Brightspace – CAT FooD

Brightspace Tip #585: Quizzes – Set Accommodations by Learner for All Quizzes

Janice FlorentMay 27, 2026May 26, 2026Leave a comment

Instructors can grant quiz accommodations to learners through the Classlist tool. Instructors can assign accommodations to specific learners that apply across ALL quizzes instead of applying them on a quiz-by-quiz basis. The accommodations option allows the instructor to give the learner more time to complete quizzes at the course level.

A view of the Classlist with the Edit Accommodations option highlighted for a student — The Edit Accommodations option in the Classlist

The Edit Accommodations dialog box with the Modify Time Limit and 1.5 times option selected for a student — The Edit Accommodations dialog box

Once granted, the accommodations apply to all quiz activities in a course for that learner. The additional time can be applied in terms of quiz time multipliers (for example, 1.5 x quiz time) or +minutes (for example, an additional 30 minutes) on every quiz in a course.

Accommodations for Instructors:

An icon appears next to the learner’s name in the Classlist to indicate that the learner has an accommodation.
Instructors can filter the Classlist by Accommodations.
Instructors can also Print or Email a list of users with accommodations by adding the filter to those pages.

Accommodations for learners:

An icon appears next to learners’ own names in the Classlist to indicate they have an accommodation. To view accommodation details, learners can click My Accommodations from their learner context menu.
When commencing a quiz, the accommodation icon appears next to a learner’s quiz time to indicate that their accommodation has been applied. If a learner’s time accommodation has been overridden by a quiz-specific special access, this icon does not appear.

Classlist page highlighting the Learner has Accommodations icon

Example of accommodations reflected in the quiz's time allowed. — Learners can see accommodations reflected in the time allowed when taking quiz

Quiz-specific special access can overwrite an accommodation for any user on a quiz-by-quiz basis. When you overwrite an accommodation and then click Save, a warning describing the impact of overwriting the accommodation appears. Accommodations set for learners in Classlist are displayed in the Special Access for the quiz.

Accommodations indicator in Special Access — An example of how Accommodations set for a learner in Classlist will show up in the Special Access for a quiz

Want more information?

Set Up Brightspace Accommodations by Learner for All Quizzes
Brightspace Tip #584: Quizzes – Special Access
Quizzes FAQ: Hot tips and workarounds
Brightspace Tip #254: Tests and Quizzes
Resources for the Quizzes Tool

View current, past, and preview upcoming Continuous Delivery release notes
Instructors Quick Start Tutorial
Brightspace Known Issues
Request a sandbox course
Sign-up for Brightspace training sessions
You can find Brightspace help at D2L's website.
Join the Brightspace Community.
Try these Brightspace How-To documents.
Visit our Brightspace FAQs for additional Brightspace information
or schedule a one-on-one session, email, or
call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418.

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 Tip #584: Quizzes – Special Access

Janice FlorentMay 26, 2026May 26, 2026Leave a comment

Did you know Special Access is an option available in the Quizzes tool that allows the instructor to grant learners special accommodations?

Special Access allows the instructor to assign specific learners a different set of quiz availability dates, late submission properties, and/or time limits. The instructor can change Start, End, and Due dates; the "Recommended Time Limit" and "Enforced Time Limit" timing settings; and the number of attempts allowed for a quiz to provide allowances for different needs of learners.

Add Special Access in the Quiz Creation Experience

special access options in quizzes — Special Access options in Quizzes

Select Allow selected users special access to this quiz if you want to give certain students different submission options from the rest of the class.
Select Allow only users with special access to see this quiz if only certain students are allowed to see this quiz.
Click Add Users to Special Access to select students who will get the special access.

NOTE: Instructors can exempt individual learners from the requirement to use the Respondus LockDown Browser when taking a quiz. Follow these instructions to add Special Access to quizzes that require Respondus LockDown Browser (RLDB).

Want more information?

Grant Special Access to Users for a Quiz (video)
Set up Availability Dates & Conditions
Add Special Access to quizzes that require Respondus LockDown Browser
Brightspace Tip #585: Quizzes – Set Accommodations by Learner for All Quizzes
Quizzes FAQ: Hot tips and workarounds
Brightspace Tip #254: Tests and Quizzes
Resources for the Quizzes Tool

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 Tip #583: Video Notes – Closed Captions

Janice FlorentMay 21, 2026Leave a comment

celebrate GAAD heading with disability icons

Thursday, May 21st, 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.

Video Notes is a built-in media recording tool in Brightspace that allows instructors and learners to record short videos with a webcam. This makes it easy to personalize the learning experience with short, video-based feedback, comments, or instructions. Video Notes can be added where video attachments are supported and when the Brightspace Editor’s Insert Stuff option is available.

People who are deaf or hard of hearing rely on captions and subtitles to understand video content. But there are a lot of other great reasons for using captions. For example, you may have some learners who choose not to use the sound or they cannot use it without disturbing those around them. You may have some learners who are not native in your language or who have trouble understanding you. Closed captions and subtitles will allow these individuals to receive your message and understand it.

