Overview
The Flexible Access Dashboard provides institutions with a comprehensive view of their Flexible Access (FA) program performance, drawing from participation, content delivery, and print distribution data within the VitalSource Connect platform. It is designed to help institution administrators and program managers monitor student opt-in/opt-out behavior, understand content and delivery mix, and track print materials activity across their catalog.
Audience | Institutions |
|---|---|
Internal vs. External | External |
Number of Tabs | 3 (Participation, Content & Delivery, Print Distribution) |
Last Documentation Update | Jul 10, 2026 |
Key Questions This Dashboard Answers
Use this section to help end users quickly determine if this dashboard meets their needs.
How are students in my Flexible Access program choosing to opt in or opt out, and which program type (Inclusive Access or Equitable Access) are they selecting?
What is the breakdown of content types and delivery methods across my catalog, and how do participation rates vary across them?
How is print distribution tracking — which students should or should not have physical materials, and what is the current distribution status?
How to Use This Dashboard
Guidance for navigating and getting value from this dashboard.
Navigate the tabs — The dashboard is organized into three focused tabs. Start on Participation to understand your overall program picture, then move to Content & Delivery and Print Distribution for deeper detail.
Participation tab — Student opt-in/opt-out breakdowns, program decision counts, and participation by content type, delivery method, and access code requirement.
Content & Delivery tab — License counts and averages broken out by content type, delivery method, and access method. Includes catalog-level item and adoption trend charts.
Print Distribution tab — Tracks physical materials by distribution status, issue dates, and return/refusal dates.
Read the tiles — Each tab groups related tiles. Summary KPIs appear alongside breakdowns and trend charts to give both a high-level view and actionable detail.
Drill down for detail — Review bar charts such as Item Count by Catalog and Adoption Count by Catalog for an 18-month historical view of catalog activity trends.
💡 Tip: Start on the Participation tab to understand the overall opt-in/opt-out landscape before reviewing Content & Delivery or Print Distribution, as participation decisions directly influence those metrics.
Dashboard Tiles
Tiles are numbered top to bottom, left to right within each tab.
Tile Name | Tab | Visualization Type | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PARTICIPATION | Participation |
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| 2 | Student Count by Program Decision | Participation | Pie Chart | Shows the percentage of students broken out by their selected program (Inclusive Access, Equitable Access, No program). |
| 3 | Opt-Ins by Program | Participation | Bar Chart | Displays the breakdown by program type for students who did not fully opt out (IA or EA). |
| 4 | Opt-Outs by Program | Participation | Bar Chart | Shows the breakdown by program type for students who opted out. |
| 5 | Licenses by Participation State | Participation | Pie Chart | Shows the percentage of total licenses by participation state. |
| 6 | Inclusive Access Participation | Participation | Pie Chart | Shows the percentage of total licenses by participation state for students who opted out of the EA program. |
| 7 | Participation by Content Type | Participation | Bar Chart | Displays the percentage of licenses by opt-in and opt-out status, broken out by content type. |
| 8 | Participation by Delivery Method | Participation | Bar Chart | Displays the percentage of licenses by opt-in and opt-out status, broken out by delivery method. |
| 9 | Participation by Access Code Required | Participation | Bar Chart | Shows the percentage of licenses by opt-in and opt-out status for items broken out by Access Code delivery requirement. |
| 10 | CONTENT & DELIVERY | Content & Delivery |
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| 11 | Licenses by Content Type | Content & Delivery | Bar Chart | Breakdown of licenses by the content type of the item. |
| 12 | Digital Licenses by Delivery Method | Content & Delivery | Bar Chart | Breakdown of delivery method for digital content licenses. |
| 13 | Digital Licenses by Access Method | Content & Delivery | Bar Chart | Breakdown of access method for digital content licenses. |
| 14 | Digital Licenses by Content Provider | Content & Delivery | Bar Chart | Share of licenses broken out by content provider type for digital items. |
| 15 | Item Count by Catalog | Content & Delivery | Bar Chart | Count of items by catalog name for the past 18 months. Not affected by dashboard filters. |
