This page contains important information and links to documents dealing with policies around the use of QMplus and its related e-learning technologies.

  1. QMplus
    1. Introduction and Overview (including maintenance)
    2. Governance and maintenance
    3. Access
    4. Help and Support
  2. QMplus: Archive policy
  3. QMplus: Plugin and Development requests
  4. QMplus Media: Copyright & Terms & Conditions
  5. Q-Review: Lecture Capture Policy
  6. QMplus Hub
    1. Privacy policy
    2. Terms and Conditions
  7. Turnitin: Policy & Guidance document 
  8. QMplus (Moodle) Accessibility Statement

1. QMplus policies and guidelines

1.1 Introduction and overview

QMplus is the QMUL's online learning environment (OLE) used across the university and is based on Moodle. 

QMplus is made up of online course areas, each one will be different and may include material such as lecture slides or presentations; tools for communicating such as chat rooms and discussion forums; online coursework such as assignments and quizzes; as well as other collaborative and group-work activities such as wikis and blogs – it all depends on what the teacher or course leader has chosen to include.

1.2 Governance and maintenance

QMplus is governed and owned by the Technology Enhanced Learning Team (TELT) but is maintained and updated by  IT Services. All decisions, policies and guidelines are managed by the TELT. QMplus upgrades and development are also authorised by the TELT, but the work and management of this is carried out by the IT Services team. 

Updates and maintenance are usually scheduled to take place during the systems at-risk period (Tuesday nights from 9-11pm).

1.3 Access

QMplus is accessible to all QMUL staff and students who have a QMUL IT username and password. However, there are occasions when non-QMUL users will be able to access content within QMplus; this is usually done on a course by course basis and decided on by the course leader. Some examples of this would be if the course leader decides to allow guest access on the course area (this can be done with or without a password) or if the course leader has requested for an affiliate user to gain access to the course (for instance, to give access to an external examiner).

1.4 Help and Support

Staff and students can get more guidance with using QMplus from our guidance areas: 

These pages include self help material, videos and links to useful resources to help staff to build effective QMplus courses; and assist students in getting the most from these online courses.

If you are having technical difficulties or have a suggestion for improvement or development to the system, please raise a request via the IT Services helpdesk at http://helpdesk.qmul.ac.uk

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2. QMplus Archive Policy

Archive overview

The QMplus archives have been provided for both staff and students and allow you to access a version of courses you were enrolled on or taught and administered in the last 5 academic years at Queen Mary.

*Content contained in QMplus Hub - (formerly Groups and Portfolios)  is not currently being archived.

Contents of the archive

This archive represents a snapshot of all course pages for the academic year. The snapshot is taken sometime over the summer after the official teaching period (usually at the same time as the annual QMplus upgrade). This means any activity that you may have undertaken after the snapshot has been taken will not be contained in the archive.

Some content and functionality that was available to you on the live QMplus site will not be the same in the archive. This is due to the need to preserve the integrity of content for the next cohort of students or for copyright or confidentiality reasons.The following list details what you will and will not be able to see and do on the QMplus archive.

  • Learning materials are available on a read-only basis i.e.
    • Files in the archive will  be downloadable, including handouts, old assignments and lecture slides
    • Books and pages can be viewed
    • Quizzes can be previewed but no grades will be awarded
    • It will not be possible to post to forums, submit assignments etc
  • In addition to the above staff will be able to view and download content set to ‘hidden’ from their module areas
  • Staff will be able to view student grades and assignments but not modify them in any way
  • Staff will no longer be able to add, edit or delete any content such as files,resources, activities or grades
  • Links to external sites from the QMplus archive are not being updated this will mean that some will break over time
  • Links to the Library Reading list software – Talis Aspire – will point to the current reading list for that module or in some cases may not function
  • Links to Q-Review lectures may, in due course, not work. In general the links should remain valid for at least two academic years after the lecture has taken place
  • You will not be able to send or receive any email or messages via the archive
  • Any requests to make changes to the content of the archive must be authorised by the Head of Administration for the school (or suitable representative), and must be made by raising a ticket through the ITS-helpdesk. We would expect a good reason for the change.

