NYU Classes: Adding hot spot questions to a test/quiz


Within Tests & Quizzes, you can create hot spot questions, which test-takers with a series of items that they must visually identify by clicking within an accompanying image.


IMPORTANT UPDATE:To accommodate the increase in requests for online assessment solutions, a Remote Assessment Methods and Practices page is now available. NYU IT is recommending these alternative solutions over the current Tests & Quizzes tool. As a result, the Tests & Quizzes tool is no longer available in the Add/Edit Tools menu for courses sites that are not already currently using the tool. Any sites that are currently using the tool will not be impacted. To learn more, see the following article:

Tests & Quizzes Availability

Faculty members / administrators who still feel that they need access to Tests & Quizzes and cannot use one of the alternative assessment options can request access to the tool by filling out the following request form:

Tests & Quizzes Request Form


Creating a Hot Spot question

To add a hot spot question to an NYU Classes assessment:

  1. Within Tests & Quizzes, select the option to either create a new assessment or edit a pending assessment. For general information on creating assessments, see the Creating an assessment from scratch article.

  2. From the assessment’s Questions page, select the "question type" drop-down menu and choose the option for Hot Spot.

    The list of question types with Hot Spot highlighted

  3. On the following screen, provide a total point value for the question.

  4. Within the question text field, you will find pre-populated instructions detailing how students may answer the question. You may add to this default text or replace it altogether. Note that the "Add Attachments" area is not for uploading the question’s hot spot image. You may, however, use this upload area to add files relevant to the question.

    A textbox showing pre-populated instructions

  5. Next to "Select Hot Spot image," select the option to Browse/Choose File (depending on browser).

  6. Browse your computer for the desired image and select Open.

    Note: It is recommended that hot spot images not exceed 600px in width. You must edit the image’s size before uploading. JPEG and PNG file types are permitted for hot spot images.

  7. Once the desired image has been selected, click Upload. The image will then appear in the area below.

    Choose a file and click the Upload button

    Note: To override this uploaded image, select the Browse/Choose File button again to locate another file.

  8. From here, you may set up the desired hot spots in the image.


Setting up Hot Spots

Once you have uploaded a hot spot image, you may begin adding the items you will want students to identify within the image. To do so:

  1. Next to Item 1, enter a description (this will be the prompt that appears to students).

    The hot spot title field with the example text NYU Torch

  2. If you wish to have students identify more than one item within the image, select the + icon to add additional hot spot items.

    Two more hot spots called New York and University

    Note: You may remove additional items by selecting the "-" icon next to the item description. Item 1 is not removable.

  3. Once the desired items have been created, you may associate them with a specific region within the uploaded image. Select the button to the left of the description before drawing the item zone. When the button is green, you are working on that item.

  4. Within the uploaded image, click and drag to create a hot spot zone for the highlighted item. When students click anywhere within this zone, they will have successfully identified the selected item.

    Hot spot 1 is connected to an area of an image, in this case the torch section of the NYU logo

    Note: Ensure that the hot spot zone’s number (indicated in the upper right of the zone) correlates to the correct item in the list above.  You may redo the zone selection by clicking and dragging again.

  5. Select the box next to your next hot spot description, and repeat the click-and-drag process to create additional zones. Repeat as necessary.

    Hot spot 2 is connected to the words New York and Hot spot 3 is connected to the word University

  6. Once all hot spot items and their associated zones have been created, you may complete the question creation by selecting Save.

    Note: If you select Save and get an error message telling you that you must set all image zones, you must still draw a zone for one or more of the hot spot items.


Additional question options

Additional options available for hot spot questions include:



Accessibility information

To ensure accessibility for hot spot questions, it is suggested that you provide a brief summary of the hot spot image within the question text field (thereby allowing screen readers to provide information for the image).

For general best practices regarding accessibility and multimedia content, see the Best practice recommendations for web accessibility article.