Canvas Updates

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Production Release Notes for Saturday, January 31, 2015
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Production Release Notes for Saturday, February 21, 2015
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<p><strong>Upcoming Canvas Change: Quiz Statistics Feature Option</strong></p>
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<h1 dir="ltr">New Features</h1>
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<p>On January 31, New Quiz Statistics will no longer be a Feature Option in Canvas and the feature will apply to all users with an instructor role. (Learn more about the new [http://guides.instructure.com/m/4152/l/41484-once-i-publish-my-quiz-what-kinds-of-quiz-statistics-are-available Quiz Statistics].)</p>
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<h2 dir="ltr">Files</h2>
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<hr/>
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<h3 dir="ltr">Usage Rights</h3>
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<p>In this production release (January 31), instructors can manage their course assignments by keeping assignment availability dates within the course or term and can view student quiz logs to verify quiz actions and resolve any concerns. Students can also view quiz logs, view assignment availability dates as part of the assignment, and more easily access the link to their private ePortfolios. Institutions using Commons can also share and import documents.</p>
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<p dir="ltr">As part of the new Files design, institutions can require their instructors to indicate usage rights for all course files before publishing the file to a course. (Currently, Usage Rights does not apply to files within Canvas Commons.)</p>
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<p>The production notes also include other Canvas updates, platform integrations, and fixed bugs.</p>
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<p dir="ltr">Usage Rights is a course-level feature option called <em>Require Usage Rights for Uploaded Files</em>. A course-level feature option means that once the feature is enabled by the institutional admin, the feature can be enabled by instructors on a course-to-course basis.&nbsp;</p>
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<p><strong>Note</strong>: Production release notes indicate Canvas updates that will be included with Saturday’s release and are subject to change. New features may differ from those available in your beta environment.&nbsp;</p>
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<p dir="ltr">When usage rights is enabled, Files includes copyright information in a new column. Files can be sorted to view files that include or don’t include usage rights. Each icon shows the type of usage right assigned to the file. Files with a warning icon mean the files cannot be published until usage rights have been set.</p>
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<p dir="ltr"><strong>Note</strong>: Only individual files display usage rights icons. File folders cannot hold an individual usage attribute, but folders can be used to specify rights for files within the entire folder.</p>
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<h1>New Features</h1>
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<h3 dir="ltr">Viewing Usage Rights for Existing Files</h3>
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<h2>Assignments</h2>
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<p dir="ltr">When the Usage Rights feature is enabled, files that were previously added to a course will display a warning icon but are not affected by the publishing limitation. Files that are already published remain published; to remove the warning icon, users can set usage rights at any time. However, if the state of the file (published, unpublished, restricted) needs to be changed, a usage right is required before the state can be changed.&nbsp;</p>
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<h3>Course and Term Date Validation</h3>
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<p><em>Setting Usage Rights for New Files</em></p>
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<p>Instructors cannot create assignments, graded discussions, or quizzes with due dates and/or availability dates outside the start and end dates for the course or term. This feature helps instructors better manage all student coursework within the course schedule.</p>
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<p dir="ltr">Usage rights can be set directly by clicking the file’s warning icon. Users can also click the file and open the settings menu, or click the file and open the usage rights window in the files toolbar.</p>
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<p><strong>Notes: </strong></p>
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<p dir="ltr">When setting a usage right, users can set the file with one of five usage rights. If you are an instructor and are not sure which usage right applies to your file, please consult your institutional admin for guidance:</p>
<ul>
<ul>
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<li>
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<li dir="ltr">
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<p>This feature does not apply to areas outside assignments, such as in the Calendar.</p>
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<p dir="ltr">I hold the copyright (original content created by you)</p>
</li>
</li>
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<li>
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<li dir="ltr">
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<p>This feature currently only applies when editing an assignment. Our engineers are adjusting the behavior to apply to new assignments and should be available in beta before the January 31 production release.</p>
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<p dir="ltr">I have obtained permission to use the file (authorized permission by the author)</p>
</li>
</li>
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</ul>
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<li dir="ltr">
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<p>When an instructor edits an assignment and clicks the Update Assignment button, Canvas validates any entered dates-assignment due date, available from date, and until date-against the course start and end dates and generates an error message for invalid date entries. This validation takes place for all dates, including varied due dates.</p>
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<p dir="ltr">The material is in the public domain (explicitly assigned to public domain, cannot be copyrighted, or is no longer protected by copyright)</p>
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<ul>
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<li>
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<p>If an assignment does not contain any dates, the assignment availability defaults to the course start and end dates.</p>
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</li>
</li>
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<li>
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<li dir="ltr">
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<p>If the course does not include specified course start and end dates, Canvas validates the assignment against the term dates for the course.</p>
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<p dir="ltr">The material is subject to fair use exception (excerpt or summary used for commentary, news reporting, research, or analysis in education)</p>
</li>
</li>
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<li>
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<li dir="ltr">
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<p>This feature validates against the <strong>Users can only participate in the course between these dates</strong> checkbox for start and end dates in Course Settings.</p>
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<p dir="ltr">The material is licensed under [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/ Creative Commons]; this option also requires setting a specific Creative Commons license</p>
</li>
</li>
</ul>
</ul>
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<h2>Quizzes</h2>
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<p dir="ltr">Users can also enter the copyright holder information in the Copyright Holder field.</p>
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<h3>Quiz Log Auditing</h3>
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<p dir="ltr">On the Files page, usage rights can also be set for individual folders. Access the usage rights for a folder the same way you would open an individual file.</p>
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<p>Students and instructors can view progress logs for course quizzes. This feature is designed to help instructors investigate problems that a student may have in the quiz. Students can also view the log for their own quizzes.</p>
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<p dir="ltr">In the Manage Usage Rights window, users can set usage rights for all files that currently exist within the folder. Folders themselves cannot hold a usage right attribute, so the folder passes the usage right to the existing files in the folder at the time the usage right was defined. Therefore, users can create a folder, add all files to the folder, and then define the usage right for the folder and apply the right to all files at once.</p>
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<p><strong>Notes: </strong></p>
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<p dir="ltr">This action does not apply to any files added to the folder after the usage right is set. If additional files are added at a later time, users will have to reset the usage right for the folder or set file usage rights individually.</p>
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<ul>
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<h3 dir="ltr">Setting Usage Rights and Publishing New Files</h3>
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<li>
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<p dir="ltr">Users can set a usage right and publish the file at the same time by clicking the file’s unpublished icon. The file window displays both the usage right options as well as the file state options. Files will not allow the file to be published until it has been assigned a usage right.</p>
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<p>Quiz Log Auditing is a course-level feature option, which means that once it is enabled by the institutional admin, the feature can be enabled by instructors on a course-to-course basis. If you are an instructor and do not see Quiz Log Auditing available to you as a Feature Option within Course Settings, please contact your institutional admin.</p>
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<h3 dir="ltr">Viewing Usage Rights in Files</h3>
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</li>
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<p dir="ltr">All copyright information is included as part of the file’s information. If allowed to view course Files, students can view the copyright icon on the Files page and view any additional usage rights information in the file preview window.</p>
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<li>
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<h3 dir="ltr">Usage Rights in the Content Selector</h3>
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<p>Quizzes will automatically create data for any quizzes taken on or after January 31, regardless of whether the feature is enabled. Enabling Quiz Log Auditing just displays the View Log link so that the logs can be viewed by all users.</p>
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<p dir="ltr">When Usage Rights is enabled, instructors can upload files and assign usage rights when uploading and adding files directly to an assignment or page in the Rich Content Editor. If a usage right is not selected as part of the upload process, the file will upload as an unpublished file. The file cannot be published until a usage right has been set.</p>
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</li>
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<p dir="ltr">If instructors choose to keep the file unpublished, the instructor may also want to keep the assignment or page unpublished as well so that students are not affected by files that they cannot access.</p>
