Canvas baseline practices FAQs

The templates help us to achieve structural consistency across courses.

They are also:

• Provide a structure for you to fill in the missing details pertaining to your course
• Provide support information for students that is tailored to your faculty
• Designed and tested for Canvas mobile app (accessibility)
• html-free, to ensure the pages are easily maintained by anyone (sustainability)

Importing CBP templates will result in the following:

1. CBP Syllabus content will replace existing content in the Syllabus page.
2. Course navigation menu will be reconfigured (replaced, reordered or hidden) based on the CBP template.
3. Pages from the CBP template (along with associated modules and files) will be imported into your course as additional content; they will not replace any existing content.
   Note: If you are importing a CBP template that has previously been imported, create copies of the course items before importing. The copies will not be overwritten.

• Placing pages in a module allows students to toggle between the pages. Otherwise, they would have to navigate back to the home page every time they want to access one of the core pages.
• Listing pages in modules also allows students to see how course content is structured.
• Providing clear access points to the core pages ensures good user experience.

Yes, but on the Canvas student app*, the home page and the course navigation menu do not appear together. Also, students must do additional ‘digging’ to find core pages if they are not linked on the home page.

*Approximately 30% of all traffic to Canvas is accessed through the Canvas Student app on mobile devices, while 31% is accessed via mobile web browsers.—Instructure report, August 2024.

The University’s Student Disability Services Office requires information about assessments in order to prepare appropriate support on time, should students request it. Information such as weighting, format and duration are helpful information for all students.

Navigating to Pages in the Canvas navigation displays an unstructured list of all the pages in the course, but they are removed from any educational context, hence it’s not ideal.

In the Canvas’ Rich Content Editor, you can change the font size without altering or removing the heading style. Heading styles aren’t just about appearance; they designate a ‘type’ to the text (e.g., Headings) that assistive technologies can recognise.

• Pages allow lecturers to directly and immediately update content (students may download files to their device and be referring to outdated versions unknowingly).
• Immersive Reader can be used on Canvas pages.
• Accessibility errors in Canvas pages can be fixed through UDOIT or the accessibility checker, directly in Canvas.