University of Kentucky®
Instructure is rolling out several updates that can make Canvas course building and communication a little smoother. Highlights include a new whole-course Accessibility Checker, flexible discussion deadlines, expanded support for New Quizzes (including AI-assisted question drafting), and built-in video captioning.
New Canvas Features
The new Course Accessibility Checker reviews instructors’ course content (pages, assignments, discussions, and more) for common issues like missing image descriptions, low color contrast, or headings that don’t follow a clear structure. When it finds an issue, it offers step-by-step guidance so that instructors can make updates right where they’re working. This feature supports course accessibility alongside the existing tools: Ally and UDOIT. If you have questions about these tools, please reach out to our Instructional Design team to schedule a consultation.
Canvas now supports Video Caption Generation directly in the Rich Content Editor. If an instructor or student records or uploads a video in Canvas, they can generate captions automatically or upload their own caption file. Captions support accessibility and can also help students review material more efficiently, especially in longer videos.
With Discussion Checkpoints, instructors can set one due date/score for the initial post and a second due date/score for replies, all within the same discussion. That means fewer workarounds, clearer expectations for students, and a more straightforward grading setup when participation happens in stages.
When instructors create a quiz, they will see New Quizzes as an option in addition to Classic Quizzes. New Quizzes includes additional question types, stronger reporting, and improved support for accommodations and accessibility. In New Quizzes, an AI-assisted Question Authoring option can suggest draft quiz questions based on course content, uploaded PDFs, or text the instructor provides. Think of it as a starting point: you decide what to keep, edit, or discard before anything is added to your assessment.
To learn more about these features, including the canvas guides for each feature, visit New Canvas Features.
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