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</ul>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>
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<p>When Quiz Log Auditing is enabled, instructors can view the quiz log by selecting the Show student quiz results option and clicking the name of a student. The student quiz results page will show the status of the quiz and the View Log link. Canvas generates content for the log beginning when the student clicks the Take This Quiz button.</p>
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<h1 dir="ltr">Updated Features</h1>
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<p>Students can also access the quiz log by clicking the link for the quiz attempt they want to view.</p>
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<h2 dir="ltr">Commons</h2>
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<p>Each log shows a timestamp of the quiz action, including reading a quiz question, selecting a quiz answer, changing a quiz answer, and submitting the quiz. The log also shows if the student left the quiz (either by navigating away from the page or viewing another window in the browser) and resumed the quiz. To refresh log data, click the refresh button at the top of the browser window.</p>
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<h3 dir="ltr">Image Sharing</h3>
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<p>Each attempt shows the start date and time for the attempt. If the student has more than one quiz attempt, the log shows the last attempt. Users can always view prior attempts by clicking the number of the attempt.</p>
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<p dir="ltr">As part of file sharing, Commons users can share and import images into their courses. Sharing images to Commons works in conjunction with the Better File Browsing course opt-in feature.</p>
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<p>Please note that quiz answers can be accessed by clicking the question number. If you do not want your students to be able to view their quiz answers, you may not want to enable the log until after the quiz has closed and/or all students have completed any additional attempts.</p>
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<p dir="ltr"><strong>Note</strong>: Commons is currently a beta feature. If you are interested in using Commons for your institution, please fill out the [https://docs.google.com/a/instructure.com/forms/d/1MFkxCQouIZOeLZkJpTrVHx2BAXNYpB2tWRUGLylPwlo/viewform?c=0&amp;w=1 Commons beta signup form].</p>
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<h1>Updated Features</h1>
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<h2 dir="ltr">Outcomes</h2>
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<h2>Assignments</h2>
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<h3 dir="ltr">Move-To Option</h3>
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<h3>Assignment Point Value</h3>
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<p dir="ltr">Outcomes and outcome groups can be rearranged using a Move option. Designed for keyboard navigation, each outcome displays a Move Outcome button, which can be used to move the outcome to another Outcomes group.</p>
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<p>When an existing assignment contains graded submissions and an instructor changes the points possible, Canvas displays a warning that changing the point value requires regrading the assignment. This warning message applies to any grading type with assignment submissions, including changing points from or to zero.</p>
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<p dir="ltr">Outcome groups also display a Move Outcome Group button to allow groups to be arranged as well. These Outcome options are located at both the Outcomes account and course levels.</p>
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<p><strong>Note</strong>: If an assignment with graded submissions is changed to zero points, such as for extra credit, this feature does not change the way that zero-point assignments work with assignment groups. Please see the lesson about [http://guides.instructure.com/m/4152/l/78195-how-do-i-give-my-students-extra-credit extra credit] for more details.&nbsp;</p>
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<h1 dir="ltr">Other Updates&nbsp;</h1>
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<h3>Availability Dates View for Students</h3>
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<h3 dir="ltr">Publish Button</h3>
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<p>Students can view any assignment availability dates on the assignments detail page, not just the Assignments Index Page. This feature also applies to discussions and quizzes.</p>
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<p dir="ltr">As part of our interface redesign, Canvas publish buttons include a flatter design with no shading. More information can found in our Styleguide at [https://canvas.beta.instructure.com/styleguide canvas.beta.instructure.com/styleguide].</p>
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<p dir="ltr">No functionality has been affected by this change. However, if you have changed the appearance of your publish button via custom CSS, please check to ensure your style works with the new design.</p>
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<h2>Commons</h2>
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<p dir="ltr">&nbsp;</p>
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<h3>Document Sharing</h3>
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<h1 dir="ltr">Fixed Bugs</h1>
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<p>As part of file sharing, Commons users can share and import documents into their courses. Sharing files to Commons works in conjunction with the Better File Browsing course opt-in feature. Users can also preview any file that is supported by the document previewer.</p>
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<h2 dir="ltr">Accessibility</h2>
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<h3 dir="ltr">Assignments</h3>
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<p>Note: Commons is currently a beta feature.</p>
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<p dir="ltr">An assignment’s published status is not shown as a heading to screen readers.</p>
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<h3 dir="ltr">Calendar</h3>
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<h2>Course Settings</h2>
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<p dir="ltr">Screen readers and keyboard users can view undated items in the sidebar undated items list.</p>
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<h3>Viewing for Authenticated Users</h3>
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<p dir="ltr">After a user opens the detail view of an undated item, screen reader focus returns to the undated item.</p>
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<p>Instructors can allow authenticated users in their institution to view a course. Located in Course Settings, this visibility option allows users who are authenticated (logged in) in the Canvas account to view the course before they enroll in the course. The course content shown to authenticated users is the same content shown to the public for publicly visible courses.</p>
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<p dir="ltr">Keyboard users can collapse and expand the undated items list. They can also edit undated items within the edit window.</p>
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<p><strong>Note</strong>: The <strong>Make this course publicly visible </strong>option and <strong>Make this course visible to authenticated users</strong> option cannot be used together. The first option will override the second so the course will always remain public, even when the user is not logged in.</p>
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<h3 dir="ltr">Conversations</h3>
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<h2>ePortfolios</h2>
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<p dir="ltr">Screen readers can navigate Conversations filters (Inbox, Unread, etc.). They can also identify the menus behind each button and read the number of items in each filter.</p>
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<h3>Private ePortfolio Link</h3>
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<p dir="ltr">Screen readers can navigate the Groups search field. They can also view instructions for the search field and read the field filtering by user.</p>
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<p>When a student wants to share a private ePortfolio, the ePortfolio displays the entire link. This change clarifies confusion about how to access the ePortfolio link.<br />&nbsp;</p>
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<h3 dir="ltr">Files</h3>
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<h1>Other Updates</h1>
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<p dir="ltr"><em>All accessibility updates relate to the Better Files Browsing (New Files) feature.&nbsp;</em></p>
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<h3>Canvas Menus</h3>
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<p dir="ltr">In the Files Move-To option, screen readers can read all folder names.</p>
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<p>As part of our interface redesign, Canvas drop-down menus, calendar menus, and menu windows include a slightly modified interface. More information can found in our Styleguide at [https://canvas.beta.instructure.com/styleguide canvas.beta.instructure.com/styleguide].</p>
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<p dir="ltr">When a user clicks the publish icon, keyboard focus returns to the close icon. This change retains standard consistency for screen readers and keyboard users when closing a window anywhere in Canvas.</p>
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<p>No actual functionality is affected by this work-these are purely visual changes. However, if you have changed the appearance of these components via custom CSS, please check to ensure your style work with the new designs.</p>
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<p dir="ltr">Files item names, settings menu, published icon, and restricted access icon—both in selected and hovered states—display a color contrast of 3:1 for the default Canvas interface and 4.5:1 for high contrast profiles.</p>
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<h2><br />External Apps</h2>
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<p dir="ltr">After a user opens a file folder in the left side of the files page, screen readers can navigate the files list that appears for the folder.</p>
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<h3>External App Design Adjustments</h3>
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<p dir="ltr">The Files accessibility banner does not appear unless a user navigates Files via keyboard.</p>
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<p>On the External Apps page, either at the account or course level, the Add New App button has been renamed to the Add App button.</p>
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<h3 dir="ltr">Groups</h3>
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<p>The Add App window also includes small design adjustments at both the account and course level. Functionality and configurations for External Tools are not affected.</p>
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<p dir="ltr">Users can add students to groups using keyboard navigation. The use of the Move-To option is not required.</p>
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<h2>Permissions</h2>
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<p dir="ltr">Screen readers can read a warning if there are no groups in the course.</p>
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<h3>Question Bank Link Visibility</h3>
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<p dir="ltr">Screen readers can read a warning if a group is full and students cannot be added.</p>
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<p>On the account level, the Question Bank Account Navigation link can only be viewed if an admin is granted the manage assignments permission. This permission was previously set to the edit grades permission.</p>
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<h3 dir="ltr">Media Comments</h3>
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<p><strong>Note</strong>: Changing a permission may take some time to apply throughout Canvas.</p>
