Price Faculty of Engineering, has successfully introduced inclusive practices in her teaching. She described how a defining moment came for her last year, on the topic of lecture slides. She had been wrestling with whether to post her slides online for students before or after each lecture, and she had decided on the latter, thinking that would encourage students to attend class.

She changed this practice after a student whose first language was not English let her know (in an anonymous survey) that having the slides ahead of class would help them prepare and allow them to better follow along in class.

“That flipped my thinking,” she says. She then began analyzing her other classroom practices. “It came down to my values. Am I worried about students who are trying to game the system? Is it worth it to stop one student from gaming the system if I now have 10 students who are struggling to keep up in lectures? That reflection has been helpful for me. I would like students to learn what I am teaching, in a way that works for them.”

She has also instituted a “late pass” system where her students can hand in late work five times per term, no questions asked. Students have told her they appreciate the flexibility as they juggle workloads from other courses. And she now also receives much fewer emails from students asking for assignment extensions.

“It’s about making students feel valued and welcome,” she says.

Dialing down the power dynamic

Carolyn Christie is the Director of UM’s Student Accessibility Services (SAS), working to support students identifying as having a disability – who now number 2,700 across UM campuses. SAS looks at all aspects of a student’s university journey, from recruitment, application, access to online and physical spaces, the classroom experience, program requirements, and how they’re progressing – all the way to convocation or whatever their journey’s end might be.

Christie emphasized how important a student’s relationship with an instructor is for their success. “What are we doing in the classroom to engage all students?” she asked. “When students report back to us about how their year went, their relationship with faculty is the main thing, and not so much about this or that door didn’t open.”

She invited instructors to consider the power they have, how students feel when they approach them, and whether that promotes learning. “Students are often extremely scared. We run coaching sessions with students, on how to talk to their instructor if they don’t understand an assignment.” Building positive relationships is key to empowering people to ask for help.

Thinking strategically to make meaningful change

Panelist Dr. Tina Chen serves as UM’s Vice-Provost (Equity), the newly created position to advance the university’s vision and work around all kinds of equity and anti-oppression for students, staff and faculty.

“We are becoming better informed,” she said. “My office helps support people in their understanding of ableism as a system of oppression, to begin to identify actions they can take and then to support collective transformation within units.”

Chen suggested that instructors who are taking steps toward inclusive practices should advocate to have accessibility principles embedded in ongoing department or unit EDI strategic plans, so that ableism is identified as a system of oppression, along with the many other barriers that exist at institutions.

“Get some real commitments in there, because that is the opening for you to be the advocate among your colleagues to think about how you might change practices,” she said.  

Learn more about accessibility

At The Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning, we will collaborate with you to make your pedagogy more accessible for everyone who comes into your classroom. Whether you need a review of a specific element of your course or a full overhaul, we will be there to help you design for inclusion.

Learn more about accessible course design coaching

Learn more about the Teaching and Learning Certificate Program

The Teaching and Learning Certificate Program has been specifically designed to accommodate the busy schedule of faculty: limited classroom hours, flexible workshop offerings, supportive mentoring and individualized teaching feedback.

Learn more about the Teaching and Learning Certificate Program

As of May 1, all documents going forward, including new or revised course materials, need to be created as accessible documents. This provincial legislation came into effect this spring. For existing courses, please continue to work toward the UM goal of making all materials accessible. 

What does it mean to create an accessible document? It’s more than simply adding an active offer, though your documents should also include those. It means structuring and formatting your document to be accessible from the start. 

Creating an accessible text document is best done in Microsoft Word. If preferred, you can then save it as a PDF. Considering accessibility during the initial stages of creating a document also helps lower the number of requests for alternate formats.  

Read on for five quick steps and additional UM resources to help with this task. 

5 steps to create an accessible Word document 

1. Structure and format your document.  
2. Make content legible. 
3. Make hyperlinks accessible. 
4. Add alternative text to visual content.  
5. Run an Accessibility Checker.

Steps adapted from Creating accessible Microsoft Word documents and Creating Accessible Hypertext Links. 

1. Structure and format your document.  

Using a hierarchical structure and built-in Microsoft Word menu tools to style title and headings allows screen readers and other assistive technology to scan and read text according to hierarchy.  

• Use the ‘title’ style (in Word) at the top. 
• Add headings throughout your document to create structure. 
• Style headings using the built-in Word menu (do not create a ‘heading’ by changing text and applying a different font). 
• Style lists with the bullets or numbering option in the menu. 

2. Make content legible. 

• Ensure font size is sufficiently large, generally minimum 12 points. 
• Use sans serif fonts such as Apotos (new default font in Word), Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, Geneva or Verdana. 
• Avoid all-caps and italics; limit use of bold to words or short phrases. 
• Avoid underlining words except for hyperlinks. 

3. Make hyperlinks accessible. 

• Use concise but meaningful text for links descriptive of their destination. 
• Avoid using URLs as link text. 
• Avoid using generic phrases like “click here” or “more” and “read more.” 

4. Add alternative text to visual content.  

• Visual content (graphics, images, pictures, SmartArt, shapes, groups, charts and embedded objects) needs alt-text that explains the image. 
• Instructions to create alt-text for images in a Word document: 

1. Right click on the image; 
2. Select ‘Edit Alt-Text’; 
3. Write a brief description of the image in 5 to 10 words. (How you would describe the image to someone over the phone.) 

5. Run an Accessibility Checker.

• Microsoft provides an Accessibility Checker to help you identify any remaining issues in your accessible Word document. 
• If you save your document as a PDF, check it again with the PDF Accessibility Checker tool in Adobe.

Note: A course content accessibility checker called Panorama is also available in UM Learn for all UM employees including faculty, instructors and staff. Panorama can also help you generate a variety of alternative formats. Visit The Centre’s Panorama information page for more information. 

Find more supports at Microsoft accessibility resources (Microsoft support) and on the Accessibility hub on UM Intranet. See illustrated how-to steps for styling text in Word (MB Accessibility). 

Training sessions available 

Faculty and staff who create Word and PDF documents can avail themselves of these optional training sessions to help.  

Microsoft Word and Abobe: Training sessions on creating accessible documents in Microsoft and Adobe (including PDFs) are available this summer. Contact the IST Service Desk to request training for your department. 

Register through the LOD registration system; the courses are listed as:   

• M365: Microsoft Accessibility Checker   
• Adobe Checking for Accessibility 

Learn more about the Accessibility for Manitobans Act (AMA) Accessible Information and Communication Standard.