Overview
MURAL is a whiteboarding application that allows users to collaborate synchronously on a digital canvas, known as a mural, using a web browser on a desktop device. A variety of media can be added to a mural including text, sticky notes, files and images, making MURAL suitable for a variety of learning activities. Falmouth University has an institutional MURAL account which is managed by Digital Learning. Academic Staff are assigned the member role in MURAL and students collaborate anonymously on individual murals with the visitor role, accessing a mural via a share link. This guide provides advice to academic staff on how to use MURAL for teaching purposes.
Contents
- User roles in MURAL for staff and students
- Requesting to use MURAL and joining Workspaces
- Inviting students or external visitors to a mural
- Security features for sharing murals
- MURAL and mobile devices
- MURAL facilitator features
- Changing MURAL notification settings
- Accessibility considerations for MURAL
- Further Support
User roles in MURAL for staff and students
Academic staff have the role of member meaning that they are registered users, they can sign into MURAL, using their Falmouth University account, and have full access to all of the application’s collaboration features.
Students or external users, such as visiting lecturers must use the visitor role. A visitor is a non-registered, anonymous user who is invited to collaborate on a specific mural via a share link. The visitor role does not allow the user to sign into MURAL and offers limited access to the application’s collaboration features. As a visitor, interactions are more streamlined, the interface is less cluttered with fewer on-screen distractions, which can contribute to a better user experience for students when working on activities.
Important: Share links to murals are anonymous visitor links that anyone can access without the need to login. Please ensure that no personal or sensitive information is revealed within a mural that you share with students. Students should also be advised that they should not reveal any information in a mural that they would not want to share publicly. From Study Block 2 2025/26, all murals require a password and expiry date applied to them. For guidance on how to action this requirement, please view the Security features for sharing murals section of this guide.
Requesting to use MURAL and joining Workspaces
Each academic department has a dedicated Workspace (e.g. SADI workspace) in MURAL. Within a Workspace, you will find module specific Rooms (e.g. SPD110). Within a Room, you will find folders (e.g. SPD110 -SB1-25/26) for the academic year. These folders should be used for storing murals.
If you would like to use MURAL for teaching purposes, please contact Digital Learning via dlsupport@falmouth.ac.uk to request access to a Workspace. Please include the course title and module code with your request.
In preparation for using the application, please refer to MURAL Support guide, How to use Mural - your quickstart guide as well as the MURAL Support catalog.
When you have been added to a Workspace you will be notified by Digital Learning and will then be able to login to MURAL at https://app.mural.co/ using your University email address.
Important: All staff members share the same permissions within their department's Workspace. Once a member of staff has been added to a department's Workspace they can see all of the Open Rooms within that Workspace. Rooms are created, on request, by Digital Learning.
Inviting students or external visitors to a mural
How to generate a visitor link
On a mural board, click on the 'Share' button in the top right-hand corner of the screen.
The 'Share’ dialog box will appear.
Click the ‘Copy link’ button.
Then click the ‘Manage access and settings’ link.
From the ‘Access and settings’ dialog, add a password and set an expiration date. For guidance on how to action this requirement, please view the Security features for sharing murals section of this guide.
The visitor link will copy to your device's clipboard and is ready for you to paste and share with your students or externals. Don't forget to include the password to the mural when sharing the link.
By default, the ‘Can edit’ permission is enabled on the visitor link meaning that visitors can edit content on the mural board, excluding any content that has been locked by the mural facilitator. The creator of the mural is automatically set as the facilitator.
Important: Digital Learning recommend you share the visitor link with students in the context of the task or activity they are using MURAL for. For example, if you've provided instructions for a mural activity in Learning Space, we'd recommend you add the link and password there. For Falmouth Online, mural links and passwords could be pasted into a Discussion forum or an Announcement.
Granting 'View only' permissions to visitors
Granting alternative visitor permissions to a mural, such as ‘Can view’, can be actioned in a mural by clicking on the 'Share' button in the top right-hand corner of the screen and then clicking on the ‘Manage access and settings’ link in the 'Share’ dialog box.
From there, go to the 'Visitor link access' section, and select from the following options in the dropdown menu, 'Can view' (Read-only, not editable), 'Can edit' or 'No access'.
Visitor link view
When a visitor such as a student or visiting Lecturer, opens a shared visitor link, they will be taken to the mural via a welcome screen.
As students or external visitors do not have accounts, they will need to be advised to only click on the ‘Enter as a visitor link’ and not on 'Create an account' or 'Log in to Mural'. If either of those links are clicked the visitor will not be able to view the mural.
When the 'Enter as a visitor' link is clicked, the ‘Continue as a visitor’ dialog box will appear.
By default visitors are anonymous and are assigned an animal name and avatar such as ‘Visiting Shrimp’ or ‘Visiting Bear’ etc.
Visitors do have the option to enter their name in the ‘Your name’ field or they can accept the automatically created name such as 'Visiting Shrimp'.