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<p dir="ltr">Screen readers and keyboard users can select and play audio and video comments throughout Canvas.</p>
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<h3 dir="ltr">Modules</h3>
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<h1>Fixed Bugs</h1>
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<p dir="ltr">When a user adds a new content page through Modules, the page name text field includes a label.</p>
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<h2>Accessibility</h2>
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<h3 dir="ltr">People</h3>
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<h3>Calendar</h3>
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<p dir="ltr">The Groups tab is labeled as a tab.</p>
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<p>The Calendar date arrows displays a color contrast of 3:1 for the default Canvas interface and 4.5:1 for high contrast profiles.</p>
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<h3 dir="ltr">Quizzes</h3>
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<p>When a user closes event dialogs in Agenda View, keyboard focus returns to the event that originated the dialog.</p>
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<p dir="ltr">In Quiz Log Auditing, when a user clicks the Skip to Content link, screen readers and keyboard users are redirected to the the content.</p>
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<p>Agenda View headings are labeled as headings. Additionally, keyboard users can view any headings that expand and collapse.</p>
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<p dir="ltr">The Quiz Log Auditing attempt count buttons display a color contrast of 3:1 for the default Canvas interface and 4.5:1 for high contrast profiles.</p>
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<p>After deleting a current event, the focus changes to the next event; after deleting the last event, the focus changes to the Add Event button.</p>
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<h3 dir="ltr">Settings</h3>
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<h3>Course Navigation</h3>
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<p dir="ltr">Screen readers can read the <strong>Make this course publicly visible</strong> checkbox and associated text, which appears as part of the label data.</p>
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<p>Screen readers can read disabled or empty Course Navigation elements in Course Settings and see that no content has been added.</p>
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<h2 dir="ltr">Analytics</h2>
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<h3>Course Setup Checklist</h3>
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<h3 dir="ltr">Teacher Activity Reports</h3>
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<p>For reading navigation, the close button follows the content so that users can close the Course Setup Checklist with the Esc key.</p>
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<p dir="ltr">When an instructor adds a comment to a student’s assignment submission, the Teacher Activity Reports shows a student interaction.</p>
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<p>Screen readers can read the Next Steps checklist and all content. Links are also searchable.</p>
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<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: When an instructor viewed the Teacher Activity Report after adding a comment on a student’s assignment submission, the report was not showing any student interaction. Canvas code has been updated to include submission comments as part of the interaction report.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>Keyboard users can access all links within the Next Steps checklist content.</p>
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<h3 dir="ltr">Course Analytics</h3>
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<h3>Discussions</h3>
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<p dir="ltr">Course Analytics load more quickly for larger courses.</p>
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<p>When a user creates a group discussion, screen readers can read the options for the group sets.</p>
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<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: Users were reporting that Course Analytics were loading slowly for large courses and were not usable in the course. Canvas code has been optimized to improve loading times.</p>
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<h3>Files</h3>
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<h2 dir="ltr">Announcements</h2>
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<p>When a user opens a new folder in the files list, screen readers can read the name of the folder. Screen readers can also tell that the file list has been updated.</p>
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<h3 dir="ltr">External Feeds</h3>
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<h3>Outcomes</h3>
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<p dir="ltr">External Feeds can contain secure URLs (HTTPS)</p>
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<p>When a user inserts a new outcome on the Outcomes page, screen readers can read the Insert button.</p>
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<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: If an instructor added an external feed that was a secure URL, Announcements did not create a new announcement. Canvas code has been updated to support secure URLs in Announcements.</p>
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<p>Screen readers can read all information for an outcome, including the title and outcome description.</p>
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<h3>Delayed Announcements</h3>
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<h2>Admin Tools</h2>
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<p dir="ltr">When an announcement is scheduled to be delayed, users can view the availability date of the announcement.</p>
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<h3>Logging Errors</h3>
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<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: When an instructor posted a delayed announcement, users were not able to view the message that showed when the announcement would be available for viewing. Canvas code has been updated to restore the delayed announcement notification for users.</p>
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<p>Admin tools shows an error for failed log types.</p>
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<h2 dir="ltr">Assignments</h2>
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<p><em>Explanation: When an admin generated a log report for a Canvas activity, searches that contained invalid IDs failed to generate but showed the user that the report was being generated. Canvas code has been updated to show an error if the log entry contains invalid IDs.</em></p>
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<h3 dir="ltr">Observer Notifications</h3>
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<h2>Assignments</h2>
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<p dir="ltr">Observers who are linked to a student receive notifications about new assignments.</p>
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<h3>Observer Role</h3>
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<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: When an instructor created a new assignment in a course, any observers in the course were not receiving the notification about the new assignment, even when they were linked to a student who did receive the notice. Canvas code has been updated to include observers in assignment notifications.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>Users with an observer role view the Assignments Index Page the same way as users with a student role.</p>
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<h3 dir="ltr">Unauthenticated Users and Unpublished Assignments</h3>
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<p><em>Explanation: When an observer viewed the Assignment Index Page, all assignments with a due date in the past were marked as overdue. However, from the student role, only the assignments that had a due date in the past and had not been submitted were identified as overdue, while those with a date in the past that had been submitted were identified as a past assignment. Canvas code has been updated so that observer users view the Assignments Index Page as student users.</em></p>
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<p dir="ltr">Unauthenticated users in a public course cannot view unpublished assignments.</p>
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<h3>Assignment Titles in Internet Explorer 10</h3>
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<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: In public courses, users who are not authenticated (not logged in and enrolled in the course) were able to view unpublished assignments on the Assignments page. The content itself was inaccessible, but all titles, due dates, and points possible were able to be viewed. Unpublished content was not affected in any other Canvas page. Canvas code has been updated to hide unpublished assignments for unauthenticated users in public courses.</p>
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<p>Instructors using Internet Explorer 10 can view the full name of an assignment.</p>
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<h2 dir="ltr">Calendar</h2>
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<p><em>Explanation: When an instructor edits an assignment in Internet Explorer 10, the assignment name was being cut off in the field. Canvas code has been updated with increased padding for the assignment name field.</em></p>
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<h3 dir="ltr">New Event Window</h3>
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<h2>Courses</h2>
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<p dir="ltr">Users can view all options when creating a new event in the Calendar.</p>
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<h3>Course List</h3>
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<p><em>Explanation</em>: When a user created a new event in the Calendar, the height of the New Event window was too short, restricting the course options at the bottom of the window. Canvas code has been updated to correct the height of the window.</p>
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<p>The first item in the Courses drop-down menu matches the width of all other drop-down cours names.</p>
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<h2 dir="ltr">Canvas Commons</h2>
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<p><em>Explanation: The first course listed in the Courses drop-down menu contained a width that was not consistent with the other course names, truncating text for long course names. Canvas code has been updated with a revised style layout.</em></p>
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<h3 dir="ltr">Subaccount Search Results</h3>
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<h3>Home Page</h3>
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<p dir="ltr">When searching for a resource in Commons, resources within subaccounts appear in the search list.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>Setting the Course Home Page to Assignments does not cause an error, and resizing the browser window does not obstruct the assignment links.</p>
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<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: When a user tried to search for a resource that existed within a subaccount, the resource would not appear in the search results unless the user specifically filtered the search parameters by subaccount. Canvas code has been updated to include subaccount IDs in search queries.</p>
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<p><em>Explanation: When an instructor changed the Course Home Page to display Assignments, the Home Page was displaying an undefined value error. When the browser window was resized, the assignment links were not accessible because of a hidden element. Canvas code has been updated to confirm permissions through the Courses API to properly display course Assignments and support browser resizing.</em></p>
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<h2 dir="ltr">Courses</h2>
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<h2>Course Imports</h2>