Did you know you can generate automatic closed captions for newly created Video Notes AND you have the ability to manually add or edit closed captions for all previously recorded Video Notes?

Always verify your automatic captions. Automatically generated text often lacks punctuation and struggles with technical jargon, resulting in a "wall of text" that is difficult to follow. Inaccurate captions don't just hinder accessibility; they create a confusing experience for all viewers. Before you share your video, do a quick pass to correct misspellings and add basic sentence structure—it makes a world of difference for viewer comprehension.

Follow these steps to do it.

To generate automatic captions:

Select Add Video Note from the Insert Stuff option in the Brightspace Editor.
Click on New Recording, click Stop Recording when done recording.
Click on Next
Enter a title and description for the Video Note.
Choose the audio language.
Check the "Automatically generate captions from audio" box.
Click Next and follow the prompts.
After video processing, you can view the closed captions using video player controls.

example of automatically generate captions from audio checkbox — Video Notes - automatically generate captions from audio

Note: As with any automatically generated captions, you should verify the accuracy of the automatically generated captions.

To edit/update Video Note captions:

Select Audio/Video Note Editor from the Admin Tools. Admin Tools are accessed from the cog icon in the top right corner of the page.
Locate the Video Note you would like to review the captions for.
Select the Video Note from the list.
Edit the captions in the Captions Editor.
Click on Save Captions.

Admin Tools with Audio/Video Note Editor highlighted — Audio/Video Note Editor

example showing update to automatic captions — Video Notes - update automatic captions

To add Video Note captions:

Select Audio/Video Note Editor from the Admin Tools. Admin Tools are accessed from the cog icon in the top right corner of the page.
Locate the Video Note you would like to add captions to.
Select the Video Note from the list.
Click on the Closed Captions tab.
For automatic captions, select the audio language and then click Auto-Generate OR select Upload to add a captions file.
After video processing, you can view the closed captions using audio/video player controls.

example showing how to generate automatic captions — Video Notes - add captions

Reminder: As with any automatically generated captions, you should verify the accuracy of the automatically generated captions.

Want more information?

Brightspace Tip #565: Video Notes
Create Video Notes
Create and insert a Video Note in Brightspace Editor
Reuse Video Notes
Understanding the Brightspace Editor
Edit Video Notes closed captions

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: "celebrate GAAD" by jflorent is dedicated to the public domain under CC0 and is adaption of "disability symbols" by National Park Service in the public domain

Brightspace Tip #582: Accessibility Checker

Janice FlorentMay 19, 2026May 18, 2026Leave a comment

Thursday, May 21st, 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.

Brightspace Editor accessibility checker icon

The checker indicates if the content is free of accessibility issues, or offers suggestions to fix them.

Want more information?

Improve Your Course with Brightspace Accessibility Checker
Brightspace Accessibility

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: "celebrate GAAD" by jflorent is dedicated to the public domain under CC0 and is adaption of "disability symbols" by National Park Service in the public domain

Brightspace Tip #581: Respondus Monitor – Require a Second Camera

Janice FlorentMay 14, 2026May 14, 2026Leave a comment

A detailed view of a camera shown on a computer screen, focusing on its lens and body.

A new feature of Respondus LockDown Browser / Respondus Monitor is the ability to record the learner from different angles. This feature is aimed at increasing exam integrity by allowing instructors to view a student's workspace, keyboard, and screen, reducing unpermitted resource use.

Respondus Monitor now supports a second camera, providing an additional video angle during exams. This added visibility is designed to deter the use of unapproved resources and give instructors greater control over exam security.

This feature allows the use of two cameras for exams using Respondus Monitor: the primary webcam plus a camera from a mobile device (phone, tablet). The second device must be able to scan a QR code. When this setting is enabled by the instructor, the learner will be prompted to set up a second camera.

Post-Exam Review

Once the exam is submitted, the instructor can view up to three videos synchronously with the proctoring results: frontal webcam, second camera, and screen recording.

Key Requirements for Students

Mobile Device: Students must have a smartphone or tablet with a working camera.
Connection: Students will need to scan a QR code displayed on their computer screen during the startup sequence to sync the camera on their mobile device (i.e., the second camera).
App/Browser: Students do not need a separate app; when they scan the QR code with their mobile device, it opens a secure web-based recorder in their mobile browser (Safari on iOS 18+ or Chrome on Android).

Want More Information

How to Require a Second Camera for a Respondus Monitor Exam
Setting Up a Second Camera for a Respondus Monitor Exam
Mobile Permissions for Second Camera in Respondus Monitor
Brightspace Tip #200: Respondus LockDown Browser / Respondus Monitor

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Image credit: image by MarcWinter from Pixabay

Brightspace Tip #580: Set Up Your Summer Courses

Janice FlorentMay 10, 2026May 8, 2026Leave a comment

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.

Follow these steps to do it.

Listed below are links with instructions to:

Want more information?

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.

Photo Credit: image by analogicus from Pixabay

Brightspace Tip #579: Master Copies of Courses

Janice FlorentMay 3, 2026Leave a comment

A few weeks after the end of the semester, all Spring 2026 courses will be changed to an inactive status. Once the courses are changed to an inactive status, student work and grades will be visible to the instructor but students will no longer have access to the course.

