As part of our ongoing efforts to improve the learning experience in Canvas for users worldwide, we’re excited to announce a new feature on New Quizzes, available as of July 2nd, that addresses regional conventions for thousand and decimal separators. This update addresses a critical need for flexibility in how decimal points and thousand separators are handled, enabling institutions to ensure more accurate assessments and smoother interactions with Canvas New Quizzes.
The Global Need for Numeric Formatting Flexibility
Supporting region-specific decimal separators is crucial for ensuring accurate assessments worldwide and it was something shared on different occasions by our users in our community as an idea of improvement for the New Quizzes tool. Previously, Canvas converted decimal points from a period (“.”) to a comma (“,”) and in regions like Europe and Latin America, this led to confusion and errors in quizzes. While English-speaking countries typically use a period for decimal separation (e.g., 3.14), many other regions, such as Europe and Latin America, use a comma (e.g., 3,14). This discrepancy caused misinterpreted responses and grading issues.
As mentioned by one of our Spanish customers, "By making this more flexible, the Canvas layout designer will gain clear awareness of the decimal separator, and more importantly, it will allow for the correct automatic calculation of grades." This feedback highlights the importance of enhancing the system to account for regional variations, ensuring that numerical answers on New Quizzes are calculated accurately and consistently, regardless of the user's location.
With this update, Canvas allows account administrators to define the desired numeric formatting for their Institution, ensuring both instructors and students consistently use the correct decimal and thousand separators. This simple but crucial change eliminates confusion caused by incompatible formats, reducing errors and streamlining the experience for both students and instructors.
See in the images below how the feature is looking:
In Account Settings, admins can set the Decimal Separator [1] and the Thousand Separator [2] using the drop-down menu.
For Decimal Separator, admins can choose between Not set, Period and Comma.
For Thousand Separator, admins can choose between Not set, Period, Comma and Space.
Key Benefits:
- By configuring regional numeric formatting preferences, institutions can align quizzes with local conventions, providing a consistent experience for both instructors and students.
- Instructors will no longer need to manually correct errors caused by decimal or thousand separator issues, ensuring more accurate grading and maintaining assessment integrity.
- This update helps build trust in Canvas as a truly global tool, capable of adapting to diverse regional needs and providing consistent results across regions.
Next Steps
We’re focused on making the assessment experience even more adaptable to local needs while improving security, usability, and global performance.
This numeric formatting update for New Quizzes is just one example of our efforts to continuously improve Canvas and make it more effective in meeting the needs of educators and learners worldwide.
We look forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback as we continue to refine Canvas for a more effective teaching and learning experience tailored to global needs.
Thank you for your partnership!
