Archiving courses in ICON
This page was updated on Jan 13, 2026. We are currently gathering feedback and this information may change if we adjust the process.
The University of Iowa is working on a plan to archive ICON courses to stay in compliance with the Title II mandate that all active course materials must meet accessibility standards. Archived courses are an exception; if older courses are archived and kept solely for reference and not actively used, they do not need to be remediated. This is outlined in the Summary of Exceptions from the ADA resource guide.
The Office of Teaching, Learning, and Technology is meeting with colleges to discuss access needs to better understand how a content retention policy may impact specific areas. If you have questions about archiving ICON courses, please contact your college's IT department.
Starting in mid-spring 2026, instructors and admins may choose to opt-in to an archival process, immediately archiving past courses and marking them as exempt from the Title II mandate.
In summer 2027, all courses will begin the content retention process described below unless a course has been flagged to remain active. All courses in the active and inactive state must contain accessible content to remain compliant with the Title II mandate.
Course Archiving Process
Course remains active
Year 1Students' ability to participate in the course and access it from the Dashboard ends with the end of the term. The course transitions to read-only view and access is only available through the Courses page access after that.
Complete student access can be removed when the instructor or course administrator goes into Course Settings and checks the box to restrict students from viewing the course. (This step is optional.)
Teachers, TAs, and Designers maintain full access to the course until the end of the next year's equivalent term.
Course is inactive
Year 2-5Students maintain read-only view by accessing courses through the Courses page until an instructor or admin goes to Course Settings and checks the box to restrict students from viewing the course.
Teachers, TAs, and Designers can view the course in read-only mode, and it is accessible through the Courses page. The course is removed from the Dashboard.
Instructors will have access to a self-service dashboard to restore access to the course.
Course is archived
Year 6All course enrollments removed (students, teachers, etc.)
Instructors are removed from the self-service dashboard.
Instructors can submit a ticket to Help Desk staff to request access.
Course is deleted
Year 7Canvas performs a hard delete, irrevocably removing content.
Course Archiving Dates
Spring 2022 and earlier
For courses from Spring 2022 and earlier:
- ICON course sites become inactive Summer 2026.
- ICON course sites are archived Summer 2027.
- ICON Course sites are deleted Summer 2028.
Summer 2022-Spring 2025
For courses from Summer 2022-Spring 2025:
- ICON course site becomes inactive Summer 2026.
- ICON course site is archived six years after the course is concluded.
- ICON course site is deleted seven years after course is concluded.
Summer 2025 and Later
For courses starting Summer 2025:
- ICON course sites remain active for one year unless instructor sets it to Inactive earlier.
- ICON course sites automatically become inactive one year after the course is concluded.
- ICON course sites are archived six years after courses are concluded.
- ICON course sites are deleted seven years after courses are concluded.