Since January 2026, institutions have had the opportunity to enable the Performance and Usability Upgrades for SpeedGrader feature option and experience a faster, more responsive grading workflow. As previously announced, this feature will become the default SpeedGrader experience on July 18, 2026.
Action required for institutions that have opted out
The upgraded SpeedGrader experience has been enabled by default since its general availability in January 2026. Institutions that have chosen to opt out and continue using the legacy experience should enable the feature before July 18, 2026.
On July 18, the feature option will be enforced and can no longer be disabled. All users will be transitioned to the upgraded SpeedGrader experience.
Why make the transition now?
We recognize that some institutions delayed adoption due to early bugs, workflow differences, or feature parity concerns. The extended transition period was intentionally designed to give customers time to evaluate the experience while allowing our teams to address feedback, resolve issues, and close parity gaps.
Thanks to the feedback and partnership of customers who enabled the feature early, almost all reported issues have been addressed and full feature parity with the legacy SpeedGrader experience has been achieved.
Today, institutions can benefit from:
- Faster load times and improved responsiveness, particularly in courses with large enrollments
- Consistent performance across course sizes, helping instructors spend less time waiting and more time grading
- A familiar grading workflow, minimizing retraining and change management efforts
- A modernized architecture that improves reliability and enables future enhancements
For most instructors, the transition requires little to no adjustment, allowing institutions to benefit from improved performance without disrupting established grading workflows.
Need help preparing?
We encourage institutions that have not yet enabled the feature to do so before July 18 to ensure a smooth transition and provide instructors with time to familiarize themselves with the experience ahead of enforcement.
If you have questions about the upgraded SpeedGrader experience or would like guidance on preparing your institution for the transition, please reach out to your Customer Success Manager.
Additional information
Feature Option: Performance and Usability Upgrades for SpeedGrader
Availability: Globally available for all Canvas customers
Configuration Levels: Root account, sub-account, and course level
Enforcement Date: July 18, 2026
For more information, review the original feature announcement and release documentation.
