Making the Docviewer toolbar appear

[RussellFrank]

Having trouble figuring out to make Docviewer toolbar appear so I can edit text submissions

[NicoletteStaley · Accepted solution]

@RussellFrank If the assignment's submission type is "text entry" then you can't edit/annotate student submissions in SpeedGrader, and can either add general Submission Comments in SpeedGrader to leave feedback or download the student submissions, edit them on your device, and then upload them again to Canvas.  (see How do I download all student submissions for an assignment?  and How do I upload all student submissions for an assignment? ).

The annotation tools that are part of the DocViewer and only available in SpeedGrader for submissions that render in the actual DocViewer.  These types include file uploads (with supported file types), student annotations, and a few select External Tools).  More about making annotations to submissions in DocViewer and SpeedGrader can be found at How do I add annotated comments in student submissions using DocViewer in SpeedGrader?  and the supported file types for rendering to DocViewer can be found at What types of files can be previewed in Canvas? .

If the submissions you are attempting to edit are a supported file type, the issue may be that you aren't using a supported browser when viewing the submissions.  You can see if your browser is fully supported by Canvas at What are the browser and computer requirements for Instructure products? .

[RussellFrank]

I appreciate the reply. Can I just say that this seems exactly backwards to me? When I have students upload Word files, which I do for longer assignments, I edit them in Word and don't need DocViewer.  I ask them to submit shorter assignments as texts because I want to grade them quickly, without downloading and uploading, but might want to highlight or cross out or make a comment or two -- in other words, do the things that DocViewer lets one do. Mildly frustrating.