Overview
Academic Technology Support Services (ATSS) and the Office for Digital Accessibility (ODA) tested the usability of the Canvas: Remove Course Content article text and video with UMN instructors. Participants identified three key findings: time commitment, rationale, and archiving. The project team addressed the findings by making targeted changes to the article.
Usability partnership & study process
For this study, the Canvas: Remove Course Content article was selected for two reasons:
- instructors and staff are preparing to meet the April 2026 digital accessibility deadline
- ATSS had heard from the academic technology community that some instructors are confused about removing vs. deleting content from a Canvas course
With the University of Minnesota Usability Services team, our project team developed a focus question to guide our study: What motivates people to improve the accessibility of their course? We then determined the criteria for participant recruitment, and the activity participants would complete during the usability sessions. While the participants were engaged in the usability sessions, project team members took notes that captured observations about what the participants did and said, specifically noting questions and/or points of confusion. After completing all sessions, the project team met to debrief and review issues that the observers captured in their notes.
Participant recruiting
With the requirement for all course content to be accessible by April 2026, the study included potential participants from tenure-track, non-tenure-track, and adjunct instructors across all five UMN campuses.
Participant activity
During usability evaluations, participants were given the article title, Canvas: Remove Course Content, and asked what three questions they would expect the article to answer. Next, they were given the article text and noted when one of their three questions was answered in the article text. If any of their three questions were unanswered, they noted it. Lastly, they were asked to watch a video demonstrating removing unwanted content from a Canvas course and note when it addressed one or more of their three questions.
Key Findings
This section's findings and participant quotes are excerpted from the final summary report created by User Experience Analyst Nick Rosencrans.
Finding #1: Time Commitment Factors
The document lacks information on time commitment, leaving readers unsure how long it will take to make their course content accessible.
Recommendations
Provide tips on the best timing for this step. While it can be done in small increments, setting aside a longer block of time may be helpful. Time requirements will vary based on individual circumstances. Include a recommendation to start with Assignments and/or Files or focus on one section at a time.
Communicate to leadership that ensuring course content is accessible adds time and complexity to instructors' responsibilities and ultimately improves the learning experience for all students. They may be surprised that outdated course materials aren’t regularly removed over time. This process saves time in the long run and ensures courses meet accessibility guidelines.
Finding #2: Rationale
Simply explaining how to delete content isn’t enough—users need to understand why it matters. The instructions are designed to explain content removal, but their relevance may vary depending on the user's context or location. Additionally, the article doesn’t establish context or clarify how it applies to different teaching scenarios.
Recommendation
Provide context as to why instructors need to understand the importance of removing outdated content. After nine years of using Canvas as our learning management system, much content from the early years remains untouched, raising questions about why this process wasn’t prioritized sooner. It's also crucial to note that simply hiding content does not exempt it from accessibility guidelines.
Finding #3: Archiving
What do you want to save versus what you no longer want to use? That distinction needs to be clarified in the article.
Recommendation
Identify criteria for identifying items that should be deleted. Strategies and approaches to identify criteria varied by the teaching experiences of each participant and included:
- “Stuff you keep copying over but haven't used”
- Prior to the semester starting, when “copying the course over and adjusting due dates”
- When the course “moved to a semester-based model”
Next steps
Project team members implemented changes to the Canvas: Remove Course Content article based on participant feedback.