The current policy is that courses will remain on the Brightspace system for three semesters before they are removed. You can request a Brightspace Master Course Shell that you can use to make a copy of your course. Master Course Shells will not be removed from the Brightspace system. If you would like your course content/materials to be available in Brightspace beyond the current retention period of three semesters, you should request a Master Course Shell for the course.

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.

First, fill out the Brightspace Master Course Request Form.

To copy existing course into a Master Course Shell:

In the NavBar of your Master Course Shell, click on "Course Admin".
Click on the "Import/Export/Copy Components" link.
Click on the "Copy Components from another Org Unit" radio button.
In the Course to Copy option, click the "Search for Offering" button.
Click on the magnifying glass in the "Search for" field.
Click on the radio button to the right of the course you want to make a copy of and then click on "Add Selected".
Verify your selections are correct before proceeding.
At the bottom on the browser window you will click on either "Copy all Components" OR "Select Components" and follow the prompts.

When building a course from scracth:

Add your content and learning activities to your Master Course Shell.
Get into the destination course (the course you want to copy the contents of the Master Course Shell into).
In the NavBar (of the course you want the content copied to), click on "Course Admin".
Click on the "Import/Export/Copy Components" link.
Click on the "Copy Components from another Org Unit" radio button.
In the Course to Copy option, click the "Search for Offering" button.
Click on the magnifying glass in the "Search for" field.
Click on the radio button to the right of your Master Course Shell and then click on "Add Selected".
Verify your selections are correct before proceeding.
At the bottom on the browser window you will click on either "Copy all Components" OR "Select Components" and follow the prompts.

Want more information?

Brightspace Master Course Request Form
Brightspace Tip #559: Copy Course or Copy Components
Import/Export/Copy - Copy Components video [1:31]

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: Duplicate Original by woodleywonderworks is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Brightspace Tip #578: End-of-Semester Tasks

Janice FlorentApril 24, 2026May 15, 2026Leave a comment

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 Microsoft OneDrive 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.

Follow these steps to do it.

Instructions are available for releasing final course grades, exporting your Grade Book, and requesting Master Course Shells.

Want more information?

Release Final Grades
Export your Grade Book (video [2:03])
Master Copies of Courses

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.

Photo Credit: image by WOKANDAPIX from Pixabay

Brightspace Tip #577: April Continuous Delivery Updates

Janice FlorentApril 23, 2026Leave a comment

the word update written on a chalk board

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.

This update from the April 2026/20.26.04 release was added to our system:

1) Quizzes – Improvements to the Quizzes evaluation

The quiz evaluation experience now includes an Incorrect filter that lets instructors quickly view quickly view answers marked incorrect. In addition, feedback fields automatically expand as needed, providing more space to review and enter feedback.

Instructors can now filter the quiz questions to review only the questions a learner answered incorrectly. This enhancement helps instructors identify trends and determine whether updates to questions or instructional materials are needed.

Previously, the available filters were Pending Evaluation and Retaken questions only. With this update, the new Incorrect filter displays only questions marked incorrect.

The Pending Evaluation, Incorrect, and Retaken filters for quiz answers. — Filtering options for quiz answers after the update.

Additionally, feedback fields for questions are now displayed as a single line and automatically expand when instructors enter additional comments. Previously, the Feedback field for each question displayed several lines even when no feedback was entered, requiring users to scroll unnecessarily.

A quiz answer with the Feedback field highlighted. — When evaluating a quiz question, enter additional comments to your **Feedback** in an automatically expanding field.

This feature implements the following PIE items:

D1865 (Filter for Viewing only Questions Missed)
D9123 (Quiz Filter to list only questions that were answered incorrectly)
D12922 (Quizzes: Filter when marking to only see questions answered incorrectly)

If you are interested in getting more information about this and all the April Continuous Delivery updates, refer to the Brightspace Platform April 2026/20.26.04 Release Notes.

Additionally, refer to the Brightspace Release Notes for Continuous Delivery Releases, for details about current, past, and to preview upcoming continuous delivery updates.

Want more information?

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: image by geralt from Pixabay

Brightspace Tip #576: Grade Book – Adjust Final Grades

Janice FlorentApril 21, 2026Leave a comment

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.

Want more information?

Understanding the Grades Tool (video)
Troubleshoot Final Grades (video)
Adjusted Final Grades
Release Final Grades
Brightspace Tip #542: Grade Book

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: Image by webandi from Pixabay

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Follow these steps to do it.

To generate automatic captions:

To edit/update Video Note captions:

To add Video Note captions:

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Follow these steps to do it.

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Post-Exam Review

Key Requirements for Students

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Follow these steps to do it.

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A Time-Saving Tool for Instructors

Follow these steps to do it.

To copy existing course into a Master Course Shell:

When building a course from scracth:

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Release final course grades

Export your Grade Book

Create a master copy of your course

Follow these steps to do it.

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1) Quizzes – Improvements to the Quizzes evaluation

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Follow these steps to do it.

To adjust final grades for all students:

To adjust final grades for one or more specific students:

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