Thursday, May 15th, is Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). GAAD aims to get you talking, thinking, and learning about digital access/inclusion and people with different abilities and talents.
Accessibility is about everyone. It is extremely important for students with disabilities to have access to accessible course content.
The Brightspace Editor has a built-in accessibility checker that makes it easy to check for issues or offer suggestions to fix identified accessibility issues.
Follow these steps to do it.
To check for accessibility issues:
After you add content to the Brightspace Editor, click the accessibility checker icon.
The checker indicates if the content is free of accessibility issues, or offers suggestions to fix them.
Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.
Thursday, May 15th, is Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). The purpose of GAAD is to get everyone talking, thinking and learning about digital (web, software, mobile, etc.) access/inclusion and people with different disabilities.
While people may be interested in the topic of making technology accessible and usable by persons with disabilities, the reality is that they often do not know how or where to start. Awareness comes first.
The key to embracing accessibility – whether online, in the classroom, or on campus is realizing that taking the time to address an issue doesn’t just help a handful of individuals; in the end, everyone benefits.
Participants in global accessibility awareness day are encouraged to attempt to go an hour without using a technology most people take for granted – such as not using a computer mouse, attempting to navigate a website using a screen reader, or enlarging all of the fonts in a web browser to 200 percent, to see how functionality may be lost when accessibility isn’t taken into consideration in the design.
As you prepare to teach this summer, now is a good time to get started setting up your Brightspace courses. Our Information Technology Center (ITC) has created the summer courses in Brightspace.
NOTE: You should see your summer courses in the My Courses widget. If you do not see your summer courses in your My Courses widget, you should click on the link to "View All Courses" (located at the bottom of the My Courses widget). Verify that you are listed as the instructor for the course in Banner. You can find more information about the updated My Courses Widget sort logic at this link.
To get started, you can post your syllabus, course documents, announcements, and set up your Grade Book in your Brightspace courses. You can also customize your course homepage and/or course image/banner.
If you teach a course that is cross listed you will have a Brightspace course for each cross listing. You can combine the cross listed courses into one Brightspace course so that you can post course materials and grades to one combined Brightspace course. Combining courses may also work for you if you are teaching different sections of the same course and would like to have the different sections combined into one Brightspace course so that you can post course documents and grades in the one combined course. The beginning of the semester is the best time to submit a request to merge your Brightspace courses before you add course materials or grades to the courses.
Additionally, if the summer course you are teaching is the same as one of your previous courses you can copy the entire course (or copy components) into your "empty" Brightspace summer course.
About Inactive Courses:
When ITC creates the Brightspace courses, they are set to inactive by default. Instructors have access to inactive courses but students who are enrolled in an inactive course do not have access to it. Faculty have no control over the active/inactive status of courses. Brightspace will not send alerts or notifications from inactive courses.
ITC will make courses active after the first deregistration (dereg) of students who are not fiscally cleared. At that point students will be able to access their courses. The dereg process usually occurs after registration. The registrar informs ITC of when the dereg process is complete.
NOTE: Even though a course is inactive, instructors can still email students. This can be done in several different ways. Instructors can send email within the course (even though it is inactive); the email will go out to the students. Instructors can send email to their students in Banner, and can also email the students through EAB.
Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.
Instructors who want to build their course before the normal course creation schedule can request a Brightspace Master Course Shell that can be used to develop and maintain their course materials.
A Master Course Shell:
Is a course environment an instructor uses to develop and maintain course materials that are used from semester to semester.
Is not tied to Banner. Therefore, no students or other users are enrolled into this Shell.
Can be used as a "master" where one keeps permanent changes to a course.
Faculty may copy content from a Master Course Shell into a Brightspace Course shell as long as they are enrolled as an instructor in both shells.
Master Course Shells are not deleted except upon the request of the instructor or when the instructor is no longer employed at Xavier.
A Time-Saving Tool for Instructors
Master Course Shells can be a timesaving tool for instructors. Using a Master Course Shell gives instructors time to build their courses the way they want, when they want, and update it as needed. Think of a Master Course Shell as a template course instructors can build once and use repeatedly. Here's how instructors typically use Master Course Shells:
Build Master Course: Develop a course (e.g., lectures, assignments, instructional materials, assessments) in the Master Shell. This becomes your baseline course structure.
