The Canvas Style Guide is a collection of recommendations and requirements based on feedback from students and faculty in our Foundations courses. It’s meant to be a quick reference for setting up your course site.
Canvas websites have a navigation menu on the left hand side of the window. The tabs in the menu link to different areas of the website. UW SOM block websites have a standard group of tabs that are set to be visible to students.
Navigation menu
Visible to students
Home
Visible to students. This tab leads back to the Home page of the web site.
Assignments
Visible to students. This allows students to see upcoming quizzes and weighting of graded assignments.
Gradebook
Visible to students. This allows students to see their cumulative average. In Seattle, grade distribution is also indicated. Usually, the UW SOM Assessment team will manage exam grading within the gradebook.
Modules
Visible to students. This tab leads to the Modules page. Some functions of the course will only work if the Modules tab is visible.
Course Evaluations & Surveys
Visible to students, but only appears when there is a live evaluation linked to the course. Once the student has submitted the evaluation, the link will no longer appear.
Search
Visible to all Canvas users in the School of Medicine. Search can be used to to search for keywords in files, pages, quizzes, modules and assignments. The search tool also appears at the top right of every page.
Namecoach
NameCoach is a tool that allows users to record their name, add pronunciation text and pronouns, which can then be accessed by other students, faculty and staff.
Not visible to students
Files
Not visible to students. The Files tab is usually reserved for teacher access only, to allow simpler management of after class materials and faculty only materials. Students access individual files through links on the daily pages.
Quizzes
Not visible to students, but this is optional. The list of quizzes will appear in the Assignments tab, where students can see how scores are weighted.
Syllabus
Not visible to students. The syllabus in UW SOM blocks is available on the Homepage and on daily pages, depending on the block. The Syllabus tab is not used in UW SOM blocks.
Discussions
Not visible to students, but this is optional. Some blocks have made use of the discussion tab for follow up questions after class.
Announcements
Not visible to students. For class announcements, the class list serves are the preferred method of communication.
UW Library
Not visible to students. Library resources are added to the Homepage and daily pages by librarians from UW Health Sciences Library. The UW Library tab is not used.
People
Not visible to students. The People tab displays the roster of the web site, and can be used to grant access to new viewers. The SOM-ALT technology team manages access to Canvas courses in most cases.
Settings
Not visible to students. Course settings are managed by the SOM-ALT technology team. If a setting needs to be changed, contact somalt@uw.edu.