TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Types of Accommodations 
• Set Assignment and Test Accommodations
• Grant Assessment Exceptions
• Exempt Students from a Graded Activity
• Set Release Conditions
• Additional Resources and Support

Types of Accommodations 

Blackboard offers different ways of accommodating your students, depending on your their needs. This may include extended due dates on Assignments and Tests, untimed Tests, an exemption from a course activity, or early access to course content. 

• Accommodations: You can set Accommodations for individual students to allow for extended due dates and additional time to complete tests. Accommodations are tied to the individual student and are applied to all Assignments and Tests within the course. Students will not see the accommodations that you have added.
• Exceptions: When special circumstances arise, you can give an individual student an Exception for a specific assessment. You may give the student additional submission attempts, reschedule the due date, or extend access to the assessment. Exceptions are tied to the specific Assignment or Test and do not affect other assessments in the course. 
• Exemptions: In some circumstances you may need to exempt a student from an assessment or course activity. Exemptions can be applied to any item in the Gradebook including Assignments, Tests, Discussions, Journals, and more. Exemptions are tied to the specific Gradebook item and do not affect other course activities. When a Gradebook item is exempt, it will not be included in the student's Overall Grade calculation, marked late, or assigned an Automatic Zero. 
• Release Conditions: You may set release conditions to determine when content is available to students. If you have a student, or group of students, who needs access to content earlier than the rest of the class you may set rules to give students early access. You may set Release Conditions for any item in your Course Content, including Learning Modules, Folders, Ultra Documents, Assignments, Tests, and more.

Set Assignment and Test Accommodations

You can set Accommodations for individual students to allow for extended due dates and additional time to complete tests. Accommodations are tied to the individual student and are applied to all Assignments and Tests within the course. Students will not see the accommodations that you have added.

You can set student accommodations from your Roster. From the Course Content page, go to the Details & Actions menu and click on your Course Roster link, View everyone in your course.

This will open your course roster. Select your student and click the More Options (...) menu. Select Accommodations. 

Select your student's accommodation(s):

• Due date accommodation: Students with a due date accommodation may submit Assignments and Tests any time after the due date without penalty and their work won't be labelled as late in the Gradebook.
• Time limit accommodation: Students with a time limit accommodation will have more time to finish their work during timed Tests. You can specify the percentage of extra time the student needs or select Unlimited time. 

Once you have added accommodations, you will see an indicator next to your student's name. This indicator is visible in the Roster and the Gradebook. This indicator is only visible to instructors, and students cannot see who has accommodations.

If students with accommodations are in a group, all students in the group will inherit the accommodations for that item. For example, you created a Group Assignment. One student in Group A has a due date accommodation. If they submit their Group Assignment late, they will not be marked "late."

For additional information and detailed instructions refer to the the Make Accommodations support page or watch the Roster: Grant Student Accommodations tutorial video.

Grant Assessment Exceptions

When special circumstances arise, you can give an individual student an Exception for a specific assessment. You may give the student additional submission attempts, reschedule the due date, or extend access to the assessment. Exceptions are tied to the specific Assignment or Test and do not affect other assessments in the course. 

Examples:

• Allow additional attempts: 
  • Your student submitted the incorrect file or an incompatible file type. You can allow a second attempt so that they can resubmit their work.
  • Your student lost power in the middle of taking a test. You can allow a second attempt to allow them to complete their test once power has been restored.
• Extend a due date: 
  • Your student is sick and cannot complete an assignment before the due date. Set a new due date so they can submit when they are feeling better.
• Extend access:
  • You set the availability of your Test so that students can only take it during class. Your student has a family emergency and is unable to take the test at the designated time. Extend access to the test to allow the student to take the test at another time.

From the Assignment or Test Submissions page, select a student and click the More Options (...) menu. Select Add or Edit Exceptions.

This will open the Exceptions panel. Adjust the student's due date, manage their access dates, and/or allow additional submission attempts.

Once you have granted an exception, you will see an indicator next to your student's name in the Gradebook for that one assessment. 

For more information and detailed instructions, refer to the Grant Exceptions and Exemptions support page or watch the Grant Assessment Exceptions tutorial video.

Exempt Students from a Graded Activity

In some circumstances you may need to exempt a student from an assessment or course activity. Exemptions can be applied to any item in the Gradebook including Assignments, Tests, Discussions, Journals, and more. Exemptions are tied to the specific Gradebook item and do not affect other course activities. When a Gradebook item is exempt, it will not be included in the student's Overall Grade calculation, marked late, or assigned an Automatic Zero. 

Go to your course Gradebook and select the Students tab. Click on a student.

Locate the Gradebook item you want to exempt and click the More Options (...) menu. Select Add or edit exemptions.

This will open the Exempt from grading panel. Check the box to exempt the grade.

For more information and detailed instructions, refer to the Grant Exceptions and Exemptions support page. 

Set Release Conditions

You can set release conditions to determine when content is available to students. If you have a student, or group of students, who needs access to content earlier than the rest of the class you may set multiple rules to give students different access dates.

You may set Release Conditions for any item in your Course Content, including Learning Modules, Folders, Ultra Documents, Assignments, Tests, and more.

Locate your item and click on the visibility drop-down menu. Select Release Conditions.

You will create two rules for your release conditions. 

• Rule 1: Give your student(s) or group(s) early access on Date 1.
• Rule 2: Give all members access on Date 2.

For each rule, select the student(s) or group(s) to whom the rule will apply. You may choose all members, select individual members, or select groups. Next, select the date when they will receive access.

When you set release conditions you can also choose whether you want content to be visible to course members before or after they meet requirements for access. 

• Show: If you set your visibility to Show, students can view the date and time the content will be released.
• Hide: If you set your visibility to Hide, students cannot view the content at all until the release conditions are met.

For more information and detailed instructions, refer to the Content Release Conditions support page or watch the Release Conditions in Blackboard Ultra tutorial video.

Additional Resources and Support

Faculty Quick Start Guide

This guide contains instructions and tutorial videos to get you started with Ultra Course View: Blackboard Ultra Course View Faculty Quick Start Guide. 

Blackboard Ultra Training Options

Choose the training option that best suits your needs! Whether you prefer to go at it alone, or want extra support and training on your journey, we have an Ultra training for you: Blackboard Ultra Training Options.

Unable to attend one of our trainings? Email elis@lesley.edu to set up an appointment or request a small group training.

Faculty Online Office Hours

Have questions about myLesley? Need assistance? Join the eLIS staff for our weekly online office hours every Monday and Thursday, 2:00 - 4:00 ET. No appointment necessary: Join eLIS Online Office Hours.

Contact Us

Reach out to eLearning and Instructional Support (eLIS) at elis@lesley.edu with any questions or to request a 1:1 or small group training.