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<h3 dir="ltr">Course Home Page and Course Names in Firefox 34</h3>
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<h3>Terms</h3>
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<p dir="ltr">In Firefox 34, when a page is set as the Home Page for the course, long course names do not hide the edit button.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>When copying a course, the term list in Course Settings displays all active enrollment terms.</p>
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<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: When an instructor set a page as the Course Home Page for a course with a long name (over 100 characters), the edit button for the Course Home Page was not appearing if the instructor viewed Canvas in Firefox 34. Canvas code has been updated to allow access to the edit button for the Course Home Page in Firefox 34.</p>
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<p><em>Explanation: When a user copies a course in Course Settings, the term drop-down menu displayed all terms that had been created, even if the terms had previously been deleted. Canvas code has been updated to only show active enrollment terms when copying a course. </em></p>
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<h2 dir="ltr">Course Imports</h2>
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<h2>Course Settings</h2>
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<h3 dir="ltr">Examview Export Images</h3>
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<h3>Course End Date</h3>
+
<p dir="ltr">Examview exports with links to images render correctly after course import.&nbsp;</p>
-
<p>The Course End date warning does not display HTML formatting.</p>
+
<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: When a user imported an Examview file that contained links to images within a quiz, the links were not retained in the import and displayed missing link warnings. Canvas code has been updated to improve file searching for imported content and retain all image links.&nbsp;</p>
-
<p><em>Explanation: When a user set a start and end date for a course where the end date is set to midnight, hovering over the warning icon showed the Course Ending at Midnight warning in HTML. Canvas code has been updated to contain HTML data within the application.</em></p>
+
<h3 dir="ltr">Quiz Settings</h3>
-
<h3>Section Dates</h3>
+
<p dir="ltr">Course imports retain quiz settings for Only Once After Each Attempt and Show Response After Last Attempt.</p>
-
<p>When choosing dates for a section, manually entered dates are formatted correctly.</p>
+
<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: When the Only Once After Each Attempt setting or Show Response After Last Attempt setting was selected in a quiz, the settings were not being applied when copying the quiz to another course. Canvas code has been updated to retain all quiz viewing attributes when exporting and importing the quiz. &nbsp;</p>
-
<p><em>Explanation: When a user entered a date that varied from the international date format of YYYY-MM-DD, the section translated the date incorrectly. Canvas code has been updated to analyze and support all manually entered date formats.</em></p>
+
<h2 dir="ltr">Discussions</h2>
-
<h2>Discussions</h2>
+
<h3 dir="ltr">Discussion Pages in Unpublished Courses</h3>
-
<h3>Discussion Due Dates</h3>
+
<p dir="ltr">Students in unpublished courses cannot view course Discussions.&nbsp;</p>
-
<p>Discussion due date times set from the assignments page apply when viewing more discussions options.</p>
+
<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: Students in unpublished courses were able to participate in discussions for the course by adding /discussion_topics to the course url. Canvas code has been updated to confirm read (published) access to discussion topics through direct URLs and display an unauthorized error.&nbsp;</p>
-
<p><em>Explanation: When an instructor added a graded discussion to an assignment group and set a due date time to anything other than 12:00 AM, clicking the More Options button reverted the time back to 12:00 AM on the discussion page. Canvas code has been updated to maintain the selected date and time.</em></p>
+
<h3 dir="ltr">Hidden Discussion Entries</h3>
-
<h2>Files</h2>
+
<p dir="ltr">Users in a course can view all discussion posts within a discussion topic.</p>
-
<h3>Zip Files</h3>
+
<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: Users who participated in multiple discussion topics were not able to view all associated discussion posts within unthreaded discussions. Canvas code has been updated to correct the ordering of each post ID within the database.</p>
-
<p>Canvas uploads ZIP files correctly.</p>
+
<h2 dir="ltr">Files</h2>
-
<p><em>Explanation: When a user uploaded a ZIP file along with additional files, the zip file was not uploading because the file was trying to be unzipped before the user was asked for their preference on how to upload the file. Canvas code has been updated to confirm the ZIP upload type (zip intact or unzip all files) before uploading.</em></p>
+
<h3 dir="ltr">Better File Browsing and Student View</h3>
-
<h3>Folder List</h3>
+
<p dir="ltr">When an instructor enables Better File Browsing (New Files) then removes the Files Course Navigation link, students cannot view Course Files.&nbsp;</p>
-
<p>When a user moves a folder using the Move To settings option, the folder moves to the new location.</p>
+
<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: When an instructor enabled Better File Browsing for the course and later removed the Files Course Navigation link, students were able to view course files from their personal files until they logged out of Canvas. Canvas code has been updated to improve caching for Files permissions.</p>
-
<p><em>Explanation: When a user moved a folder using the Move To settings option, the folder appeared in both its old and new locations within the folder list. Reloading the page showed the folder only in the new location. Canvas code has been updated to refresh the folder list after the folder has been moved. This fix was deployed to production on January 23.</em></p>
+
<h2 dir="ltr">Grades (Student)</h2>
-
<h3>File Access Restriction Date</h3>
+
<h3 dir="ltr">Show All Details</h3>
-
<p>Files accepts and saves any manually entered date for file date restrictions.</p>
+
<p dir="ltr">When a student selects the Show all Details link on the Grades page, all details will be shown for all assignments, including any assignment scores that are already opened.&nbsp;</p>
-
<p><em>Explanation: When an instructor entered a date to restrict student access to files, the date was not saving in the correct date format after the file was saved. Canvas code has been updated to accept any date format as part of file date restrictions.</em></p>
+
<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: When a student opened the Grades page and viewed scoring details for an assignment, and then selected the Show all Details link, all the assignments on the Grades page would show details except for the assignment details that were already viewed. Canvas code has been updated to show and hide assignment details based on the state of the option being accessed rather than any prior view of the assignment.&nbsp;</p>
-
<h3>Folder Names</h3>
+
<h3 dir="ltr">CSV Assignment Sorting</h3>
-
<p>Folder names containing a number symbol (#) do not display a page error.</p>
+
<p dir="ltr">In the Gradebook, sorting an assignment by due date does not affect the CSV download file.</p>
-
<p><em>Explanation: When Better File Browsing is enabled as a course feature option, and a folder is created with a number symbol in the name, Files displayed a page error. Canvas code has been updated to no longer truncate all content after the # character to retain the entire link for the folder. This behavior was deployed to production on January 23.</em></p>
+
<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: When an instructor requests to download the Gradebook as a CSV (comma separated value) file, Assignments in the Gradebook are sorted before the actual CSV export. When two assignments had the same Assignment Group ID and position, and one of them did not contain a due date, the CSV export failed. Canvas code has been updated to support assignments without due dates in CSV sorting.</p>
-
<h3>Hidden Links</h3>
+
<h2 dir="ltr">Groups</h2>
-
<p>Folders (and files in the folders) that are restricted as hidden but available with a link can be viewed by students with the link.</p>
+
<h3 dir="ltr">Unassigned Students Section Hover</h3>
-
<p><em>Explanation: When a file restriction was set to hidden but students could access the file with a link, students were not able to access the file. Canvas code has been updated to confirm the file permission and allow access as per the restriction.</em></p>
+
<p dir="ltr">Hover text with all student section enrollments does not appear for unassigned students in course groups.&nbsp;</p>
-
<h2>Groups</h2>
+
<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: For students who had not been assigned a course group, instructors were able to hover over the student’s name and view hover text that showed all active section enrollments for the student instead of enrollments specific to the course. Canvas code has been updated to remove the hover text for unassigned students.</p>
-
<h3>Group Limits</h3>
+
<h3 dir="ltr">Self Sign-Up Student Groups</h3>
-
<p>Groups cannot contain fewer than two members in the group.</p>
+
<p dir="ltr">On the Student Groups page, when a student joins a group, the links for all other groups in the group set update appropriately as Join, Switch To, or Leave.&nbsp;</p>
-
<p><em>Explanation: When setting a limit on a group size, instructors could set the group to one or a negative number of members. Canvas code has been updated to not allow fewer than two members in a group.</em></p>
+
<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: When a student joins a self sign-up group, the links for the other groups in the group set were not updating properly. For instance, when a student left a group, the group links were showing as Leave instead of Join. Canvas code has been updated to reflect the proper status for each group depending on the student’s involvement in the group.</p>
-
<h3>Unpublished Courses and Groups</h3>
+
<h2 dir="ltr">Modules</h2>
-
<p>Students cannot view their groups for a course if the course is unpublished.</p>
+
<h3 dir="ltr">Prerequisites Student View</h3>
-
<p><em>Explanation: When students were added to a group before the course had been published, students were able to view the group in the Courses menu. Canvas code has been updated to hide groups from students until the course has been published.</em></p>
+
<p dir="ltr">If an unpublished module is a prerequisite to a second module, students have access to the second module until the first module is published.&nbsp;</p>
-
<h3>Group Leaders</h3>
+
<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: When an instructor created two modules, where the first module is a prerequisite to the second but is unpublished, students in the course were able to view all items in the second module. However, once the first module was published, students could still access the items in the second module even though the first module was listed as a prerequisite. Canvas code has been updated to invalidate module progressions with prerequisite changes.</p>
-
<p>Student leaders who leave a group are no longer able to manage the group.</p>
+
<h2 dir="ltr">Notifications</h2>
-
<p><em>Explanation: When a student leader left a group, the student was still able to view the link to manage the group. When the group page was refreshed, the manage link disappeared. Canvas code has been updated to remove the leader attribute from the user when the user leaves a group.</em></p>
+
<h3 dir="ltr">Unconfirmed Channels</h3>
-
<h3>Self Sign-Up Group Limits in Firefox</h3>
+
<p dir="ltr">Users only receive Canvas notifications through confirmed channels.&nbsp;</p>
-
<p>In Firefox, users can use the up arrow to limit group members when self sign-up is enabled.</p>
+
<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: When a user added a communication channel but the channel was never confirmed, the user was still receiving notifications through the unconfirmed channel. Canvas code has been updated to verify the confirmation of the channel before sending notifications.</p>
-
<p><em>Explanation: When a user created a new group set, selecting the option to allow self sign-up and then attempting to use the arrow keys in the Limit group to x members field would not move unless the number was manually typed into the box. Canvas code has been updated to confirm numeric values when inputting number types in Firefox.</em></p>
