Guest Access to Moodle Courses

I recently fixed an issue with my Moodle instance: https://idwerkz.com/learn/.

For one specific course, I had enabled Guest access, but I wanted to change the settings. At one time I had required a password, and now I wanted there to be no password required.

However, for some reason I could not erase the password – and worse, it conflicted with the improved password requirements I was using for the site.

The end result was a paragraph of red text listing error complaints and warnings regarding password policy violations, whenever a guest user accessed the course.

It wasn’t a critical issue that would stop someone from accessing the course, but it was a source of potential confusion for users visiting my site.

This is contrary to the desired user experience, and a bit of an embarrassment.

I am happy to have since resolved the issue, it turns out there was a corrupted course, and I was able to set things right by copying the course.

Now I can share with you what I learned in the process, with the following simple steps of how to manage guest access to Moodle courses.

Also, full disclosure: this is for a limited audience of people who are managing, or thinking about managing, a Moodle instance.

Moodle Guest Password Policies

There are settings for Guest access both at the global system level and within each course itself.

First things first: establish the norms for your Moodle instance at a site-wide level, and them move on to the individual course settings.

Navigate to Site administration\Security\Site security settings.

Recommended Configuration:

Enable Password policy
Minimum password length: Recommended 8+ characters
Require digits, uppercase, lowercase, and non-alphanumerics as needed.
Enable password expiration if required
Configure lockouts after failed logins (under Account lockout settings).

User Account Creation and Passwords

Navigate to: Site administration\Plugins\Authentication\Manage authentication

Enable email-based self-registration (if needed)
Set new user default role
Force password change for pre-created accounts.

Guest Access to Courses

Enable Guest access globally:
Navigate to Site administration\Plugins\Enrollments\Guest access.

Enable Guest Access for a course:
Navigate to: Course\Participants\Enrollment methods\Add method\Guest access

Allow guest access: Yes
Set a guest password (optional)
TIP: Leave password blank to allow public access.

Best Practices

Consistent design patterns and management of user policies are a curricular level concern that needs to be communicated and maintained through policy, and ongoing faculty professional development efforts, in combination with IT training and support assignments.

Depending on what you are using Moodle for, you might want to have a variety of resources that are freely available, as well as others that are password protected.

Here are some tips to keep in mind:

Test guest access using an incognito or logged-out browser
Use course visibility settings to hide sensitive courses
Regularly audit accounts and login attempts (under Reports).

Let me know if this is helpful, and good luck!

Slate with the words "You've got this" sitting on top of a laptop with headphones next to a cup of pencils. — Photo by Emma Matthews Digital Content Production on Unsplash

Sometimes you find a novel or impressive way of communicating information out in the wild west of the World Wide Web. You find some form of content that would be a great addition to your online course – but you quickly find that it has some critical accessibility failing that makes it unacceptable.

If you’re thinking that you can’t use this otherwise impressive content because of the lack of accessibility, consider another option.

Sometimes you can bring a problem out of the rough and sink it into the nice manicured green of your LMS.

Admittedly, this is not always possible, as some content may require complete re-programming to address the accessibility problems it contains. However, for certain media you can recreate the essential aspects of what is being communicated as an HTML page within your LMS.

Essential Accessibility Concepts of WCAG – POUR

When considering content that can be improved upon, remember the four guiding principles of WCAG, POUR:

Perceivable
Operable
Understandable
Robust

Ultimately, the WCAG nails accessibility down in simple terms that are easy to remember and apply to content you are teaching.

Perceivable

Perceivable content is styled and represented in a way that allows it to be presented to at least one of the human senses.

No content is invisible to ALL of the senses, there must be a representation of the content that is perceivable by whatever capability a user possesses.

Operable

The interface menus, links, and functionality must be operable by all users. Keyboard control is one of the easy tests to see if content is operable, but it is just a beginning.

Understandable

The content and the intended use and operation of the interface must be understandable. As an educator, this should be an easy one to discern and improve upon, if necessary.

Robust

Content needs to be adequately formatted and designed so there is enough information for a variety of different user agents to make sense of it. Over time, the information should retain the core meaning and capability of being expressed through evolving technologies.

Having thorough text descriptions and formatting content with semantic styles like headings and lists is a great way to make content more robust.

When you find digital media that can be improved upon, follow the WCAG concepts of POUR to enhance the message as much as possible.

Essential Interactive Elements

Moodle activities and resources you can create in the LMS.

Your LMS can be used to create many of the interactive elements used by digital designers. From basic HTML pages to more sophisticated content packages, today’s modern LMS offers the capability to create several types of accessible interactive content.

Consider mapping out just what kind of interactivity is present in the content, and see if you can duplicate it within the LMS.

Undescribed and Unlabeled Content

It is very easy to provide alternate text descriptions for images within your LMS.

If the only accessibility issue you find is missing or inappropriate alternate text, then copy and paste the images into your LMS and provide appropriate descriptions for those images.

Remember that form fields require text labels as well.

Inaccessible polls and surveys can be recreated accessibly with the assessment and feedback tools of your LMS.

Bad Contrast

If there is bad contrast between text and background, that is another issue that is extremely easy to fix.

Copy and paste the text into your LMS and apply appropriate colors for WCAG-compliant contrast ratios.

Likewise, if the focus indicator has been styled to be invisible or difficult to see via linked CSS, you can copy and paste the content into your LMS. The styling for the focus indicator will be formatted according to your LMS CSS settings.

Bad Instructions and Layout

Sometimes good content comes with bad instructions, explanations, or just a confusing or cluttered layout. Redesigning a problematic page for easier readability is a valid activity for accessibility and a great use of the LMS.

Bonus Lessons

Another benefit of fixing accessibility issues by redesigning the content within your LMS is the opportunity to demonstrate to your students how to responsibly synthesize information into new forms of media, and how to properly cite sources when using other people’s content.

Reproducing content within the LMS can provide a simple means for addressing basic accessibility concerns, and it can also be a great way to focus user attention and keep students in the LMS.

You’ve learned not only how to assess content for accessibility, but how to make content better for accessibility and learning. Now when you encounter inaccessible content, it doesn’t have to be a dead end – you can create options and improve the situation for everyone.

Thanks for reading!