Preview Release Notes
Video: Release Highlights
Release Highlights for September 2025/20.25.09 will be available on September 4, 2025.
General Announcements
- D2L is continuing to unlist outdated Brightspace Tutorial videos that no longer reflect the current interface and workflows. Updated tutorial videos are embedded in the documentation to align with the latest functionality. To review the list of added, unlisted, and removed videos, refer to the article: Brightspace Tutorial Video Updates: Added, Unlisted, Removed.
- Unlock your full potential as a Brightspace administrator with the Brightspace Certified Administrator Program. This flexible, hands-on training helps you build and validate your skills. You can complete the program in 15 to 20 hours over three months using your own demo site, on your schedule. Refer to Brightspace Certified Administrator Program for details about enrollment, scheduling, and requirements.
To view the change log for this release note landing page, go to Change History at the bottom of this page.
D2L Accessibility+ – New Partner Offering | New
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D2L Accessibility+ is a partner add-on solution that must be purchased separately. For more information, contact your D2L Client Sales Executive or Account Manager. |
This update introduces a new AI-powered, human-supported content accessibility scanning and remediation solution: D2L Accessibility+.
D2L Accessibility+ was developed in partnership with ansrsource and is designed to support institutions in delivering accessible learning content at scale. This solution enhances Brightspace’s automated accessibility remediation, backed by expert human remediation services and deeper integration with institutional workflows.
Key capabilities of D2L Accessibility+ include the following:
- Automated scanning and continuous monitoring of accessibility for ongoing compliance aligned with WCAG 2.2 standards.
- Extended scope including embedded files, assignments, discussion posts, other HTML pages, and linked external pages.
- Real-time accessibility scoring—both point-in-time and longitudinal—at course, department, and institution-level.
- AI-powered human supported remediation for structural accessibility issues in HTML, Image, Video, Audio, PDF, Word, PowerPoint and SCORM files.
- Remediation support for content in D2L’s Learning Object Repository.
- Add-on human remediation services by experts from ansrsource.
- Instructor interface for file-level accessibility scores and automated fix of issues.
- Learner interface for generating alternative formats to meet diverse learner needs.
- Strategic consulting services to assist in long-term, sustainable accessibility planning.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Slight impact to administrators, instructors, and learners who benefit from enhanced accessibility features.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all clients who have purchased the D2L Accessibility+ add-on.
To enable:
- This feature is enabled automatically for all clients who have purchased the D2L Accessibility+ add-on.
- This functionality is not dependent on any new or existing permissions or configuration variables.
Data Hub – Brightspace Data Sets improvements for September | Updated
This release enhances Data Hub offerings by adding columns in existing Brightspace Data Sets (BDS):
- Grade Results - new column: IsDeleted (bit, non-nullable)
To ensure improved consistency in our data sets, we have changed the way data is represented in the bit and datetime2 columns as follows:
- Bit columns now only have values TRUE, FALSE, or NULL.
- DateTime2 columns now have trailing zeros removed (for example: 2023-10-14T17:21:59.015Z).
Impacted Data Sets:
- Grade Objects Log
- Grade Results
Refer to the Enhancing Consistency: Upcoming Updates to Brightspace Data Sets blog post for more information.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Moderate impact to administrators due to the addition of new columns and values to existing Brightspace Data Sets.
Availability:
- This feature is available to all Brightspace Core clients.
To enable:
- Ensure the Brightspace Data Sets > Can Access Brightspace Data Sets permission is granted to administrators at the org level.
- Ensure the d2l.Tools.BrightspaceDataSets.Version configuration variable is set to version 10.5.
- New and changed data sets appear the first time the data set runs after the version update.
Manager Dashboard and Learning Groups – Hide user email addresses | New
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This feature is part of the Manager Dashboard and Learning Groups add-on solution which is included in the D2L for Associations, Corporate, and Upskilling for EDU packages. For more information, contact your D2L Client Sales Executive or Account Manager. |
This feature enhances data privacy by allowing administrators to hide user email addresses in Manager Dashboard and Learning Groups. Previously, email addresses and the ability to generate reports were visible to all users with permissions for Manager Dashboard and Learning Groups.
Administrators can assign permissions to manage email visibility by configuring the following settings:
- Manager Dashboard > See Email Addresses
- Learning Groups > See Email Addresses
Additionally, administrators can assign the permission to generate reports:
- Manager Dashboard > Can Generate Reports
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Note: If a user cannot view email addresses, they cannot search for users by email. The Completion Report in Manager Dashboard will continue to display email addresses, even if email visibility is restricted for other parts of the interface. |
Figure: The Manager Dashboard interface with email addresses hidden based on permissions.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Slight impact to administrators who must set the permissions to control email visibility and report generation.
- Slight impact to instructors who now require permissions to search by email address.
Availability:
- This feature is available to clients using the Manager Dashboard and Learning Groups add-on solution which is included in the D2L for Associations, Corporate, and Upskilling for EDU packages.
To enable:
- This functionality is enabled by default.
- Roles with Manager Dashboard > Manage Direct Reports will automatically have both Manager Dashboard > See Email Addresses and Manager Dashboard > Can Generate Reports enabled.
- Roles with Learning Groups > Allow user to manage all learning groups and assign without restrictions will automatically have Learning Groups > See Email Addresses enabled.
- This functionality is dependent the following permissions:
- Manager Dashboard > See Email Addresses
- Learning Groups > See Email Addresses
- Manager Dashboard > Can Generate Reports
- This functionality is not dependent on any new or existing configuration variables.
My CPD Records – API routes for attachments | Updated
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This feature is part of the D2L for Associations, Corporate, and Upskilling for EDU package that must be purchased separately. For more information, contact your D2L Client Sales Executive or Account Manager. |
This release introduces new Valence API routes for the My CPD Records tool. Administrators can now manage attachments for My CPD Records via API.
Administrators with the My CPD Records > Manage Other Users' CPD Records (API Only) permission can use the following API actions:
- Post attachments to a record (PUT /d2l/api/le/{version}/cpd/record/{recordId}/attachments)
- Delete attachments from a record (DELETE /d2l/api/le/{version}/cpd/record/{recordId}/attachments)
Previously, administrators could only post or delete attachments using the My CPD Records UI.
Details of the new API routes will be available in the Brightspace Developer Platform documentation.
Technical Details
Impact:
- Slight impact to administrators who can now post or delete My CPD Records attachments via API.
Availability:
- This feature is available to clients who use the My CPD Records tool, which is included in the D2L for Associations, Corporate, and Upskilling for EDU package.
To enable:
- This functionality is automatically enabled for clients with My CPD Records.
- This functionality is dependent on the My CPD Records > Manage Other Users' CPD Records (API Only) permission.
- This functionality is not dependent on any new or existing configuration variables.
14-Aug-2025 Preview Release Notes published.