+
<h2 dir="ltr">Outcomes</h2>
-
<h2>Modules</h2>
+
<h3 dir="ltr">Rubrics and Outcome Criteria</h3>
-
<h3>Module Dates</h3>
+
<p dir="ltr">When searching for an Outcome criterion in a rubric, courses without Outcome criteria display a link to the Outcomes page.&nbsp;</p>
-
<p>Module dates entered as MM-DD-YYYY are supported as a date format.</p>
+
<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: When a user tried to search for an Outcome criterion to add to a rubric, courses that contained no Outcomes displayed a blank page. Canvas code has been updated to direct users to the Outcomes page.&nbsp;</p>
-
<p><em>Explanation: When an instructor entered a module unlock date in the MM-DD-YYYY format, Canvas was saving the date in the reverse format. Canvas code has been updated to analyze and support the manually entered date.</em></p>
+
<h3 dir="ltr">Browser Zooming</h3>
-
<h3>Module Requirements</h3>
+
<p dir="ltr">In Chrome and Firefox, users can view all Outcomes when zoomed out of the Outcomes Index Page.</p>
-
<p>Instructors and TAs without the Manage All Other Course Content permission are not restricted by module requirements.</p>
+
<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: When a user in Chrome or Firefox opened the Outcomes page and tried to zoom out of the browser, the Outcomes Group sidebar navigation was not displaying properly in the browser view. Canvas code has been updated to render Outcomes when users zoom out of the browser window.</p>
-
<p><em>Explanation: When instructors and TAs did not have the Manage All Other Course Content permission (the permission to edit modules), they were restricted by module requirements. When they tried to navigate into an assignment directly, they were not able to view the assignment as there were unfulfilled requirements. Canvas code has been updated to confirm role permission and support viewing of the Modules Index Page for users who are not students but who do not have editing rights.</em></p>
+
<h2 dir="ltr">People</h2>
-
<h2>Pages</h2>
+
<h3 dir="ltr">Existing User Course Invitations</h3>
-
<h3>Content Selector Page Links</h3>
+
<p dir="ltr">Inviting users to a course does not affect existing users with active enrollments.&nbsp;</p>
-
<p>Page links created through the Content Select with a capitalized page title can be viewed within Canvas.</p>
+
<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: When a user with an active enrollment was manually re-invited to a course section, the user’s status changed to the pending/invited status. This behavior seemed to only affect the newest users in the course. Canvas code has been updated to retain the state of existing active user enrollments.&nbsp;</p>
-
<p><em>Explanation: When a page was created by inserting a link to the page in the Content Selector, and the page name contains a capital letter, the link's URL matched the case of the page's title and created an error message. Additionally, when a user on a mobile app attempted to click a link to the same type of page, the page would not load. Canvas code has been updated to remove query parameters when generating the API endpoint for pages and support mixed-case page names.</em></p>
+
<h3 dir="ltr">Concluded Course Invitations</h3>
-
<h2>People</h2>
+
<p dir="ltr">Course invitations are displayed on a student’s Courses page until the course has concluded.</p>
-
<h3>Total Activity Time</h3>
+
<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: If an instructor sent a course invitation, but the user did not accept before the course or term end date, the invitation was still showing on the user's Courses list under past enrollments. However, if the user tried to accept or reject the invitation, the page displayed an error message. Canvas code has been updated to hide course invitations for concluded courses.&nbsp;</p>
-
<p>Total Activity time on the People page keeps counting after reaching 99 hours.</p>
+
<h3 dir="ltr">Enrollment Section Options</h3>
-
<p><em>Explanation: When a student reached 99:59:59 hours of activity time, the time rolled over to to 00:00:00 on the Users index in a course. However, the API call to enrollments showed the correct amount of time in seconds on total_activity_time property. Canvas code has been updated to show the correct activity time instead of restarting at zero.</em></p>
+
<p dir="ltr">Canvas does not display an error for enrollment privileges unless there is an actual error.</p>
-
<h3>Student Access Report</h3>
+
<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: When an instructor added a user and selected the let this user see all course users option or limit this user to only see fellow section users option, Canvas was displaying an "Enrollment privilege change failed" message, even though the enrollment option was applied. Canvas code has been updated to verify the state of the enrollment option before displaying the warning message.</p>
-
<p>Student Access Report displays data for accessing HTML files.</p>
+
<h2 dir="ltr">Permissions</h2>
-
<p><em>Explanation: When an instructor viewed a student access report, the report was not generating any access data for viewing HTML files. Canvas code has been updated to log access for files within the inline page view and within the new files preview.</em></p>
+
<h3 dir="ltr">Add/Remove Other Teachers/Designers/TAs</h3>
-
<h2>Syllabus</h2>
+
<p dir="ltr">When adding users to a course, users can only view the designer role if they are granted the Add/Remove Other Teachers/Designers/TAs permission.&nbsp;</p>
-
<h3>Syllabus Assignment Times</h3>
+
<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: When the Add/remove other teachers, course designers or TAs to the course permission is disabled, instructors were able to view the designer role when adding users to a course. Canvas code has been updated to verify permissions before displaying the designer role. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
-
<p>Syllabus date column shows the time for each assignment.</p>
+
<h3 dir="ltr">Faculty Journal</h3>
-
<p><em>Explanation: In the Date column, when a user hovers over the date of an assignment in the Syllabus, the assignment tooltip was displaying an inaccurate time of 12:00 AM for all assignments. Canvas code has been updated to remove the time tooltip in the Date column.</em></p>
+
<p dir="ltr">Users can only view and access the Faculty Journal if granted the "Manage faculty journal entries" permission.</p>
-
<h2>User Settings</h2>
+
<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: When the “Manage faculty journal entries” permission was disabled, TAs and Instructors were still able to access the Faculty Journal and make entries from various locations. Canvas code has been updated to verify permissions before displaying access to the Faculty Journal.</p>
-
<h3>Personal Files</h3>
+
<div>
-
<p>When Better File Browsing is enabled, users can preview course files from their personal files.</p>
+
<h2 dir="ltr">Quizzes</h2>
-
<p><em>Explanation: When Better File Browsing was turned on at the account level (enabled for all users in the account), users received a page error when they tried to preview course files from their personal files. However, the preview still worked if they viewed the file in Course Files directly. Canvas code has been updated to confirm the preview URL to display course file previews in the user personal files.</em></p>
+
<h3 dir="ltr">Extra Time Per Quiz Attempt</h3>
 +
<p dir="ltr">When multiple students are granted extra time in an additional quiz attempt, all students are able to complete the additional quiz attempt.</p>
 +
<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: When an instructor moderated a quiz and granted several students additional time in an attempt, only the last student updated was able to complete the attempt; all extra time and attempts given to the other students would disappear. Canvas code has been updated to include a small time delay in the timestamp when refreshing the moderate page so that all recent edits are displayed accurately.</p>
 +
<h3 dir="ltr">Save it Now Quiz Button</h3>
 +
<p dir="ltr">When an instructor edits a quiz question or adds a new question to a quiz without saving, clicking the Save It Now button saves all changes to the quiz.</p>
 +
<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: When an instructor edited an existing question or added a</p>
 +
<p dir="ltr">new question to a quiz without saving, clicking the Save It Now button was not saving the changes made to the quiz. Canvas code has been updated to save the quiz context with the quiz URL and quiz ID.</p>
 +
<h3 dir="ltr">Deleted Questions in Quiz Statistics Question Limit</h3>
 +
<p dir="ltr">Quizzes does not count deleted questions when generating quiz statistics.</p>
 +
<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: When Quizzes generated quiz statistics for a quiz, deleted quiz questions were being incorporated into the default maximum question limit, which could stop quiz statistics from being generated. Canvas code has been updated to confirm the size of active quiz questions before turning off quiz stats in large courses.&nbsp;This fix was deployed to production on February 6.</p>
 +
<h2 dir="ltr">SpeedGrader</h2>
 +
<h3 dir="ltr">Multiple Submissions</h3>
 +
<p dir="ltr">When multiple students submit assignments multiple times, SpeedGrader shows the most recent submission for each student.</p>
 +
<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: When multiple students submitted an assignment multiple times, an instructor who wanted to view the submission for the next student was being shown the same submission as the first student, whether that submission was the most recent or not. Canvas code has been updated to display the most recent submission when viewing the next student’s submission, unless an older submission is specifically selected in the sidebar by the grader.&nbsp;</p>
 +
</div>
 +
<h3 dir="ltr">Quiz Submissions with Incorrect Students</h3>
 +
<p dir="ltr">SpeedGrader shows the correct quiz data for each student submission.</p>
 +
<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: When an instructor updated a quiz score for a student and quickly clicked the Next Student arrow, the next student’s submission was displaying quiz data belonging to the previous student. Canvas code has been updated to confirm that the data and the student are aligned before displaying in SpeedGrader. &nbsp;</p>
 +
<h2 dir="ltr">Syllabus</h2>
 +
<h3 dir="ltr">User and Browser Time Zones</h3>
 +
<p dir="ltr">User time zones are reflected in the course syllabus for each user, even if the user time zone is different from the browser time zone.&nbsp;</p>
 +
<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: When users changed their user time zones to something other than their browser time zones, the Syllabus was not able to render local dates and event times correctly. Canvas code has been updated to default to the user time zone if varied from the browser.&nbsp;</p>
 +
<h3 dir="ltr">Public Syllabus File Previews</h3>
 +
<p dir="ltr">Users can preview files linked to a public syllabus.</p>
 +
<p dir="ltr"><em>Explanation</em>: When a public syllabus contained links to files, users were able to download the files but were not able to preview the files. Canvas code has been updated to support previews for public users.</p>
 +
<h2 dir="ltr">User Profiles</h2>
 +
<h3 dir="ltr">Space Exceeded Error Message</h3>
 +
<p dir="ltr">When users cannot upload a profile picture because they do not have room in their personal files, Canvas generates an error message telling the users they’ve exceeded the available space.</p>
 +
<p><em>Explanation</em>: When users tried to upload a profile picture but the upload failed, the Canvas error message did not help the users understand why the upload failed, which was usually because the users were out of space in their personal files. Canvas code has been updated to improve the error message regarding files storage space.</p>
<h1 dir="ltr">Next release schedule: </h1>
<h1 dir="ltr">Next release schedule: </h1>
<ul>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr">
<li dir="ltr">
-
<p dir="ltr">Beta release and notes: 02/9/15</p>
+
<p dir="ltr">Beta release and notes: 03/2/15</p>
</li>
</li>
<li dir="ltr">
<li dir="ltr">
-
<p dir="ltr">Production release notes: 02/17/15</p>
+
<p dir="ltr">Production release notes: 03/9/15</p>
</li>
</li>
<li dir="ltr">
<li dir="ltr">
-
<p dir="ltr">Production release and documentation: 02/21/15</p>
+
<p dir="ltr">Production release and documentation: 03/14/15</p>
</li>
</li>
</ul>
</ul>

