Video & Course Storage Options
All Canvas courses are set to the maximum of 2GB, just like PolyLearn-Moodle courses were.
Panopto Video | Course Storage | User Storage - Discussion
ALERT: Deadline for Course Content Accessibility is April 24, 2026All digital course materials must be fully accessible to all students by April 24, 2026, to comply with Title II of the ADA. The mandate includes all course materials in Canvas to ensure that every student has equitable access to learning as well as to avoid potential legal consequences. Visit Fixing Courses Accessibility for details and available support resources. |
Video & Audio
Chancellor's Office Directive
On August 26, 2024, the Chancellor's Office sent a memorandum to campuses that outlined their responsibilities to meet the enhanced standards of the Title II ADA Final Rule:
- Reaffirms CSU's commitment to digital accessibility.
- Directs campuses to prioritize captioning, transcription, and accessibility compliance for all digital materials.
- Ensures system-wide accountability for meeting the compliance deadline of April 24, 2026.
CSU Policies and Requirements for Captioning/Transcripts
- Information technology resources and services need to be accessible to all users (EO 1111, Code Memo AA-2013-03)
- Faculty are legally required to make electronic course material accessible via captioning (Section 508) Please view the Captioning Q&A from the DRC.
- Title II - all course materials within the LMS must be accessible by April 24, 2026.
- Making Audio and Video Media Accessible (W3C)
- YouTube, Zoom cloud, ScreenPal (Screencast-o-Matic = SOM) cloud, and MS Stream provide auto-captioning and have built-in features to allow editing.
PLEASE NOTE: All video files (MP4, MOV, and AVI) uploaded to Canvas will not display captions (unless the users uploads a transcript - which is not required to continue), therefore, video uploads are disabled.
Uploaded video files need to be removed from your course shells. These are not captioned and therefore not accessible.
Cal Poly's supported Video Streaming tool is Panopto. Please use Panopto to create and store your videos.
Panopto Video | YouTube | Zoom Cloud | ScreenPal Cloud
Course Storage VS User Storage
Faculty using Canvas automatically have 2GB of Course Storage in each course. In addition, 5TB (5,000 GB) of additional space for course materials is available to faculty within OneDrive/SharePoint. Files can easily be linked within Canvas for students to access.
Once the course has used its 2GB, no additional files can be uploaded. Faculty can use outside tools like OneDrive and Google. Your course will import into the next quarter, starting with a fresh 2GB. The previous files will remain and not count towards the new storage space.
Course storage does not prevent students from completing their activities. Students will always be able to upload files, take quizzes, type in text boxes, etc., in a course, even if it is full.
All UN-Graded Activities (Discussions, Quizzes, Assignments) will count against User Storage (54MB). Users can view their User Storage via Account > Files.
If you have large files or videos, it is best to use outside storage spaces like OneDrive/Google Drive/Office 365 Stream/YouTube to host the files and link them to your courses for your students to access.
Once the course is full, faculty will not be able to add more content.
Faculty can check their course space in two locations:
- Course menu, Files. Scroll to the bottom to see % used
- Course Menu, Settings > in Side Bar – Course Statistics > File Storage tab.
If you Imported a PolyLearn backup (MBZ) course into Canvas, you will have many extra files that you do not need.
|
Do not upload audio or video content to Canvas courses - it is NOT Accessible, which is required by the law (Section 508). Instead, provide links or embed from Panopto, Zoom or ScreenPal. |
Embed YouTube Video
You may also place links in Canvas to other trusted online audio/video storage locations, like YouTube.
- Create a YouTube Account and/or Sign In
- Create a YouTube Channel for your Course (optional)
- Request Videos Longer than 15 Minutes
- Upload Video to YouTube
- Change Video Privacy Settings - Unlisted
- Use YouTube's Automatic Captioning (ADA)
- Edit YouTube's Automatic Captioning
- How to Copy YouTube Embed HTML Code
- Add YouTube link to the Module on Canvas
|
|
RCE Embed |
Embed Code |
Why |
|
|
Requirements |
|
|
Caution |
|
|
Modified from blink.ucsd.edu
To ADD a "Public" YouTube video to your course Page:
Create a Page and add the video within the text.
- Place your cursor where you want the video to appear, then click on the Plug button.
- Choose YouTube from the list.
- Find the video and click on the Embed button (2).
To Embed an "Unlisted" YouTube video to your page:
Create a Page and add the video within the text.
- From YouTube, click on the SHARE button.
- Click on the Embed button.
- Copy the Embed Video HTML.
- From your Canvas course, page...in the RCE, click on the HTML button (bottom right).
- Paste the Embed code, exit HTML by clicking on HTML button again.
- Save the page.
Discussion Attachments - User Storage
Each student only has 54MB of user storage. This is space you can store your files in Canvas under Account > Files. But, Cal Poly already has OneDrive, and each student has 1TB of space. If you asked your students to attach a file in a Discussion...that uses the user storage in Canvas. Students can instead link the file from OneDrive, Google, Box, or other cloud option.
NOTE: This is only a Discussion Attachment issue. When a student submits to an Assignment - User Storage is not used.