Finally, to access the mural the visitor needs to click on the ‘Enter as a visitor’ button. When that link is clicked they will gain access to the mural.
Security features for sharing murals
Additional security features must be enabled when sharing a mural with students or external visitors that include:
- Adding a password
- Setting an expiration date on a mural's link
An existing share link can also be reset which invalidates any previous link that you have shared, therefore revoking visitor access to the mural.
Important: From Study Block 2 2025/26, all murals require a password and expiry date applied to them. Please note that it is the responsibility of the course team to enable these security features when creating a share link. Follow the steps below to enable the security features. If you require additional assistance, please contact Digital Learning via dlsupport@falmouth.ac.uk.
Adding a password, setting an expiration date or resetting a mural link
To add a password, set an expiration date or reset a mural link, go to the relevant mural.
Click on the ‘Share’ button in the top right-hand corner of your mural.
In the ‘Share’ dialog click on the ‘Manage access and settings’ link.
The ‘Access and settings’ dialog appears. Follow the steps below based on what you would like to achieve.
Adding a Password
By default, no password is required to access a mural via a share link. To add one, click on ‘Add password’.
Assign a password that has more than 8 characters and then click ‘Save password’.
When a mural is password protected, a user will need to enter the password into the 'Password' field of the ‘This mural is password protected’ dialog box which appears when a password protected mural link is shared.
After the password is entered. The user needs to click on the 'I'm not a robot' checkbox and then click on the 'Join mural' link.
For further details, view MURAL Support guide, Password protect visitor links.
Setting an expiration date
Setting an expiration date will determine how long your mural will be available to those people you share the link with. By default, the share link does not expire.
To set an expiration date for a mural, click on the ‘Set expiration’ link.
In the dropdown menu select the desired expiration setting. You can choose from 'Never expires' (default setting), ‘Set a duration’ (by hours or days) or ‘Set an expiration date’ (by date). Then click the ‘Save expiration’ button.
For further details, view MURAL Support guide, Set an expiration for a visitor link.
Resetting a visitor link
To reset a visitor link for a mural, click on ‘Reset ’ and in the dialog box that appears, click on ‘Reset link’ or ‘Cancel’ if you change your mind.
It's important to note that resetting the visitor link invalidates any previous link that you have shared and revokes visitor access to the mural. If you would like to share the mural again, you need to create another visitor link which is outlined in the guidance above.
For further details, view MURAL Support guide, Reset visitor link access.
MURAL and mobile devices
As MURAL members, staff can use MURAL on mobile devices via the MURAL app. As visitors, students may not be able to use a mobile device to access a mural. Depending on the device, visitors may be prompted to open the MURAL app and to sign into MURAL to view the mural that has been shared with them. Visitors do not have the ability to sign into mural and therefore may be unable to access a mural. As students are always invited to a mural via a shared visitor link, Digital Learning advise that students use Mural via a web browser on a desktop or laptop device and not mobile devices. Please incorporate this limitation into the design of any learning activities.
MURAL facilitator features
If you are the creator of a mural, you are automatically a facilitator of that mural. MURAL has some useful features in the tool bar on the top right of a mural to help you facilitate sessions. For example as a Facilitator you have the ability to summon participants, create an Outline, use a laser pointer and enable a timer. For a brief summary of the facilitator features in MURAL, please view Introduction to facilitation.
Facilitators are designated a star icon next to their avatars at the bottom of a mural and in the list of mural collaborators.
Facilitator features include:
Summon participants
As a facilitator you have the ability to summon everyone to where your cursor is on the mural board. When you summon participants, they’re immediately brought to where you are on the board.
For further details view, Summon collaborators in a mural.
Facilitator lock
To ensure content doesn’t get moved around during your mural session, you can use Facilitator lock, which ensures that content objects stay in place and can only be unlocked by a facilitator.
For further details view, Facilitator lock your content.
Laser pointer
As a facilitator you can turn your mouse pointer into a laser pointer. When you have the laser pointer enabled, your cursor turns into a colourful trail that your participants can more easily see and follow around your mural.
For further details view, Highlight content with the laser pointer.
Timer
With the timer feature, you can set the duration of the timer for any activities you run during the mural session.
For further details view, Use the Timer.
Outline
By setting up an outline ahead of a mural session, you can ensure that you move from one point to the next in a structured way whilst leading your mural session.
An outline can also be used to instruct your mural users where to start activities or can be used to sign post them to a certain section of the mural.
For further details view, About mural outlines.
Private Mode
With Private Mode, everyone in your mural can add content without others seeing what they’re adding. This adds anonymity to your session.
For further details view, Private mode.
Changing MURAL notification settings
You can manage the email notifications you receive form MURAL. This is worth checking early on as the defaults can result in you receiving multiple notifications from a mural. Within MURAL click on your profile in the lower left and click "Notifications". This MURAL guide has further information on setting your notifications.
What notifications you opt for will depend on how you intend to use MURAL, but it is recommended that "Someone comments on a mural", under "CONVERSATIONS", is unselected.
