Hi @mpelt …
I see what you mean here, and I understand where this might be helpful at the top of a discussion topic in your course. However, there isn’t anything in the built-in user interface of Canvas at either the instructor level or at the Canvas administrator level I am aware of that would let you modify how the instructor’s name appears and/or is highlighted. This *may* be possible with some custom CSS or JavaScript code (I think CSS in this case?) that would have to be applied at the Canvas account level, but I wouldn’t know what that code would look like. Another thing to keep in mind is that if custom code was added to the global CSS and/or JS files at the Canvas account level, then anything that is changed in your course is also changed in every single course within that account. So, that means you may have other colleagues who teach at your school that like the highlighting, but you may also have instructors that do not. So, in cases like this, I always recommend having conversations with your school’s Canvas administrator(s) or someone from your school’s Online Learning / eLearning / Distance Education department before making a visible change like this.
Another thing to keep in mind would be color accessibility. If a highlight color (let’s say yellow) was used, you’d want to make sure that the contrast between the background color and the text color met accessibility standards. Often, you will see hyperlinks colored a shade of blue. But, that’s not always the case. A Canvas admin can choose to set the link color for hyperlinks to any HEX color code via the “Themes” page in the back-end admin pages of Canvas. For example, maybe the admin wants the link color to match one of the school colors. So, this would also play a part in the decision for a highlight color as well. There are sites like: WebAIM: Contrast Checker that help check for color contrast and accessibility.
I’m not sure if you’ve ever submitted ideas for enhancements/improvements before, but there is a space here in the Community to do so. It used to be called “Feature Ideas”, but just yesterday, the team at Instructure released their new iteration called “Ideas & Themes”, and you can check it out here:
Canvas Ideas and Themes - Instructure Community
You can also check out a blog about the newly revised space by visiting this link:
New Ideas & Themes Now Live - Instructure Community
Hopefully some of what I have shared will be some things for you to ponder and have conversations about with folks at your school. If there are any questions, please post them as a reply. Thanks! Take care…be well.
