Clearer and Easier to Find: Panopto's New Accessibility Upgrades for Students
At LJMU, we want every student to get the most from their learning, whatever their circumstances. Recorded lectures in Panopto already help a lot with that. You can go back over a tricky concept, catch up after illness or study at your own pace. So, we were pleased to see Panopto announce new accessibility improvements in October 2026, designed to make video learning more inclusive at scale.
Sharper automatic captions
The biggest change is an upgrade to the speech recognition engine behind Panopto's automatic captions. Panopto says the new engine is more accurate in all its supported languages. It's also better at recognising a range of accents, including those of non-native speakers. For a university community as diverse as ours, that matters. More accurate captions help students who are deaf or hard of hearing, students studying in a second language, and anyone following a lecture on a noisy train. Better transcripts also improve search, so you can type a word or phrase and jump straight to the moment it was said. Although automatic captions are improving, they may still contain errors, particularly with specialist terminology, so it's worth keeping this in mind when using them for revision.
A platform built to recognised standards
Panopto has also had an independent accessibility audit of its platform and updated its Accessibility Conformance Report. The report sets out how the platform performs against standards WCAG 2.2 Level AA, the international standard for accessible digital content. UK universities have duties under the Equality Act 2010 and the public sector digital accessibility regulations. So, it's reassuring that the tools we rely on are being tested against these standards.
Why this matters for everyone
Accessible learning isn't only for students with a declared disability. Captions help you catch unfamiliar terms. Transcripts make revision and note-taking quicker. Audio descriptions make visual content meaningful for students with sight loss. Small improvements like these add up to a fairer, more flexible experience for everyone.
Making the most of Panopto
A few things to try in your next recording:
- Turn on captions with the CC button in the Panopto player.
- Use the search box to find exactly where a topic was covered.
- Change the playback speed to suit the way you learn best.
We'll keep working with our partners to bring you the best, most helpful services we can, because great learning should be open to every student at LJMU.
Further Guidance and Support
For any queries or further support, contact us via Canvas 24/7 from the Canvas Homepage.