January 2026 D2L Brightspace Release
Effective January 15, 2026, new and updated features within D2L Brightspace are available to Instructors as part of the monthly update.
Release highlights include updates to Announcements, Assignments, Brightspace Pulse app, Classlist, Quick Eval, and Quizzes. Review the additional resources to learn more.
Announcements
In-line images in announcements display in emailed announcements
With the January 2026 release, when instructors add an in-line image in an announcement, the image is now included in the body of the email for notification emails and emailed copies of the announcement.
Figure: In an announcement's content, an in-line image added with the text.
Figure: In the emailed announcement, the in-line image now displays along with the text.
Assignments
Improvements for assistive technology users on Submissions page
With the January 2026 release, several improvements were made to the Assignments tool for instructors using assistive technologies. On the Submissions page in Assignments, the drop-down menus for submissions, feedback, and results per page now include accessible labels.
Brightspace Pulse app
Dates now display for content topics from course's Content tab
With the January 2026 release, an enhancement brings due dates, start dates, and end dates for content topics within the course's Content tab. This feature is available when using the Pulse app version 2.2511.0.1003200 on Android or 2.2512.898 on Apple (or later versions).
Figure: Due, start, and end date details when a student presses the three-dot icon for a content topic.
Classlist
Export Classlist details to CSV and improved print output
With the January 2026 release, the Classlist tool now includes a new Export button that provides instructors a quick way to download student Classlist details to a CSV file, such as to review the Classlist offline. Additionally, improvements were made to the existing Print option in the Classlist that now displays more information, including pronouns and details about the course in the printout.
Figure: For instructors, you can now export the Classlist column data to a CSV file using the new Export buttons. Then click Download to download the CSV file.
Figure: When printing the Classlist, the print classlist pop-up now includes the class name and course offering code along with a Pronouns column.
Quick Eval
Improvements for assistive technology users on Submissions and Activities view
With the January 2026 release, several improvements were made to the Quick Eval tool for instructors using assistive technologies. These improvements are: (1) the number of search results returned is read aloud by assistive technology in the Submissions view in Quick Eval, and (2) the status messages that show the number of search results are now accessible to screen readers in the Activities view in Quick Eval.
Figure: Quick Eval interface displaying filtered submission results with the number of returned results now read aloud by assistive technologies.
Figure: Quick Eval interface showing filtered activity results based on a search query, with the number of returned results now read aloud by assistive technologies.
Quizzes
Restrict quiz to lock each attempt to a single D2L Brightspace login session
With the January 2026 release, instructors may now require students to complete a quiz attempt within a single D2L Brightspace login session. This setting is only intended for high-stakes exams, helping support academic integrity. When the 'session restriction' setting is enabled, students cannot resume the quiz attempt using another login session. For example, if a student starts a quiz on a laptop, they cannot continue the quiz if they log out or log in on another browser or device (such as a smartphone or tablet). When enabled, it is set for all students who take the quiz.
If interested in this setting, instructors should contact their local D2L Campus Site Admin to discuss the setting.
Figure: The 'Lock each attempt to a single login session' setting is not enabled by default.
Figure: When enabled, a note displays under the setting: "If a learner is logged out while taking this quiz, they will be unable to continue until the attempt's session restriction is reset".
Figure: When enabled, a 'session restricted' icon displays next to the quiz name in Quizzes.
Additional Resources