Skip to main content
cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Canvas Release Notes (2021-08-21)

Canvas Release Notes (2021-08-21)

Upcoming Canvas Changes

2021-07-31

  • End of Life for SMS Notifications

For more information, please see Upcoming Canvas Changes.

 

In this Canvas release (August 21), the term Feature Option in Course and Account Settings has been renamed to Feature Preview. Release enhancements to Canvas feature previews will be posted only within their respective beta user group. Please subscribe to the feature's overview document for updates.

Feature Previews

  • The Embedded Release Notes feature preview has been turned on by default. Admins must turn the feature off to remove the feature for their institution.
  • The Accessibility Checker Notification feature preview shows content creators when accessibility concerns are detected without needing to open the Accessibility Checker. This feature preview is opt-in until 2021-09-18

External Tools (LTI)

  • For institutions using New Analytics, online attendance can be set and viewed based on specific user criteria set at the account level. This feature is also used in conjunction with the New Course and User Analytics feature preview.
  • For institutions using New Quizzes, The Quiz build page includes options to print the quiz with and without answers.

 

For all resources and feedback information related to this release, see the Release Resources section at the end of this document.

Related Links

 

Feature Previews

Back to Table of Contents

 

Feature previews allow institutions to preview Canvas functionality and participate in the Canvas development process using the Canvas environment of their choice (beta, production, or test, according to environment availability). Preview functionality is eventually incorporated into Canvas for all users at a future date.

Unless otherwise noted, feature previews are opt-in and do not require any action by a Canvas admin until a feature’s enforcement date is announced. Please reference the table below each feature heading for specific feature information. For general information about feature previews, please see the Canvas Release Notes FAQ.

 

New Analytics

Online Attendance

 

Feature Functionality Details

New Analytics LTI

Name of Feature Preview

New Course and User Analytics

Beta Environment Availability

2021-08-21

Production Environment Availability

2021-08-21

Affected Canvas Areas

New Analytics

Affects User Interface

Yes   

Affected User Roles

Admins, Instructors

Related Idea Conversations

Attendance = Teachers set time periods for groups in "people" and an icon shows students' activity

A way to quickly check attendance for asynchronous instruction

Built-In Self-Entered Attendance

Feature Beta User Group

New Analytics Users

Feature Q&A

Releases Q&A: 2021-08-21 New Analytics Attendance

Feature Video

Release Screencast: New Analytics (Online Attendance)

  

Summary

New Analytics includes an Attendance tab, which updates according to criteria set at the account level.

Change Benefit

This change allows criteria to update attendance information for individual courses and remove manual attendance tracking.

Affected User Roles

Admins, Instructors

Within the Account Settings Apps tab, admins can select the New Analytics configuration menu and view the option to enable or disable the Attendance tool. By default, this feature is turned off.

When enabled, admins can select the online attendance criteria for each course. If a student meets any of the criteria in a given day, that student will be marked as attended. 

For courses that have enabled New Analytics, Attendance displays as a tab within the page and can be customized by instructors to view specific data.

For full details about this feature, please see Canvas Release: New Analytics - Online Attendance Report.

New Quizzes

Quiz Printing

 

Feature Functionality Details

New Quizzes LTI

Name of Feature Preview

New Quizzes

Beta Environment Availability

2021-08-21

Production Environment Availability

2021-08-21

Affected Canvas Areas

New Quizzes

Affects User Interface

Yes   

Affected User Roles

Instructors

Feature Q&A

Releases Q&A: 2021-08-21 New Quizzes Instructor Print Options

Feature Video

Release Screencast: New Quizzes (Quiz Printing)



Summary

The Quiz build page includes options to print the quiz with and without answers.

Change Benefit

This change allows quizzes to be printed in an offline format. 

Affected User Roles

Instructors

For individual quizzes, the Settings menu includes two options:

  • Print Key (with Answers)
  • Print Blank Quiz

Print Key OptionsPrint Key Options

Both quiz options display a Print Quiz window. By default, medium text is selected for the quiz printout. However, two additional larger options are available.

The Print Quiz window always retains the text size selected in the previously printed quiz. To always reset the text size to medium, instructors can deselect the checkbox at the bottom of the window.

