Course Evaluations & Surveys Release Notes for September 25, 2025

NEW: D2L Brightspace User Integration now supports LTI 1.3

The Course Evaluations & Surveys D2L Brightspace User Integration now supports LTI 1.3, offering improved security.  While this update is recommended for all institutions, your current integration will remain active and fully functional. The LTI 1.3 transition is simple:

  • It can typically be completed by a CES Administrator and your Brightspace Administrator in under 30 minutes.
  • It does not affect the Brightspace Data Integration.
  • This update is for better security on the backend of the system.  The user experience and core functionality of the integration remains the same.
  • Instructions to update to LTI 1.3 can be found in our Brightspace User Integration (LTI 1.3) article.

As a result of the new LTI 1.3 option for Brightspace, a new User Settings tab is now available for upgrading to LTI 1.3. The old User Settings tab has been renamed User Settings LTI 1.1. Once the necessary information for upgrading to LTI 1.3 is added to the new tab, the old User Settings tab will disappear. To switch back to LTI 1.1, users must remove the new settings.

The Brightspace User Integration window highlighting the 'User Settings' and 'User Settings LTI 1.1' tabs.

NEW: Session Timeout Alert

For security, users are automatically logged out of CES after one hour of inactivity.  Five minutes before the logout, a pop-up alert will appear, giving you the option to extend your session.

NOTE: The system's inactivity timer doesn't currently recognize activity within new reporting features (such as Dynamic Reporting). Working in these areas will not prevent the automatic timeout.

A pop-up alert  showing the 'Continue Session' option for a session that is about to expire.

Update: New Accessibility Enhancements

This release brings a variety of new features designed to enhance accessibility. While the look and feel of some screens and dropdown menus may be subtly different, featuring improved color contrast or minor visual enhancements, all core functionality remains unchanged.  Below are some key accessibility updates you'll find in this release:

  • The site-wide font for the CES user interface has been changed to Inter.  Inter is an open source font created to aid in legibility and readability across different devices and screens.  There is no change to functionality but users may notice a font change.

    Course Evaluations & Surveys Release Notes for September 25, 2025
  • To avoid text contrast issues, we have removed custom colors from interactive elements.  If you had previously configured custom colors under Account > Customize Login Page, Student View, & Messages, those colors will be removed from any interactive elements like clickable buttons.

    The Login Page and Student View window showing the options for uploading logo, header color, layout preview, label preview, and sample button.
  • The Projects Results widget has been reformatted to clarify table structure. The project results widget presented in a table structure, including the code, title, and unique ID.
  • We've made it easier to navigate and interact with data in Custom Question Surveys. Table formatting now clearly indicates which columns are sortable. We've also enhanced the visual design with higher-contrast colors and hover indication to make reading and selecting data clearer than ever.

    The Custom Question Surveys page showing the details of surveys in a table structure.
  • We've significantly improved the keyboard accessibility within the Custom Question workflow. Users who rely on keyboard navigation will now experience a smoother, more efficient way to manipulate text in the editor.  Additionally, a helpful new pop-up window is available, providing clear, in-app instructions for navigating the text editor using your keyboard.

    The Question Management window highlighting the 'View the keyboard navigation guide' option.
    The Help pop-up window highlighting the 'Handy Shortcuts' option, which shows the actions and their corresponding shortcuts in a table structure.
  • We've updated the Custom Questions Surveys page with a new, fully accessible calendar component. This enhancement allows all users, particularly those relying on assistive technologies, to more easily and efficiently select dates.

    The Custom Question Surveys page displaying a calendar component under the 'Date Created From' field.
  • For customers using Student/Public Reporting, we added an improved error state when the required fields are not being selected.

    The Public/Student Reporting window showing an active 'Search by Course Code or Course Title' field with an error message to enter a search term before searching.
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