Copy to Current Course: When ITC has created your course for the new semester, copy the Master Course Shell contents into your new empty course that ITC created.
Adapt for the Semester (Optional): Instructors can customize the copied course content to fit their needs for the current semester. This might involve adding new material, removing outdated content, or adjusting deadlines.
Keeping the Master Course Shell Up-to-Date: If you make significant changes to the active course during the semester, the Master Course Shell becomes outdated. To update the Master Course Shell with these changes, you can request a Course Reset for your Master Course Shell. A course reset permanently deletes course content, activities, and associated files. After the reset, you would copy the contents from the active course into your Master Course Shell. So, now your Master Course Shell has the latest course materials and information.
NOTE: To request a course reset for a Master Course Shell, send an email to jflorent@xula.edu and include the exact name of the Master Course Shell that you would like reset.
Follow these steps to do it.
If you want to build your course from scratch before your Brightspace course shell for the upcoming semester is made available, you should:
Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.
A conversation between Wendy Gaudin and Bart Everson on writing and publishing.
Wendy A. Gaudin is a historian and writer whose interdisciplinary work centers southern-descended, mixed-heritage, and mixed-race populations and histories. As a mixed-heritage Louisiana Creole of Color whose elders migrated to California in the first half of the twentieth century, Gaudin is deeply moved, shaped, and inspired by her expansive community’s story. She divides her time between New Orleans and Acadiana, and she teaches history at Xavier University of Louisiana.
As we approach the end of the semester there are a few things you can do in Brightspace to wrap up for the semester.
Release final course grades
Unlike other grade items and categories in the Grade Book, final grades are not available to students by default. Final grades must be released. If you did not choose to enable the automatic release of final grades when setting up your Grade Book, you will have to manually release final grades in order for students to see their final grade.
Export your Grade Book
Student access to courses is removed two weeks after the end of a semester. This process of making the courses inactive allows student work and grades to be visible to instructors but students no longer have access to the course. Courses will remain on the Brightspace system for three semesters before they are removed. You should export (download) your Grade Book to your local computer after you submit your final grades.
NOTE: The export file that is created will NOT contain any student work or instructor feedback. Only the grades in your Grade Book will be exported.
Create a master copy of your course
Courses remain on the Brightspace system for three semesters before they are removed. You can request a Master Course Shell that you can use to develop and maintain your course materials. Master Course Shells will not be removed from the Brightspace system.
Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.
D2L (the company that owns Brightspace) uses Continuous Delivery to update our Brightspace system. The Continuous Delivery model gives us regular monthly updates allowing for incremental and easily integrated changes with no downtime required for our Brightspace system.
Our Continuous Delivery update occurs on the 4th Thursday of each month. D2L provides release notes to help users stay up-to-date with the changes.
Here are some of the updates in the April 2025/20.25.04 release that were added to our system this month:
1) Assignments – Update to assignment annotations software version
With this release, the software that powers annotations in the Assignments tool is updated to the latest version, Nutrient 1.0.0 (formerly called PSPDFKit).
This version update resolves the following defects:
WCAG/A11y layout issues in the Layout tool are now resolved. Previously, the options were not read by the NVDA screen reader.
Cursor behavior now works as expected. Previously, the cursor would return to the start when typing notes in Assignment Annotations.
All formatted annotation text in text boxes now saves correctly. Previously, italicized and bold text elements would not save.
The annotations software no longer crashes on iPad OS versions 16 and below.
Additionally, minor UI updates are introduced in Nutrient 1.0.0. In the previous version of PSPDFKit, the following buttons displayed tooltips when hovering with a cursor:
Next Page
Previous Page
Page Mode buttons
Page Transition buttons
Page Rotation buttons
The previous version also highlighted the Search button when clicked.
Now, in Nutrient 1.0.0, the buttons tooltips are removed, and the Search button no longer highlights when selected.
In the previous version of the UI, annotations buttons appeared with a tooltip. In the updated version, the tooltip is removed.
In the previous version of Annotations, the Search bar appeared highlighted when clicked. Highlighting is no longer visible in the updated version.
2) Assignments and Discussions – Bulk feedback for instructors
This feature enables instructors to provide bulk feedback to learners directly within the Assignments and Discussions submission pages, enhancing efficiency and user experience.
Key capabilities:
Add and save bulk feedback as a draft if none exists.
