Content/Discussions/Assignments – Access Restrictions

What are Access Restrictions within the D2L Brightspace system?

Instructors can apply rules to control when an item within the course is visible or can opened. There are three main types of restrictions that instructor can set:

  • Date Restriction: A time, or range of time, when an item within a course is accessible
  • Availability Restriction: A time, or range of time, when an item within a course is visible
  • Conditional Restriction: A set of instructions that must be completed before an item within the course is visible

Date Restrictions

Date Restrictions block access to an item based on a specific Start Date, End Date or Date Range.

Availability Restriction

Availability Restrictions determine whether an item is visible within the course. Instead of blocking access, like the Date Restriction, an item is instead hidden from view.
The following example expands on the Discussions area Date Restriction. This example shows what you can see from the Instructor side and the Student side:
image that is split in half showing the instructor view on the left hand side with two topics, each showing an availability date range below the title of the topics. The right side shows the student perspective with only one topic showing as the second topic is not within its availability range.
You can see that on the Instructor side of the image there are two Discussion topics showing, each with a new “Available” Date Range set. On the Student side we can see that there is only one topic shown – “Active Topic”. In this example it is after the date range for the “No Longer Available Topic” (Thursday, February 1, 2018 8:00 AM PST – Monday, February 5, 2018 11:59 PM PST), so we do not see it listed on the Student side.
The Content, Assignments, and Quizzes areas of a course work the same as how a Date Range Restrictions are set and viewed.

Conditional Restrictions

Items with a Conditional Restriction will not be visible within the course until you complete a set of instructions the instructor has applied to the item. Here are some example instructions they can set:

  • Complete an attempt of a Quiz
  • Achieve a certain grade on a specific Quiz
  • View the syllabus and course calendar within the course
  • Create a thread within a Discussion topic

Your instructor should make it clear if there is any sort of Conditional Restriction on items within a course.

Special Access

For every rule there is an exception, at least for Assignments and Quizzes. If you need access to an item outside of its set restriction, or require specific accommodations, then be sure to contact your instructor.