Some of you already spotted it on the public roadmap that we are working on a whole new media player experience. It is somewhat tucked away under Canvas Studio, but rest assured, we are very happy to let you know that it will be coming to any Canvas video content: a more intuitive player with contemporary design patterns, enhanced security, equipped with adaptive streaming and needless to say, better accessibility!
But it’s a big change for us. Every year, millions of hours of video content is uploaded to Canvas, so we want you to be part of it. In fact, it would be quite irresponsible of us not to ask this, so let me quickly rephrase. We need your expertise and experience to make this right.
What do I need to know about the Closed Beta testing?
First and foremost, we are looking for root account Canvas Admins to sign up. As a beta tester, we will replace the Canvas media player for you with the new experience in one or more sub-accounts that you will get to specify later. Also keep in mind that we will enable the new player in production environments. Why? Because the beta Canvas media player will offer all the features of the current player without causing any disruption to learning. Still, you will get to control the sub-accounts where you would want to have it for your staff and students.
We will use a private Feature User Group here in the Community to discuss ideas and findings that will open for you late October, the day after the sign-up period ends. Later in November, we will enable the new player in the specified sub-accounts and begin the discussion in the private Feature User Group over the course of the subsequent weeks. Further down you’ll find a complete overview on the timeline, although we are yet to finalize the exact dates.
If you are an Admin and interested in signing up for the closed Beta group, please sign up here and we will be in touch later in October.
How will the new media player enhance learning?
We have a range of enhancements besides refreshing the visual design. The beta media player will only include the new design that we will use to collect feedback on the overall experience, the additional accessibility elements and features that you would love to see added to the player. During the beta period, we’ll be actively working on the following additions:
- Improved Accessibility: Better support for captions and keyboard navigation
- Auto-Captioning: We will dot the i's and cross the t's with auto-captioning all Canvas media
- Adaptive Streaming: Seamless playback adjusted to the learner’s device and bandwidth for uninterrupted learning experience
- Studio Support: Full support for interactions like video quizzing or comments for those who leverage Studio.
- Beta Feedback: And last but not least, iterating on the player experience based on the closed group’s feedback. We’ve got a few feature ideas up our sleeves (psst.. watermarks, player rebranding etc) that we’ll be chatting about with the closed beta group to get a better sense of their value.
Alright, but could you at least give me a sneak peek of what you're working on? Okay, sure.. let me give you all something. Nothing fancy, just a nice castle in Germany.
Timeline overview
- Late October - Beta group sign-ups close and sub-account collection begins
- November - Enabling the new player in the collected sub-accounts, private User Group opens for discussion
- January/February - Beta period ends
Releasing the player will come shortly after the Beta period ends. So, if you are a root account Canvas Admin and excited to experience these improvements firsthand and provide valuable feedback, please sign up here.
Best,
Akos
