DLD Learning Technologist Team is excited to welcome you to our Canvas Community@Brown site. This resource features the latest news about our Brown Canvas environment, user recommendations, and quick links to Canvas support guides. Besides being a hub for Canvas information, users can join our Community listserv and provide user feedback to Canvas admins at Brown.

To start exploring the community, please visit the  Canvas Community@Brown page.

DLD will once again be offering 15-minute Canvas Office Hours starting August 27th and throughout shopping period. Please use this scheduling link to find and book your session.

Canvas Differentiation Tags is a new feature allowing teachers to create and manage custom student-only groups within a single course from the People page in Canvas. Unlike traditional sections or groups, these tags are not visible to students and offer a more flexible approach for various instructional and organizational needs.  This new feature can be leveraged for controlling assignment access, gradebook filtering, messaging and accommodation tracking.  

Additional details can be found on the related article: What Are Canvas Differentiation Tags?

Canvas has added the new accessibility feature, Dyslexia Friendly Font which allows users to change the font for the entire application to one that increases readability for readers with dyslexia.    

This font can be enabled by users via their Canvas settings page or by toggling the switch located in your profile tray as seen in the video below.

To learn more about this offering, please read this release page.

In July 2025, Canvas Files redesign was released by the vendor to improve the accessibility  and functionality of file management in Canvas. The redesign was part of a wider accessibility initiative to create a more inclusive tool for all users.   With the redesign brings new features including. A few features have been removed as well including the

If you prefer the previous view, the page features a toggle button that allows you to view the classic files view through the end of 2025.  

Learn more by about this update, review the Canvas File release page to understand more on how to use the File feature read this article: How do I use Files?

New to our Canvas Gradebook, you can split student names into separate first and last name columns, which can be useful for sorting and managing your students more efficiently. To do this, go to the Grades section of your course. Then, click the Settings icon (a gear) and select the View Options tab. Finally, check the box for Split Student Names.

Full details of this feature is located at the How do I view the Split Student Names column in the Gradebook? article.