Access to the archive

Access to module archives is based on the same access rights you had during that academic year at Queen Mary. 

We will retain archived versions of QMplus for up to 5 years. Students and staff will be able to access QMplus as long as they are studying at or are members of staff at Queen Mary, University of London.

If you are having  trouble accessing the archive when you think you should be able to, please raise a ticket on the ITS-helpdesk explaining  your issue clearly.

We can provide access to the archive for those students or staff who require it. Please raise a ticket through the ITS-helpdesk stating your reason for needing access clearly.

6. QMplus Hub (Mahara)

We are not currently archiving the QMplus Hub area of QMplus. The aim of this part of QMplus is to provide students and staff with a place to record their learning journeys, make CVs, collect digital artefacts from their learning etc. It would be inappropriate to refresh this content on an annual basis.

Any links to your groups or portfolio pages in the QMplus archives will take you back to the live QMplus site. In time we may begin to archive content from this area. Staff and students will be given adequate notice should we choose to change the policy in this area.

Important links

 These policies, terms and conditions are subject to change without prior notice and at the discretion of the institution.

9. QMplus (Moodle) Accessibility Statement

Queen Mary University of London is committed to making its Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. This statement applies to all student-facing iterations of Moodle (QMplus), run by Queen Mary University of London. The content on this VLE is designed for everyone to find, read, and understand. Moodle is highly customisable, and authors are free to create and upload content of their choosing. As a result, it is not possible to guarantee that all content on the VLE is fully accessible. This statement has been written with this in mind. Where we have identified issues with the VLEs accessibility or compatibility with assistive technologies, they are listed below. If you wish to read the accessibility statement for our external facing website, please visit the Accessibility Statement webpage. Please note, in this statement, the terms "QMplus" and "Moodle" are interchangeable.  We want as many people as possible to be able to use this VLE. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • Change colours, contrast levels and fonts,
  • Zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen,
  • Navigate most of the VLE using just a keyboard,
  • Navigate most of the VLE using speech recognition software,
  • Listen to most of the VLE using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver).

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

Compliance status

Our current version of Moodle (4.1) is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below. Our internal policies are that we intend to provide accessible learning resources on our VLE by ensuring:

  1. Staff create documents (PowerPoint presentations, Word and PDF) using a clear layout, alt text descriptions for images, sans serif fonts, high contrast coloured text, and descriptive links.
  2. All recorded videos - either via QMplus Media (Kaltura), Q-Review (Echo 360) or YouTube - are captioned with additional transcripts available, where possible.
  3. Staff adhere to accessibility recommendations when editing within the VLE, such as labels, section headings or resource descriptions.

To achieve this, we have committed to:

  • Utilising Brickfield - an accessibility toolkit - which is available across our VLE site,
  • Providing guidance and staff development on how to use Brickfield to create inclusive resources,
  • Providing guidance and staff development on using in-built accessibility checkers such as those in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint,
  • Ensuring students have access to Sensus Access to provide format conversion opportunities where required.

Non-accessible content

As of November 2022, we are aware that:

  • Some teaching resources may not function completely with screen reading software due to accessibility issues,
  • Some recorded videos do not have text transcripts or captions included,
  • Some links are not described effectively and are therefore not as easy to navigate,
  • Some third-party interactive teaching activities are not optimised in terms of accessibility, e.g. use of Padlet as an online bulletin board displaying text, images and other media.

Content not within the scope of accessibility regulations

PDFs and documents

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents (essential to providing our services) that were published before 23rd September 2018.

Feedback and contact information

If you have a query regarding the use of the Brickfield Accessibility Toolkit within QMplus, please raise a QMplus ticket with the IT Helpdesk.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared in November 2022 and approved on 31st January 2023. This statement was last reviewed on 1st March 2024.

Last modified: Tuesday, 5 November 2024, 2:10 PM