Accessibility considerations for MURAL
Understanding the accessibility features and limitations of MURAL will ensure your content is usable for students, whatever their access needs.
Enhancing accessibility of a Mural can involve adding captions to images, using suitable colour contrast, and ensuring content is not locked, which inhibits screen readers from reading aloud content.
During a Mural session, keeping content objects unlocked on a Mural board ensures that objects such as sticky notes and images can be read with a screen reader.
After a Mural session, exporting a Mural board as a PDF with all content objects unlocked is what Digital Learning recommend you supply to a student if they request a version of a Mural that is optimised for screen readers or text-to-speech (TTS) tools.
The guidance below highlights some accessibility considerations for using MURAL for learning and teaching purposes and outlines some of its limitations.
Important: MURAL is partially conformant with WCAG 2.1 accessibility standards and is in the process of advancing WCAG compliance. Improvements are ongoing and can be viewed in MURAL's support guide: Accessibility features in MURAL.
Adding captions to images
The image caption feature allows you to provide alternative text for images. Alternative text is a textual substitute for non-text content and describes the appearance or function of an image on a Mural canvas, which will be read aloud by screen readers. Follow the steps below to add a caption to an image.
- Add or select an image on the Mural canvas then right-click the image to open the context menu.
- Select Edit caption.
- Type an image title in the Add a caption text box.
- Then insert an image description in the Add a description text box.
Important: If you hide an image caption, screen readers will still read the caption aloud. However, if an image is locked, a screen reader will not be unable to read the image caption or description.
Considerations for using MURAL with screen readers
Screen readers can be used to navigate and read objects on a Mural canvas. Content objects include titles, text boxes, sticky notes, areas, groups, shapes, icons, files, drawings, comments, connector arrows, frameworks, and images.
However, if content objects are locked, the screen reader will be unable to read aloud this content.
Facilitators of a Mural board have the ability to lock or unlock content and if possible, we suggest that content remains unlocked. This ensures that readable content objects on the Mural board can be read aloud by a screen reader on a student's device which is useful during any synchronous or asynchronous Mural activities that a student participates in.
Reading order for screen readers using MURAL
A screen reader can be activated via MURAL’s keyboard shortcuts. Keyboard shortcuts will work only if the Mural canvas has keyboard focus activated. To activate focus, select keys Alt + = (Windows) or Option + = (Mac).
As Mural is a nonlinear experience, it has two reading order filters to navigate content. Alt + R (Windows) or Option + R (Mac) allows you to select from chronological or location-based reading order.
- A chronological reading order is time-based and enables keyboards and screen readers to move between objects according to when they were added to the Mural.
- A location-based reading order enables keyboards and screen readers to move through objects starting with the first one in the top left corner.
For further guidance, view guide: MURAL screen reader and keyboard features improve canvas accessibility.
MURAL in PDF format
After the Mural activity has occurred, exporting a Mural board as a PDF with all content objects unlocked will create an accessible version of the Mural that is optimised for screen readers and Text-to-Speech (TTS) tools.
The PDF can be accessed by a student in Adobe Acrobat Pro using the Read Out Loud feature, Acrobat’s built-in Text-to-Speech (TTS) tool. Acrobat Pro is available to students via Adobe Creative Cloud.
How to export MURAL as a PDF
As students don't have their own MURAL accounts, their permissions are limited and as a result they are unable to export a Mural board as a PDF. Facilitators and Mural board owners can export a Mural board as a PDF.
To export a Mural as a PDF that is optimised for a screen reader, unlock all of the content on the Mural canvas and follow the steps below.
- Locate the Mural you want to export, click the Download as icon in the top left corner of the screen.
- Ensure ‘PDF file is selected from the Format dropdown menu. All content is selected by default and then click Download.
- The Mural export will begin and appear in your computer’s Downloads folder once the download is complete.
- If you also selected the option, Email me a link too, you’ll receive an email with a link to download the exported PDF file. Please note that export links expire after five days.
Tips to enhance the accessibility of your MURAL content
To recap, by following the tips listed below you can enhance the accessibility of your Mural content providing a better user experience of this tool for your students.
- Add captions to images.
- If text appears in images such as .png or .jpgs, ensure the text is also visible in text format i.e. add it to a sticky note and add it as an image caption.
- Avoid locking content as this inhibits screen readers from reading the content.
- Exporting a Mural as PDF with all content objects unlocked creates an accessible version of the Mural that is optimised for screen readers and Text-to-Speech (TTS) tools.
- Use suitable colour contrast i.e. avoid using white text on a yellow sticky note. If unsure, use a contrast checker such as WCAG Colour Contrast Checker.
Further support
For further support with MURAL, or to report any issues with this guide, please get in touch with the Digital Learning Team via dlsupport@falmouth.ac.uk. Alternatively, please refer to the numerous help guides found on our Knowledge Base.
View the Accessibility Statement for all of our support guides.