(This list is not all-inclusive. It only shows those changes that will impact faculty the most. The date the updates will take place changes from month to month. You can expect the following updates to be in place by the end of the month.)
Brightspace Learning Environment – Supported browsers
With this release, Brightspace Learning Environment's browser version check now displays warnings for browsers earlier than the following versions:
- Chrome 93 (released in August 2021)
- Safari 13 (released in September 2019)
- Firefox 91 (released in August 2021)
- Edge 93 (released in August 2021)
You can access Brightspace Learning Environment with older versions of our supported browsers; however, D2L does not test Brightspace Learning Environment against these older versions. This means you may encounter unexpected user interface behavior and appearance or broken and unsupported functionality. In most cases, D2L does not fix software defects experienced in unsupported browser versions. For an optimal experience that offers better performance, accessibility, and security, D2L strongly recommends that all users access Brightspace Learning Environment with the latest version of a supported browser.
Brightspace Pulse – Subscription notifications for Discussions
With this release, subscription notifications in Brightspace Pulse are now consistent with subscription notifications in Brightspace Learning Environment. From the Notifications > Subscriptions tab in Brightspace Pulse, learners now receive all replies to discussions they are subscribed to and @-mentions in discussion threads. Previously, the subscription notifications that learners received in Brightspace Pulse were inconsistent with the subscription notifications that they received in Brightspace Learning Environment.
Calendar – Improvements to Date and Time Selection Web Components
Building upon the Calendar – Improvements To Date And Time Selection Web Components | Updated feature released in March 2021/20.21.3, this release updates the date and time picker in Brightspace Learning Environment to include the following usability changes:
- The Set to Today button is renamed to Today. The Today button continues to set the date and the time based on the context. For example, choosing Today for an End Date sets the current date and sets the time to 11:59 PM.
- Added a Now button that sets the current date and time. The Today and Now buttons only appear when a date and time are required. When only a date is required, only the Today button appears and functions the same as the Now button.
- The Today, Now, and Clear buttons are center-aligned in the date and time picker.
This feature addresses the following accessibility criteria:
- WCAG 2.1 Success criterion 2.1.1 Keyboard
Course Import/Export – Logging improvements
To simplify user access to import/export logs, the Course Import/Export tool now includes import/export logs as part of the Course Import/Export History, which include navigation breadcrumbs. In addition, the logs display the results in the order of import/export operations. Previously, import/export logs opened in a new tab and displayed the results out of order, without navigation breadcrumbs.
Discussions – Scoring Rubric drop-down for evaluations
To make the Discussion evaluation consistent with the Assignments evaluation, this feature adds the Grading Rubric drop-down to the sidebar menu. This allows the instructor to choose a grading rubric when evaluating a discussion.
If a normal topic assessment with Points/Custom Points-based rubric is selected, this rubric is the one whose score transfers to the Overall Grade field. The score transfer does not occur if Allow assessment of individual posts or a Percentage rubric is selected.