Revision as of 18:22, 19 February 2015

Production Release Notes for Saturday, February 21, 2015

Contents

New Features

Files

Usage Rights

As part of the new Files design, institutions can require their instructors to indicate usage rights for all course files before publishing the file to a course. (Currently, Usage Rights does not apply to files within Canvas Commons.)

Usage Rights is a course-level feature option called Require Usage Rights for Uploaded Files. A course-level feature option means that once the feature is enabled by the institutional admin, the feature can be enabled by instructors on a course-to-course basis. 

When usage rights is enabled, Files includes copyright information in a new column. Files can be sorted to view files that include or don’t include usage rights. Each icon shows the type of usage right assigned to the file. Files with a warning icon mean the files cannot be published until usage rights have been set.

Note: Only individual files display usage rights icons. File folders cannot hold an individual usage attribute, but folders can be used to specify rights for files within the entire folder.

Viewing Usage Rights for Existing Files

When the Usage Rights feature is enabled, files that were previously added to a course will display a warning icon but are not affected by the publishing limitation. Files that are already published remain published; to remove the warning icon, users can set usage rights at any time. However, if the state of the file (published, unpublished, restricted) needs to be changed, a usage right is required before the state can be changed. 

Setting Usage Rights for New Files

Usage rights can be set directly by clicking the file’s warning icon. Users can also click the file and open the settings menu, or click the file and open the usage rights window in the files toolbar.

When setting a usage right, users can set the file with one of five usage rights. If you are an instructor and are not sure which usage right applies to your file, please consult your institutional admin for guidance:

Users can also enter the copyright holder information in the Copyright Holder field.

On the Files page, usage rights can also be set for individual folders. Access the usage rights for a folder the same way you would open an individual file.

In the Manage Usage Rights window, users can set usage rights for all files that currently exist within the folder. Folders themselves cannot hold a usage right attribute, so the folder passes the usage right to the existing files in the folder at the time the usage right was defined. Therefore, users can create a folder, add all files to the folder, and then define the usage right for the folder and apply the right to all files at once.

This action does not apply to any files added to the folder after the usage right is set. If additional files are added at a later time, users will have to reset the usage right for the folder or set file usage rights individually.

