[ARCHIVED] What is the rationale to confirm each annotation in SpeedGrader?

[samuel_cheng1]

The concept of SpeedGrader is good. But the execution is done rather poorly. To begin with, it is very stupid that one has to confirm each annotation and there is no reminder at all if you did not do so. Sometimes I graded half of the assignments and realized that nothing was saved. 

It is a terrible design fault. Since one can easily remove annotation, why one should confirm an annotation by default? I am not even sure it is a deliberate design feature or really just a bug. 

[healy · Accepted solution]

I totally agree but it seems to me that this is more of a flaw than a dsign element. Using the Teacher app on an ipad annotation proceeds smoothly with no requirement that each annotation be confirmed. Using a browser on a windows desktop the same tool annotates only after confirmation, with a new annotation not being chosen by user but automatically invoked when pen is lifted from tablet. On the browser from the ipad annotation does not work at all with annotation selection defaulting to regular cursor. If these were conscious design elements then the very least one would expect would be a radio button to toggle between confirmation and non-confirmation, and consistency for browser use across platforms. I am new to this community but while lurking I have noticed a certain prickliness from the moderators at what they perceive as unwarranted criticism so I am interested in the response, if any. That said this tool, and Canvas in general, is a highly productive environment. However with long experience with the development and use of IT I would strongly recommend that user comments like that above be taken SERIOUSLY by the developers. With thanks

[jlynch045]

I managed to find a work-around for this frustrating feature! 

It should be do-able without major programming skills (use with caution, your mileage may vary). The goal is to run the following bit of JavaScript on the page where the speedgrader tool lives. It runs every 5 milliseconds (see "5" in the last line, feel free to change), and does two simple things. First, it hides the pop-up window asking you to confirm the annotation (so you don't accidently click it). Second, it clicks the "confirm" checkbox. This happens so quickly you shouldn't see anything, and the features is effectively gone. Note: all lines will be stored as individual annotations, and can cause lag if there are too many.

setInterval(function() {
if (document.querySelector('.AnnotationToolbar-container'))
    document.querySelector('.AnnotationToolbar-container').hidden = 1
if (document.querySelector('button[aria-label="create annotation"]'))
    document.querySelector('button[aria-label="create annotation"]').click();
}, 5);

If you know what you're doing, you can run this many ways. If you don't, one relatively simple approach on Chrome is to install the CJS2 extension, which runs code anytime a given website URL is active (alternatives may be available for other browsers). After adding CJS2, clicking on the CJS2 Chrome icon will open a window where you can paste the above code, click save, and be finished. However, this must be done the first time while on a page in the correct domain, and it isn't "https://canvas...." Instead, we have to get to "https://canvadocs.instructure.com" (and this must ultimately be the URL listed in CJS2!). 

Unfortunately, from what I can tell, CJS2 won't let you paste in the correct URL, and visiting it directly just redirects. To get to it while in speedgrader, click ctrl+shift+i to get to dev tools, click on the "Elements" tab, and use ctrl+f to search for "canvadoc". It should highlight a line that begins with:

<iframe src="/api/v1/canvadoc_session?

 There should be a URL contained within. Right click this and open in a new tab. Now proceed with the above instructions to open CJS2 and paste in the code. You should now see the correct URL. Save and test. You can always disable this or remove CJS2 if it causes any issues. 

[samuel_cheng1]

I appreciate the commend a lot and clicked it as an accepted solution by accident. How do I undo it?