System Requirements
In order to use Blackboard effectively, it is recommended that students meet the following requirements:
Skills
- Use of Web browsers.
- Entering Uniform Resource Locators (URL's ).
- Downloading files from the Internet.
- Completing online forms.
- Basic word processing skills.
Hardware Requirements
- A live Internet connection. Students will need access to the Internet using a telephone connection, DSL, or cable modem.
- A monitor capable of displaying information at least 800x600 pixels.
Software Requirements
- Do not use the AOL browser to access Blackboard. Minimize the AOL browser and launch Internet Explorer or Netscape.
- Although it is not required to access Blackboard, students might want to have Microsoft Office 2000 or Office XP installed on their personal computers to view and access documents provided by the instructor. If you don't have Microsoft Office or don't want it on your computer, you can link to the Office Viewer utilities from our plugins page.
| Supported Browser Configurations |
Microsoft Internet Explorer |
Netscape Navigator |
| 5.0 |
5.1 |
5.2 |
5.5 |
6.0 |
4.76 |
4.77 |
6.2 |
7.0 |
| Microsoft Windows |
Windows 2000* |
X |
n/a |
n/a |
X |
X |
|
X |
|
X |
| Windows XP |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
X |
|
|
|
X |
| Apple Macintosh |
Mac OS 9.2 |
|
X |
|
n/a |
n/a |
NS |
X |
NS |
X |
| Mac OS X.1 |
|
X |
X |
n/a |
n/a |
NS |
NS |
NS |
X |
| Mac OS X.2 |
|
|
X |
n/a |
n/a |
NS |
NS |
NS |
X |
Notes:
Client Browser Configurations marked with an "X" are Certified. Certified configurations have undergone a thorough set of tests conducted by Blackboard Quality Assurance and are 100% supported by Blackboard Product Support.
Client Browser Configurations marked with "n/a" are configuration combinations not supported by Apple, Microsoft or Netscape.
Client Browser Configurations marked with "NS" are not supported by Blackboard. There are known issues with these configurations and Blackboard recommends that you avoid using these configurations.
All other configurations are Compatible. Compatible Client Browser Configurations have undergone a limited engineering analysis, and this designation indicates that Blackboard is not aware of any issues resulting from that configuration.
*Microsoft Windows 2000 supported configurations are considered compatible when run on Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows ME.
Internet Explorer 8:
The people that are currently using IE8 will more than likely have issues taking timed exams. The clock will typically take up much of the screen and not allow you to proceed with your exam, this is due to the fact that IE8 is not supported by Blackboard just yet. This means that you will have to either Uninstall IE8 and rollback to IE7 or you may choose to install Firefox instead. In order to Uninstall Internet Exploer 8 you must do the following.
For Windows Vista users:
1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. In the upper-left of the window, make sure you click on Control
Panel Home so that Classic View is not active.
3. Click Uninstall a program from the lower-left of the window, OR
from under the program section.
4. Click View installed updates from the upper-left of the window.
5. Wait a few seconds for all your updates to appear on the list, then
scroll down the listing and highlight Windows Internet Explorer 8.
6. Click Uninstall from the top of the window to remove Internet
Explorer 8.
For Windows XP Users:
1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Click Add or Remove Programs.
3. Make sure there is a check mark in the Show updates box in the
upper-middle of the window.
4. Scroll down the list and highlight Internet Explorer 8, then click
Remove to uninstall.
You can download Internet Explorer 7 here.
You can download Firefox here.
