Update on the Modernized SpeedGrader Release

[ArohiDesai]

At Canvas, we are committed to delivering tools that meet the highest standards of quality and usability while addressing the needs of our community. With that in mind, we want to provide an update on the release timeline for the modernized SpeedGrader.

We’ve received valuable feedback from our users during testing, and we are carefully working through it to ensure the new SpeedGrader is a robust and complete replacement for the current experience. Our primary goal is to achieve full feature parity with the existing SpeedGrader, including the inclusion of key functionalities such as support for RCE-Lite, Anonymous Grading and even most recently released functionality such as Submission Stickers. 

We know how important SpeedGrader is to your workflows, and we want to ensure the transition to the modernized version is seamless and rewarding.

We’re working hard to release the modernized SpeedGrader as soon as possible, with a target of Q1 2025. While we are striving to meet this timeline, we are committed to delivering the release no later than early Q2 2025.

We are actively addressing feedback and will continue to share updates as we make progress. Thank you for your patience and support as we work toward a better, more modern SpeedGrader. 

[NickChevalierUT]

Hi Arohi,

Thanks for this update! Does this mean the Modernized SpeedGrader is being delayed from its production release this Saturday, 1/18?

[j_avneri]

Hi Arohi,

Just echoing on Nick's point, could this be clarified please? as it's still listed in the release notes for 18 Jan 2025

Thanks!

[ArohiDesai]

@NickChevalierUT @j_avneri That is correct. It will not be released in production on January 18th. It was in the  Release notes originally but was delayed as of December 5th in favor of ensuring key features like RCE-Lite and Anonymous grading which are critical to the Speedgrader experience are also supported. 

• Improved SpeedGrader Experience [Delayed as of 2024-12-05]

[NickChevalierUT]

Hi @ArohiDesai,

Thank you for confirming this information, but this is slightly frustrating. I see in the Release Notes that this feature, among others, say they are "[Delayed as of X]," however the release notes still show a Production Environment Availability of 2025-01-18:

I interpreted this information to mean that the feature was previously delayed, but is now coming to production on 1/18. Clearly, this is not the case. We've already informed all of our faculty that these features are coming, when we now realize they are not.

What can be done to ensure these delays are more clearly communicated in the future? I would think modifying the "Production Environment Availability" date in the release note details themselves to "Delayed" would be a simple enough remedy.

Thank you.

[ArohiDesai]

Thank you for the feedback @NickChevalierUT . I see how that can be confusing. We will work on updating the release notes and also make sure it is clearly communicated with a new date if available or share that a new release date is yet to be determined. 

[Ash_Ow]

Hi @ArohiDesai,

I was under the impression that the suffix "Delayed [Date X]" meant that the decision to delay the feature was made on [Date X]. This is in opposition to "Delayed [Date X]" meaning "It has been delayed until "Date X". 

Based on that, this would mean that the decision to delay Modernized SpeedGrader was first made December 5th, 2024 and as it has been again delayed on January 16th, 2024 should it not now read "Delayed 2025-01-16"?

Are you able to clarify? Thanks!

[cms_hickss]

I think the release notes should use the exact same (clear) language for each change/update because sometimes the missing word(s) can change the meaning, and not everyone will read them the same way.

• "Delayed until DATE" instead of "Delayed Date"
• "Delayed as of DATE" instead of "Delayed Date"
• "Added to this release on DATE" instead of "Added DATE"

[clpatter]

Another Release Notes change I think would be good: Move anything that's being delayed to the BOTTOM.

As it is now, I see a feature that's being delayed, and I have to scroll, scroll, scroll by it to get to the next one. It would be so much easier if features that are actually being released are at the top, and features that are being delayed are at the bottom.

[HeatherAhern]

Thank you for sharing these ideas. The Community team is actively working with Product to improve awareness and communication around delayed features. To ensure thoughtful and informed decisions, and not add more confusion, we won't be making changes to the current delayed text in the 1.18 release notes. We fully agree with you, and want to provide clarity when flagging delayed items. Updated 'delayed' language will be reflected in future releases.

We also discussed the suggestion to move delayed items to the bottom of the release notes. Because this would be a manual motion, we believe that doing so may increases the risk of errors and could lead to additional confusion due to shifting content. We'll keep this one in our back pockets, but we aren't keen to make this kind of change at this point.

[rachelorston]

Thanks you @HeatherAhern - there is some great input in this thread from @clpatter  @cms_hickss  @Ash_Ow  and glad to see that we will update the delayed language.  

[Chris_Hofer]

Hello @ArohiDesai ...

I'll file this as a bug as well, but with the "Modernized SpeedGrader Platform" Feature Option enabled in my own sandbox course within our "beta" environment, we have a yellow theme for our Canvas environment, and there is white text on top of the yellow which makes it super hard to read.  (Sorry for the poor screenshot...I used my iPhone and zoomed in.  But, you get the idea.)

Hope this helps.