Update existing drafts or published evaluations for multiple learners simultaneously.
Apply feedback to selected learners using Add Feedback or to all learners using Add Feedback to All.
Display a warning message when saving an empty Feedback dialog as bulk feedback, as this action overwrites existing drafts or published evaluations.
Notes:
Due to how Quizzes records attempts and completion summaries, bulk feedback is not supported for Quizzes
The Grid View in Discussions does not support bulk feedback.
File Attachments with Bulk Feedback
When using bulk feedback in Assignments or Discussions:
Brightspace Editor includes the Insert Stuff functionality but does not support file uploads from My Computer. Instructors can insert links to YouTube videos or other external resources. These links are stored in Manage Files.
Insert Image supports image file uploads from My Computer and the system stores them in Manage Files.
The Submissions page in Assignments displays options to add bulk feedback, including Add Feedback to All and Add Feedback (for selected learners).
The Assess Topic page in Discussions displays options to add bulk feedback, including Add Feedback to All and Add Feedback (for selected learners).
On the Assess Topic page in Discussions, select learners to add feedback, then click Add Feedback.
On the Assess Topic page in Discussions, after selecting learners and clicking Add Feedback, the Add Feedback dialog box opens, allowing feedback entry.
This feature implements the following PIE items:
D10673 (Bulk Edit Discussion / Dropbox Feedback)
D4921 (Bulk grading & Feedback in Dropbox / Assignments)
D6429 (Bulk feedback upload for non-submitted assignments)
D6739 (Assignment Bulk Edit Features)
3) Grades – Access Quiz Feedback
This new feature allows learners to quickly access quiz attempt feedback from the Grades page.
On the Grades page, click View Quiz Attempts to access feedback on quiz attempts.
Previously, learners could view quiz attempt feedback only in the Quizzes tool, depending on how the instructor configured the review process. This option remains available.
Before, learners could access quiz attempt feedback only through the Quizzes tool on the Quiz List page.
This feature implements the following PIE items:
D5170 (Learner Access Quiz feedback via Grades)
4) Media Library – New User Interface for Media Library
This release introduces a redesigned User Interface (UI) for Media Library, aligning it with the look and feel of other Brightspace tools. The updated interface allows administrators and instructors to manage media files more efficiently across multiple courses and content objects. Any change to a media file is automatically reflected in all courses it is added to, ensuring consistency and saving time.
The new UI of the Media Library page.
All the functionality of the old Media Library still exists but is now presented in a modern way:
The Add Assets button launches a dialog where users can upload new assets and record audio or video. It replaces the previous Upload and Record buttons.
In the Add Assets dialog, select Record Audio or Record Video to create new media. Alternatively, drag and drop files into the upload area or click to browse for files.
The Recycle Bin icon has been moved to the top-right corner. The updated interface now displays how long files will be stored before permanent deletion.
From the Recycle Bin page, select media items and click Restore Selected to recover them. In this example, the item is permanently deleted after 90 days.
The Source filter was removed from the Media Library due to lack of relevance.
5) Quizzes – New Quiz Evaluation Experience transitioning to default, with opt-out until July 2025
Originally released for the Quizzes tool in September 2024 / 20.24.9, this update now turns on the new Quiz Evaluation Experience by default for all clients, promoting broader adoption while still allowing users to opt out until July 2025, at which time it will be made the default experience for all users.
This update streamlines the transition to the new Quiz Evaluation Experience, enhancing grading workflows and ensuring consistency while allowing clients to adjust settings before the opt-out option is removed. Administrators can continue to offer users the choice to manually opt into the new Quiz Evaluation Experience through the June 2025/20.25.06 release. However, starting with the July 2025/20.25.07 release, all clients will be automatically transitioned to the new experience, and the opt-out option will no longer be available.
The new quiz evaluation experience is enabled by default on the quiz evaluation page. Click Turn it off to revert to the classic experience or Leave it on to continue using the new experience.
Previously, administrators had to manually enable the new Quiz Evaluation Experience as an opt-in feature.
On the quiz evaluation page, users could select Turn it on to enable the new quiz evaluation experience or Leave it off to continue using the classic version.
Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.
Brightspace calculates final grades for each student based on the grading system and the students' grades that are entered into the Grade Book. If the instructor wants more control over the final grades, perhaps to adjust the final grade for a student that is on the cusp of a higher grade, then adjusted final grades can be used and released to students instead of the calculated final grade.