| 16 | Adoption Count by Catalog | Content & Delivery | Bar Chart | Count of adopted items by catalog name for the past 18 months. Not affected by dashboard filters. |
| 17 | Avg Active License Count | Content & Delivery | KPI | The average number of active licenses per student. |
| 18 | Avg Active License Count Per Student by Delivery Method | Content & Delivery | Bar Chart | The average number of active licenses per student, broken out by delivery method. |
| 19 | Avg Active License Count Per Student by Content Type | Content & Delivery | Bar Chart | The average number of active licenses per student, broken out by content type. |
| 20 | Avg Item Count Per Student | Content & Delivery | KPI | The average number of unique, participating items in the catalog per student. |
| 21 | Avg Inactive License Count | Content & Delivery | KPI | The average number of inactive (opted-out) licenses per student. |
| 22 | Avg Inactive License Count Per Student by Delivery Method | Content & Delivery | Bar Chart | The average number of inactive licenses per student, broken out by delivery method. |
| 23 | Avg Inactive License Count Per Student by Content Type | Content & Delivery | Bar Chart | The average number of inactive licenses per student, broken out by content type. |
| 24 | Avg Adoption Count Per Student | Content & Delivery | KPI | The average number of adopted titles in the catalog per student. |
| 25 | PRINT DISTRIBUTION | Print Distribution |
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| 26 | Licenses by Print Distribution Status | Print Distribution | Bar Chart | Breakdown of print licenses by their current print distribution status. |
| 27 | "Should Have" Print Licenses by Status | Print Distribution | Bar Chart | Breakdown of print licenses by status where the student should have the title. |
| 28 | "Should Not Have" Print Licenses by Status | Print Distribution | Bar Chart | Breakdown of print licenses by status where the student should not have the title. |
| 29 | Print Materials Issued by Date | Print Distribution | Line Chart | Chart showing the count of print materials issued over time by date. |
| 30 | Print Materials Returned/Refused by Date | Print Distribution | Line Chart | Chart showing the count of print materials returned or refused over time by date. |
Clickable Tiles: No tiles currently have drill-down interactions enabled.
Fields & Metrics
All fields used across this dashboard, listed alphabetically.
Field Name | Description | Data Type | Example Value |
|---|---|---|---|
Access Code Required | Indicates whether the item requires an access code for delivery. | Text | Yes / No |
Access Method | How the digital content is accessed by the student (e.g., direct link, LMS integration). | Text | LMS |
Adoption Count Per Student (Avg) | The average number of adopted titles in the catalog per student. Calculated as total adopted titles divided by student count. | Number | 3.2 |
Active License Count Per Student (Avg) | The average number of active (opted-in) licenses per student. | Number | 4.1 |
Catalog Name | The school's catalog name for the FA program. | Text | Fall 2025 |
Content Type | The format category of the item (e.g., Digital, Print). | Text | Digital |
Delivery Method | How the content is delivered to the student. | Text | VitalSource |
Inactive License Count Per Student (Avg) | The average number of inactive (opted-out) licenses per student. | Number | 1.3 |
Item Count Per Student (Avg) | The average number of unique, participating items in the catalog per student. | Number | 5.0 |
License Count | Total number of licenses associated with a student, item, or catalog segment. | Number | 1,240 |
Participation State | The current state of a student's license (e.g., Active, Opted Out). | Text | Active |
Print Distribution Status | The current status of a print license (e.g., Issued, Returned, Refused). | Text | Issued |
Program Decision | The program type selected by the student (Inclusive Access, Equitable Access, or no program). | Text | Inclusive Access |
Student Count | Total number of distinct students in the selected catalog segment. | Number | 850 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the difference between Inclusive Access (IA) and Equitable Access (EA)?
A: EA is the standard opt-in program where students are enrolled by default. Students who opt out of EA may still participate in IA, which is reflected in the Inclusive Access Participation tile.
Q: Why might my participation numbers differ from what I see in Connect?
A: The dashboard reflects a snapshot of participation data and may have a slight lag compared to real-time values in Connect. If there is a significant discrepancy, contact your VitalSource account team.