Kanopy's Simple Access authentication process provides numerous benefits; however, in order to accommodate the demands of streaming video, and grant several ease-of-life features, it also diverges from the workflows typical of university resource databases.
For most university resource databases, the most important question is whether or not the user's browsing context includes an active session with an associated university's authentication method (proxy, SAML, etc.). With Simple Access, the most important question is whether or not a user's browsing context includes a session specifically with your Kanopy platform.
If the browsing context does include a Kanopy session, then the user will be granted immediate access to your Kanopy platform. If the browsing context does not include an active Kanopy session, then the user will prompted to authenticate into your platform, typically by clicking "Connect" within an embedded video.
At the successful end of the Simple Access workflow, a Kanopy session will be created that lasts 90 days. The length of that session has always been meant to emulate the typical length of a school semester, meaning that authentication into Kanopy need only be repeated (at most) four times a year. In this way, Kanopy's Simple Access threads the needle between performance, security, and accessibility, all while offering your students and faculty incredible cinematic experiences.