 

Print Quiz pagePrint Quiz page

When the print preview is generated for a blank quiz, the print dialog window displays the print options for the instructor. However, the quiz also reloads in preview mode. Instructors can exit the preview to return to the quiz editing page.

 

Rich Content Editor

Accessibility Checker Indicator

 

Name of Feature Preview

Accessibility Checker Notifications

Beta Environment Availability

2021-08-21, Off/Unlocked

Production Environment Availability

2021-08-21, Off/Unlocked

Affected Canvas Areas

Rich Content Editor

Affects User Interface

Yes   

Affected User Roles

All Users

Feature Q&A

Releases Q&A: 2021-08-21 RCE Accessibility Checker Notifications

Feature Video

Release Screencast: Rich Content Editor (Accessibility Checker Indicator)

 

Summary

The Rich Content Editor indicates when accessibility concerns are detected in the Accessibility Checker.

Change Benefit

This behavior invites content creators to improve their content and ensure it is accessible to all Canvas users.

Affected User Roles

User Role

When the Accessibility Checker Notification is enabled for a course, any accessibility issues detected within the Rich Content Editor display an indicator. This indicator helps users know about these issues without having to open the Accessibility Checker.

Accessibility Checker IndicatorAccessibility Checker Indicator

 

Other Updates

Back to Table of Contents

 

Settings

Feature Preview Terminology and User Group Updates


As introduced in the
Canvas Deploy Notes (2021-07-21), the term Feature Option in Course and Account Settings has been renamed to Feature Preview

When a feature preview includes a beta user group, all updates related to the preview will no longer be posted in the Canvas release notes. Instead, updates will be posted in the sidebar of the feature’s respective user group. 

User groups are provided for the following feature previews:


Please subscribe to the group's overview document for updates. (Overview documents will be provided within all groups by 21 August.)

Release Notes Interface Preview Change


The Release Notes Interface (Embedded Release Notes feature preview) has been turned on by default. Admins must opt out to remove the feature for their institution.

This feature was previously introduced in the 2021-06-19 Canvas release. Questions about this feature are welcome in Releases Q&A: 2021-06-19 Release Notes Interface.

 

Change Log

Back to Table of Contents

 

Date  
2021-08-26

Changed—Feature Previews

  • Rich Content Editor: Accessibility Checker Notification enforcement date is postponed
2021-08-18

Added—Feature Previews

  • New Quizzes: Quiz Printing

Changed—Feature Previews

  • New Analytics: Canvas Attendance renamed to Online Attendance
2021-08-05

Added Feature Previews Section

  • Rich Content Editor: Accessibility Checker Notification {Feature Preview: Default Off}
2021-08-04

Changed—Other Updates

  • Removed New Quizzes as a feature preview in Settings: Feature Preview Terminology and User Group Updates
2021-07-19 Published Release Notes

 

 

Release Resources

Back to Table of Contents

 

Release Q&A

To discuss a feature in this release, visit the Feature Q&A link listed in the table for the relevant feature in this document, if available. Not all features will include a discussion link.

User Summaries

Release features are summarized for individual roles in the User Summaries page.

New Feature Screencast

View a screencast of all the updates included in this release in the New Feature Screencast page.

Product Blogs & Related Links

Features in this release may be included in product blogs and/or other content areas. For all related links, view the 2021-08-21 Community tag.

Feature Enhancements

The release notes indicate available functionality for a feature. If you want to see any future development planned for any features included in these notes, please visit the Roadmap. Have an idea you don't see prioritized in the next three months? Visit the Idea Conversations page.

Feature Support

All items listed in the release notes are immediately available for testing in the Canvas beta environment, unless otherwise indicated.

  • If functionality in the beta environment does not match the functionality shown in the release notes, please submit a support case through your institution's preferred method as shown in your Global Navigation Help Menu.
  • The Canvas Support Team can help escalate behaviors that may need to be resolved before they are deployed to the production environment, which takes place on the date of these release notes. When submitting a case, please indicate that the behavior is occurring in the beta environment.

Change Log

2021-07-19

Published
Labels (3)
Was this article helpful? Yes No