Blackboard 9 Minimum Requirements - Frostburg State University

Blackboard Learn™ 9 System Requirements

If you pass all checks listed below, you should be able to use the main features of Blackboard

Browser
Check

Browser:
Version:
Platform:

For a list of supported Browsers, please refer to the Browser Support Matrix.

JavaScript
Check

If this check fails, refer to the Browser Settings Guide for instructions on enabling Javascript for your browser.

Cookies
Check

If this check fails, refer to the Browser Settings Guide for instructions on enabling Cookies for your browser.

Popup
Window
Check

If this check fails, refer to the Browser Settings Guide for instructions on enabling Popup Windows for your browser.

Port 80
Check

This check works by trying to download an image through the specified port. Port 80 is the standard web (http) port.

Java
Check

If you see nothing to the left (or just a gray box) then Java functionality is not available.

The version of Java that Blackboard currently supports is 1.6.0_x (PC) or 1.5.0_x (Mac). Older versions may work, but if you're experiencing problems with Blackboard, you should update your Java Plug-in.

Plugin Checks
Plugin	Installed	Version
Adobe Flash
Adobe Shockwave
Adobe Reader
Apple QuickTime
RealPlayer
Windows Media Player
Microsoft Silverlight

Check Browser Plugins

Blackboard Browser Check code courtesy of Mr. Shannon Meisenheimer, University of Central Missouri

Hardware Requirements:

In order to participate in a fully online, blended or web-enhanced course at FSU, students must have reliable access to a computer with Internet access. The computer system the student uses must fulfill the requirements listed within this page. All computers available in the student computer labs on campus meet these hardware requirements.

Supported Browsers & Operating Systems

Certified: fully tested and supported.
Compatible: partially tested but should function properly.
Provisional: future technologies considered supported by Blackboard Support.
Unsupported: either impossible or not tested.

Microsoft® Windows® Operating System

	Internet Explorer®9	Internet Explorer® 8	Firefox (Final Release Channel)*	Firefox 3.6	Google Chrome (Stable Channel)**
Windows® XP (32-bit)	Unsupported	Compatible	Compatible	Compatible	Compatible
Windows Vista® (32-bit)	Certified	Compatible	Certified	Compatible	Compatible
Windows Vista (64-bit)	Compatible	Compatible	Compatible	Compatible	Compatible
Windows 7 (32-bit)	Certified	Compatible	Certified	Compatible	Certified
Windows 7 (64-bit)	Compatible	Compatible	Compatible	Compatible	Compatible

Apple® Mac OS® Operating System

	Safari® 5.1	Safari® 5.0	Safari 4.0	Firefox (Final Release Channel)*	Firefox 3.6	Google Chrome (Stable Channel)**
Mac OSX 10.5 "Leopard®"	Unsupported by vendor	Compatible	Compatible	Compatible	Compatible	Compatible
Mac OSX 10.6 "Snow Leopard"	Certified	Certified	Compatible	Certified	Compatible	Certified
Mac OSX 10.7 "Lion"	Certified	Unsupported by vendor	Unsupported by vendor	Certified	Unsupported	Certified

Accessibility and JAWS: Blackboard strives to make all its products as accessible as possible. JAWS for Windows 11 and 12 were used during accessibility testing for SP9.
JRE Support: Blackboard Learn requires the latest version of Sun JRE 6 or JRE 7. The JRE can be downloaded from http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html. Windows System Administrators who want to provide auto-download for users can find the.cab file link for the appropriate JRE at http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/autodownload-140472.html.
Java Applet Code Signing: Java applets bundled with Blackboard Learn 9.1 SP9 are now signed with a timestamping authority, https://timestamp.geotrust.com, which certifies that the Blackboard code signing certificate was valid at the point in time when the applet was signed. Web browser client JDKs that trust the timestamping authority will run the applets without error, even after the Blackboard code signing certificate expires. All JDKs since version 1.5 trust this timestamping authority by default.
The following technologies are not supported:
	Internet Explorer 6, 7 Firefox 1.x, 2.0, 3.0, and 3.5 Safari 2.0, 3.x, and any version on Windows Mac OSX 10.3, 10.4 "Tiger" Java 5, although it may continue to work
Deprecation of Supported Technologies: Deprecation is a standard software practice to notify the community of future removal of support. These technologies are still tested and expected to perform in the intervening releases until the release in which they are removed from support. Mac OS X 10.5 “Leopard” will no longer be supported with the release of 9.1 Service Pack 10.
Blackboard’s support of Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox differs from the other supported browsers. Chrome and Firefox are following a rapid release strategy and releasing updates every 6 or so weeks. Chrome requires an automatic upgrade for end users, whereas Firefox offers the option to turn off the automatic upgrade. Blackboard has decided to support Chrome and Firefox in the broad sense meaning we will accept issues on both browsers and strive to resolve issues on Blackboard Learn as appropriate. Blackboard has conducted testing using the Stable Channel of Chrome (Chrome 19) and the Final Release Channel of Firefox (Firefox 12) during testing of this release. We resolved browser related issues at the time of releases, but cannot guarantee the compatibility of future versions. We will conduct testing on the latest browsers and Blackboard Learn releases to provide timely information on browser compatibility. Firefox 8 and Mac OS are not compatible with the drag and drop functions on Blackboard Learn. The Firefox Release Channel is the fully tested version by Mozilla and intended to be the most stable. This channel is updated roughly every 6 weeks. For further detail on Firefox, please review the material available at http://blog.mozilla.com/blog/2011/04/13/new-channels-for- firefox-rapid-releases/ . *The Chrome Stable Channel is the fully tested version by Google and intended to be the most stable as the name implies. This channel is updated roughly every 2-3 weeks for minor releases and 6 weeks for major releases. For further detail on Chrome, please review the material available at www.chromium.org.