Benchmark Comparison

RBAC platform benchmarking

Five platforms were selected for analysis to identify common practices and industry standards in role-based access control (RBAC). The goal is to establish a benchmark that Open edX can aim for in developing a robust and flexible RBAC system tailored to its unique needs.

The platforms analyzed are:

• Blackboard: Roles and Permissions

• Canvas: Roles and Permissions

• D2L BrightSpace: Roles and Permissions

• Moodle: Roles and Permissions

• Toast: Roles and Permissions WIP

This analysis focuses on extracting key features, comparing functionalities, and providing actionable recommendations for enhancing Open edX's RBAC capabilities.

• Role Hierarchy:

  • Shared features: All platforms employ a hierarchical structure to manage roles and permissions. This structure ensures scalability and supports organizational needs by applying roles across different levels.

  • Notable Feature:

    • Moodle's context-based hierarchy aligns permissions with specific system levels (e.g. courses, modules).

    • Canvas and Blackboard implement multi-level hierarchies with clear segmentation (e.g. account > sub-account > course).

• Default Roles:

  • Shared features: All platforms provide predefined roles to cover essential use cases out of the box (e.g. Admin, Instructor, Student).

  • Notable Features:

    • Blackboard's Grader and Canvas's Observer roles illustrate roles tailored for specific tasks or non-participatory involvement.

• Custom Roles:

  • Shared Feature: All platforms allow for the creation or customization of roles, either by duplicating existing roles or building new ones from scratch.

  • Notable Feature:

    • Moodle and Blackboard enable administrators to create roles tailored to specific capabilities or workflows.

    • Canvas allows highly granular modifications, ensuring that custom roles meet precise requirements.

• Granularity:

  • Shared features: All platforms provide varying levels of granularity, Canvas and Blackboard stand out for offering extremely detailed permissions but all of them provide a high level of granularity allowing the administrator to tailor the permission for each role.

  • Notable Feature:

    • Canvas's ability to control permissions at a feature-specific level (e.g., separate permissions for creating, moderating, and viewing discussions).

    • Blackboard's 1,100+ privileges enable robust control but may overwhelm users without streamlined management tools.

• Overrides:

  • Shared features: Override capabilities are present in all systems, allowing role-specific or context-specific adjustments.

  • Notable Feature:

    • Moodle's four override states (Inherit, Allow, Prevent, Prohibit) simplify adjustments but limit granularity.

    • Canvas and Blackboard allow granular overrides at all levels

• Permission Inheritance:

  • Shared features: All platforms rely on inheritance to reduce redundancy and simplify management.

  • Notable Feature:

    • Moodle’s context-sensitive inheritance supports scalability, while Canvas and Blackboard provide overrides to refine inherited permissions.