If the instructor decides to use adjusted final grades for one student in the course, adjusted final grades must be used for all students in the course. This does not imply, however, that final grades must be manually adjusted for all students.
Adjusting final grades are implemented by the instructor for only the student or students that are deemed to need an adjusted grade. The remaining students final grades would be the final grade as calculated in the Grade Book.
Note: The Grade Book must be configured to use adjusted final grades. If you plan to use adjusted final grades, you should make the adjustments before you release final grades.
Follow these steps to do it.
To adjust final grades for all students:
Get into the course where you want to adjust final grades and click Grades in the NavBar.
Click on the Enter Grades link.
Scroll over to the Final Calculated Grade column and click on the arrow on the right of the column name and select Enter Grades.
In the Final Adjusted Grade section for each student, enter the adjusted grades and then click Save.
Once you have ensured that students' grades are accurate, you can release the final grades.
To adjust final grades for one or more specific students:
Get into the course where you want to adjust final grades and click Grades in the NavBar.
Click on the Enter Grades link.
Scroll over to the Final Calculated Grade column and click on the arrow on the right of the column name and select Enter Grades.
Click on the arrow on the right of the Final Grades and click Transfer All, then click Yes.
In the Final Adjusted Grade section, enter adjusted scores where necessary and click Save.
Once you have ensured that students' grades are accurate, you can release the final grades.
Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.
Unlike other grade items and categories in the Grade Book, final grades are not available to students by default. Final grades must be released. When setting up the Grade Book, the instructor can choose to automatically release final grades so that the students can see their final grade throughout the semester. If you did not choose to enable the automatic release of final grades when setting up your Grade Book, you will have to manually release final grades in order for students to see their final grade.
Additionally, you can selectively release final grades for some students now and release the final grades for other students later. For example, you can release the final grades for graduating seniors on one date and release the final grades for everyone else on a later date.
Follow these steps to do it.
To manually release final grades:
On the NavBar, click Grades.
On the Enter Grades page, from the Final Calculated Grade or Final Adjusted Grade context menu, click Enter Grades.
To release grades for all users, on the Final Grades page, from the Final Grades context menu, click Release All. To release final grades for a specific user, do one of the following:
Select the check box by the user name and click the Release/Unrelease link.
Select the check box in the Release Final Calculated Grade or Release Adjusted Final Grade column.
Click Save.
OR watch this video for instructions on how to release final grades:
NOTE: There is a slight change in the video instructions. The "Enter Grades" option should be used anywhere in the video where "Grade All" is referenced.
Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.
Image credit: "final grades" by jflorent is dedicated to public domain under CC0 and is a derivative of grade by OpenClipart-Vectors on Pixabay
Organizing your Grade Book using categories offers significant advantages beyond simply creating headings for your Grade Items. One key benefit is the ability to automatically drop the lowest grade within a category. This blog post will guide you through the process of setting up Grade Categories in Brightspace specifically for this purpose. To follow along, you'll first need to have your related Grade Items grouped within a Category in your Grade Book. If you haven't done this yet, please refer to "Creating Grade Items and Categories" for instructions.
NOTE:
You can only drop grades from Categories in which the items are weighted equally:
If you are using a weighted final grade, you’ll have to distribute weights evenly within the category to drop a grade.
If you are using a total points final grade, you will have to assign equal points to all the items in the category to drop a grade. For this reason, it is not recommended to have items with different maximum point values in the same category, for example, a quiz worth 25 points and another worth 10 points.
Follow these steps to do it.
Drop Grades From a Grade Category:
From the NavBar, click on Grades.
Click New to create a new category, OR click on the arrow to the right of your category name and click on Edit to modify an existing category.
In the Distribution section, choose the “Distribute weight evenly across all items” radio button and then enter the number of low (non-bonus) Grade Items that will be dropped from the category.
Click Save and Close.
Note: The instructions in this blog post work for Grade Items in categories that are equally weighted. If the Category contains Grade Items with unequal weights, you can use the "Bulk Edit Exemptions" option to manually review each student's grades and choose the grade that you want to exempt from the final grade calculations. Step-by-step instructions can be found in this article from the Brightspace Community that explains how to manually drop the lowest grade.
Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.