Setting Usage Rights and Publishing New Files

Users can set a usage right and publish the file at the same time by clicking the file’s unpublished icon. The file window displays both the usage right options as well as the file state options. Files will not allow the file to be published until it has been assigned a usage right.

Viewing Usage Rights in Files

All copyright information is included as part of the file’s information. If allowed to view course Files, students can view the copyright icon on the Files page and view any additional usage rights information in the file preview window.

Usage Rights in the Content Selector

When Usage Rights is enabled, instructors can upload files and assign usage rights when uploading and adding files directly to an assignment or page in the Rich Content Editor. If a usage right is not selected as part of the upload process, the file will upload as an unpublished file. The file cannot be published until a usage right has been set.

If instructors choose to keep the file unpublished, the instructor may also want to keep the assignment or page unpublished as well so that students are not affected by files that they cannot access.

 

Updated Features

Commons

Image Sharing

As part of file sharing, Commons users can share and import images into their courses. Sharing images to Commons works in conjunction with the Better File Browsing course opt-in feature.

Note: Commons is currently a beta feature. If you are interested in using Commons for your institution, please fill out the Commons beta signup form.

Outcomes

Move-To Option

Outcomes and outcome groups can be rearranged using a Move option. Designed for keyboard navigation, each outcome displays a Move Outcome button, which can be used to move the outcome to another Outcomes group.

Outcome groups also display a Move Outcome Group button to allow groups to be arranged as well. These Outcome options are located at both the Outcomes account and course levels.

Other Updates 

Publish Button

As part of our interface redesign, Canvas publish buttons include a flatter design with no shading. More information can found in our Styleguide at canvas.beta.instructure.com/styleguide.

No functionality has been affected by this change. However, if you have changed the appearance of your publish button via custom CSS, please check to ensure your style works with the new design.

 

Fixed Bugs

Accessibility

Assignments

An assignment’s published status is not shown as a heading to screen readers.

Calendar

Screen readers and keyboard users can view undated items in the sidebar undated items list.

After a user opens the detail view of an undated item, screen reader focus returns to the undated item.

Keyboard users can collapse and expand the undated items list. They can also edit undated items within the edit window.

Conversations

Screen readers can navigate Conversations filters (Inbox, Unread, etc.). They can also identify the menus behind each button and read the number of items in each filter.

Screen readers can navigate the Groups search field. They can also view instructions for the search field and read the field filtering by user.

Files

All accessibility updates relate to the Better Files Browsing (New Files) feature. 

In the Files Move-To option, screen readers can read all folder names.

When a user clicks the publish icon, keyboard focus returns to the close icon. This change retains standard consistency for screen readers and keyboard users when closing a window anywhere in Canvas.

Files item names, settings menu, published icon, and restricted access icon—both in selected and hovered states—display a color contrast of 3:1 for the default Canvas interface and 4.5:1 for high contrast profiles.

After a user opens a file folder in the left side of the files page, screen readers can navigate the files list that appears for the folder.

The Files accessibility banner does not appear unless a user navigates Files via keyboard.

Groups

Users can add students to groups using keyboard navigation. The use of the Move-To option is not required.

Screen readers can read a warning if there are no groups in the course.

Screen readers can read a warning if a group is full and students cannot be added.

Media Comments

Screen readers and keyboard users can select and play audio and video comments throughout Canvas.

Modules

When a user adds a new content page through Modules, the page name text field includes a label.

People

The Groups tab is labeled as a tab.

Quizzes

In Quiz Log Auditing, when a user clicks the Skip to Content link, screen readers and keyboard users are redirected to the the content.

The Quiz Log Auditing attempt count buttons display a color contrast of 3:1 for the default Canvas interface and 4.5:1 for high contrast profiles.

Settings

Screen readers can read the Make this course publicly visible checkbox and associated text, which appears as part of the label data.

Analytics

Teacher Activity Reports

When an instructor adds a comment to a student’s assignment submission, the Teacher Activity Reports shows a student interaction.

Explanation: When an instructor viewed the Teacher Activity Report after adding a comment on a student’s assignment submission, the report was not showing any student interaction. Canvas code has been updated to include submission comments as part of the interaction report. 

Course Analytics

Course Analytics load more quickly for larger courses.

Explanation: Users were reporting that Course Analytics were loading slowly for large courses and were not usable in the course. Canvas code has been optimized to improve loading times.

Announcements

External Feeds

External Feeds can contain secure URLs (HTTPS)

Explanation: If an instructor added an external feed that was a secure URL, Announcements did not create a new announcement. Canvas code has been updated to support secure URLs in Announcements.

Delayed Announcements

When an announcement is scheduled to be delayed, users can view the availability date of the announcement.

Explanation: When an instructor posted a delayed announcement, users were not able to view the message that showed when the announcement would be available for viewing. Canvas code has been updated to restore the delayed announcement notification for users.

Assignments

Observer Notifications

Observers who are linked to a student receive notifications about new assignments.

Explanation: When an instructor created a new assignment in a course, any observers in the course were not receiving the notification about the new assignment, even when they were linked to a student who did receive the notice. Canvas code has been updated to include observers in assignment notifications. 

Unauthenticated Users and Unpublished Assignments

Unauthenticated users in a public course cannot view unpublished assignments.

Explanation: In public courses, users who are not authenticated (not logged in and enrolled in the course) were able to view unpublished assignments on the Assignments page. The content itself was inaccessible, but all titles, due dates, and points possible were able to be viewed. Unpublished content was not affected in any other Canvas page. Canvas code has been updated to hide unpublished assignments for unauthenticated users in public courses.

Calendar

New Event Window

Users can view all options when creating a new event in the Calendar.

Explanation: When a user created a new event in the Calendar, the height of the New Event window was too short, restricting the course options at the bottom of the window. Canvas code has been updated to correct the height of the window.

Canvas Commons

Subaccount Search Results

When searching for a resource in Commons, resources within subaccounts appear in the search list. 

Explanation: When a user tried to search for a resource that existed within a subaccount, the resource would not appear in the search results unless the user specifically filtered the search parameters by subaccount. Canvas code has been updated to include subaccount IDs in search queries.

Courses

Course Home Page and Course Names in Firefox 34

In Firefox 34, when a page is set as the Home Page for the course, long course names do not hide the edit button. 

Explanation: When an instructor set a page as the Course Home Page for a course with a long name (over 100 characters), the edit button for the Course Home Page was not appearing if the instructor viewed Canvas in Firefox 34. Canvas code has been updated to allow access to the edit button for the Course Home Page in Firefox 34.

Course Imports

Examview Export Images

Examview exports with links to images render correctly after course import. 

Explanation: When a user imported an Examview file that contained links to images within a quiz, the links were not retained in the import and displayed missing link warnings. Canvas code has been updated to improve file searching for imported content and retain all image links. 

Quiz Settings

Course imports retain quiz settings for Only Once After Each Attempt and Show Response After Last Attempt.

Explanation: When the Only Once After Each Attempt setting or Show Response After Last Attempt setting was selected in a quiz, the settings were not being applied when copying the quiz to another course. Canvas code has been updated to retain all quiz viewing attributes when exporting and importing the quiz.  

Discussions

Discussion Pages in Unpublished Courses

Students in unpublished courses cannot view course Discussions. 

Explanation: Students in unpublished courses were able to participate in discussions for the course by adding /discussion_topics to the course url. Canvas code has been updated to confirm read (published) access to discussion topics through direct URLs and display an unauthorized error. 

Hidden Discussion Entries

Users in a course can view all discussion posts within a discussion topic.

Explanation: Users who participated in multiple discussion topics were not able to view all associated discussion posts within unthreaded discussions. Canvas code has been updated to correct the ordering of each post ID within the database.

Files

Better File Browsing and Student View

When an instructor enables Better File Browsing (New Files) then removes the Files Course Navigation link, students cannot view Course Files. 

