Accommodations Hub: Overview

The Accommodations Hub is an OTLT-built tool that provides instructors with a centralized way to manage student accommodations across all course assessments, including assignments, Classic Quizzes, and New Quizzes. In Canvas, accommodations are applied on a per-student, per-item basis with no centralized view; this tool addresses that gap.

The workflow is three steps: select a student, set their accommodations across one or both tabs, then confirm and save everything at once.

Where to Find the Accommodations Hub

The tool is available from the Course Settings sub-menu, around items such as Import Course Content.

Select a Student

Before accommodations can be viewed or applied, a student must be selected. Only students currently enrolled in the course appear in the list. Once a student is selected, both tabs populate with the course items relevant to that student.

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Set Accommodations

With a student selected, use either or both tabs to configure their accommodations. You can freely switch between tabs without losing work — nothing is committed until you save.

Date Extensions Tab

This tab lists all course items with due dates, including assignments, quizzes, and discussions. For each item, you can set a custom due date, Available From date, and Available Until date for the selected student. These dates apply only to that student and do not affect the rest of the class.

Additionally, items in the first column can be filtered by type: All Items, Assignments Only, Classic Quizzes Only, or New Quizzes Only.

You can bulk-adjust dates using the Extend all by bar at the top of the tab. Enter the number of days, select which columns to apply to (Due Date, Available From, Available Until), and select Apply. Use the Undo button to revert the bulk extension if needed.

Note: When you save changes, only the fields you modify will sync to the assignment. For example, if you previously set “Available From” and “Available Until” dates, then later return to set only a due date, the availability dates will be cleared and replaced with the single due date for that student. This behavior is a system limitation, not an intentional design choice.

Quiz Accommodations Tab

This tab lists all quizzes in the course, both Classic and New Quizzes, and lets you configure time and attempt accommodations per quiz for the selected student. Available options vary by quiz type:

Extra Time (minutes) — Adds additional time on top of the quiz’s base time limit. Available for Classic and New Quizzes.
Extra Attempts — Grants additional attempts beyond what the quiz allows. Available for Classic and New Quizzes.
Reduce Choices — A New Quizzes-only accessibility option that reduces the number of answer choices shown on multiple choice questions for the selected student.

You can bulk-set values using the Set all quizzes bar at the top of the tab. Fill in an Extra Time value, an Extra Attempts value, or both, then select Apply. Leave a field blank to skip that column. Use the Undo button to revert if needed.

Confirm & Save

Once at least one change has been made, the Confirm & Save area activates below the tabs. It shows a summary of pending changes across both tabs — how many date overrides and how many quiz accommodations are queued — so you can review before committing.

Select Save All Changes to apply everything at once. The page will reload after a successful save. If a partial failure occurs, the form will remain intact with an error message indicating which changes failed so you can retry.

Tip: Make all changes for a student across both tabs before saving. Once you save, the page reloads and clears your session for that student. If you need to make additional changes afterward, simply select the student again.

Frequently Asked Questions

The tool shows no existing quiz accommodations for a student, but I set some in Canvas directly. Why?

The Accommodations Hub only displays quiz accommodations that were set through the tool itself. Due to this, it’s recommended to stick with one method (either the Accommodations Hub, or the quiz itself) when creating these accommodations.

The technical reason is that quiz accommodations (extra time, extra attempts, etc.) set directly in Canvas cannot be read back through the Canvas REST API — this is a Canvas limitation, not a design choice.

Date overrides are an exception: if a student already has a due date override set anywhere in Canvas, the tool will detect it and show the Has Override indicator, and will update that override when you save rather than creating a duplicate.

What does "Has Override" mean on the Date Extensions tab?

It means the selected student already has a custom date set for that item — either saved through this tool or configured elsewhere in Canvas. When you edit and save that row, the tool will update the existing override. Items without this label have no student-specific dates; saving will create a new one.

Will changing dates here affect the rest of the class?

No. All date changes are student-specific overrides. The assignment’s standard dates remain unchanged for all other students.

What is the difference between Due Date, Available From, and Available Until?

Due Date is when the assignment or quiz is due for the student. Available From is the earliest date the student can open and submit it. Available Until is the hard close — after this date, the item is locked and cannot be submitted even if the due date has not passed.

For most accommodations, you will only need to adjust the Due Date and Available Until fields for a single student.

Learn more: What is the difference between assignment due dates and availability dates?

Can I set accommodations for multiple students at once?

Not currently. The tool is designed around a student-first workflow — select one student, configure their accommodations across both tabs, save, then move to the next. This keeps the view focused and reduces the risk of applying changes to the wrong person.

Feedback for future improvements can be sent to Canvas Support.

Can I use this tool for pages, or only assignments and quizzes?

Date extensions apply to most course items with due dates — assignments, discussions, Classic Quizzes, and New Quizzes. Pages are not included.

Quiz-specific accommodations (extra time, extra attempts, reduce choices) are only applicable to quizzes and appear exclusively on the Quiz Accommodations tab.

What is "Reduce Choices" and when should I use it?

Reduce Choices is a New Quizzes moderation feature that limits the number of answer options shown on multiple choice questions. For example, a question with four choices might show only two for a student with this accommodation enabled. It is intended for students with documented accommodations that benefit from reduced cognitive load during assessments. It has no effect on question types other than multiple choice.

Learn more: How do I use the Moderate page in New Quizzes?

What is the difference between Classic Quizzes and New Quizzes?

These are two separate quiz engines in Canvas. Classic Quizzes is the original system and is currently being phased out by Instructure. New Quizzes is the replacement and supports modern features and settings. Both are supported by this tool.