Explanation: When an instructor enabled Better File Browsing for the course and later removed the Files Course Navigation link, students were able to view course files from their personal files until they logged out of Canvas. Canvas code has been updated to improve caching for Files permissions.

Grades (Student)

Show All Details

When a student selects the Show all Details link on the Grades page, all details will be shown for all assignments, including any assignment scores that are already opened. 

Explanation: When a student opened the Grades page and viewed scoring details for an assignment, and then selected the Show all Details link, all the assignments on the Grades page would show details except for the assignment details that were already viewed. Canvas code has been updated to show and hide assignment details based on the state of the option being accessed rather than any prior view of the assignment. 

CSV Assignment Sorting

In the Gradebook, sorting an assignment by due date does not affect the CSV download file.

Explanation: When an instructor requests to download the Gradebook as a CSV (comma separated value) file, Assignments in the Gradebook are sorted before the actual CSV export. When two assignments had the same Assignment Group ID and position, and one of them did not contain a due date, the CSV export failed. Canvas code has been updated to support assignments without due dates in CSV sorting.

Groups

Unassigned Students Section Hover

Hover text with all student section enrollments does not appear for unassigned students in course groups. 

Explanation: For students who had not been assigned a course group, instructors were able to hover over the student’s name and view hover text that showed all active section enrollments for the student instead of enrollments specific to the course. Canvas code has been updated to remove the hover text for unassigned students.

Self Sign-Up Student Groups

On the Student Groups page, when a student joins a group, the links for all other groups in the group set update appropriately as Join, Switch To, or Leave. 

Explanation: When a student joins a self sign-up group, the links for the other groups in the group set were not updating properly. For instance, when a student left a group, the group links were showing as Leave instead of Join. Canvas code has been updated to reflect the proper status for each group depending on the student’s involvement in the group.

Modules

Prerequisites Student View

If an unpublished module is a prerequisite to a second module, students have access to the second module until the first module is published. 

Explanation: When an instructor created two modules, where the first module is a prerequisite to the second but is unpublished, students in the course were able to view all items in the second module. However, once the first module was published, students could still access the items in the second module even though the first module was listed as a prerequisite. Canvas code has been updated to invalidate module progressions with prerequisite changes.

Notifications

Unconfirmed Channels

Users only receive Canvas notifications through confirmed channels. 

Explanation: When a user added a communication channel but the channel was never confirmed, the user was still receiving notifications through the unconfirmed channel. Canvas code has been updated to verify the confirmation of the channel before sending notifications.

Outcomes

Rubrics and Outcome Criteria

When searching for an Outcome criterion in a rubric, courses without Outcome criteria display a link to the Outcomes page. 

Explanation: When a user tried to search for an Outcome criterion to add to a rubric, courses that contained no Outcomes displayed a blank page. Canvas code has been updated to direct users to the Outcomes page. 

Browser Zooming

In Chrome and Firefox, users can view all Outcomes when zoomed out of the Outcomes Index Page.

Explanation: When a user in Chrome or Firefox opened the Outcomes page and tried to zoom out of the browser, the Outcomes Group sidebar navigation was not displaying properly in the browser view. Canvas code has been updated to render Outcomes when users zoom out of the browser window.

People

Existing User Course Invitations

Inviting users to a course does not affect existing users with active enrollments. 

Explanation: When a user with an active enrollment was manually re-invited to a course section, the user’s status changed to the pending/invited status. This behavior seemed to only affect the newest users in the course. Canvas code has been updated to retain the state of existing active user enrollments. 

Concluded Course Invitations

Course invitations are displayed on a student’s Courses page until the course has concluded.

Explanation: If an instructor sent a course invitation, but the user did not accept before the course or term end date, the invitation was still showing on the user's Courses list under past enrollments. However, if the user tried to accept or reject the invitation, the page displayed an error message. Canvas code has been updated to hide course invitations for concluded courses. 

Enrollment Section Options

Canvas does not display an error for enrollment privileges unless there is an actual error.

Explanation: When an instructor added a user and selected the let this user see all course users option or limit this user to only see fellow section users option, Canvas was displaying an "Enrollment privilege change failed" message, even though the enrollment option was applied. Canvas code has been updated to verify the state of the enrollment option before displaying the warning message.

Permissions

Add/Remove Other Teachers/Designers/TAs

When adding users to a course, users can only view the designer role if they are granted the Add/Remove Other Teachers/Designers/TAs permission. 

Explanation: When the Add/remove other teachers, course designers or TAs to the course permission is disabled, instructors were able to view the designer role when adding users to a course. Canvas code has been updated to verify permissions before displaying the designer role.   

Faculty Journal

Users can only view and access the Faculty Journal if granted the "Manage faculty journal entries" permission.

Explanation: When the “Manage faculty journal entries” permission was disabled, TAs and Instructors were still able to access the Faculty Journal and make entries from various locations. Canvas code has been updated to verify permissions before displaying access to the Faculty Journal.

Quizzes

Extra Time Per Quiz Attempt

When multiple students are granted extra time in an additional quiz attempt, all students are able to complete the additional quiz attempt.

Explanation: When an instructor moderated a quiz and granted several students additional time in an attempt, only the last student updated was able to complete the attempt; all extra time and attempts given to the other students would disappear. Canvas code has been updated to include a small time delay in the timestamp when refreshing the moderate page so that all recent edits are displayed accurately.

Save it Now Quiz Button

When an instructor edits a quiz question or adds a new question to a quiz without saving, clicking the Save It Now button saves all changes to the quiz.

Explanation: When an instructor edited an existing question or added a

new question to a quiz without saving, clicking the Save It Now button was not saving the changes made to the quiz. Canvas code has been updated to save the quiz context with the quiz URL and quiz ID.

Deleted Questions in Quiz Statistics Question Limit

Quizzes does not count deleted questions when generating quiz statistics.

Explanation: When Quizzes generated quiz statistics for a quiz, deleted quiz questions were being incorporated into the default maximum question limit, which could stop quiz statistics from being generated. Canvas code has been updated to confirm the size of active quiz questions before turning off quiz stats in large courses. This fix was deployed to production on February 6.

SpeedGrader

Multiple Submissions

When multiple students submit assignments multiple times, SpeedGrader shows the most recent submission for each student.

Explanation: When multiple students submitted an assignment multiple times, an instructor who wanted to view the submission for the next student was being shown the same submission as the first student, whether that submission was the most recent or not. Canvas code has been updated to display the most recent submission when viewing the next student’s submission, unless an older submission is specifically selected in the sidebar by the grader. 

Quiz Submissions with Incorrect Students

SpeedGrader shows the correct quiz data for each student submission.

Explanation: When an instructor updated a quiz score for a student and quickly clicked the Next Student arrow, the next student’s submission was displaying quiz data belonging to the previous student. Canvas code has been updated to confirm that the data and the student are aligned before displaying in SpeedGrader.  

Syllabus

User and Browser Time Zones

User time zones are reflected in the course syllabus for each user, even if the user time zone is different from the browser time zone. 

Explanation: When users changed their user time zones to something other than their browser time zones, the Syllabus was not able to render local dates and event times correctly. Canvas code has been updated to default to the user time zone if varied from the browser. 

Public Syllabus File Previews

Users can preview files linked to a public syllabus.

Explanation: When a public syllabus contained links to files, users were able to download the files but were not able to preview the files. Canvas code has been updated to support previews for public users.

User Profiles

Space Exceeded Error Message

When users cannot upload a profile picture because they do not have room in their personal files, Canvas generates an error message telling the users they’ve exceeded the available space.

Explanation: When users tried to upload a profile picture but the upload failed, the Canvas error message did not help the users understand why the upload failed, which was usually because the users were out of space in their personal files. Canvas code has been updated to improve the error message regarding files storage space.

Next release schedule:

Note: You can follow the release schedule on the Canvas Updates calendar

Archived Canvas Updates
Retrieved from "https://lss.at.ufl.edu/help/Canvas_Updates"
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