Blackboard Core
Navigate courses and tools faster with refreshed user interface – 4000.6
Impact: All Users
Updated Help Topic: Multiple topics
Idea Exchange ID: LEARNU-I-2913, LEARNU-I-4193, LEARNU-I-4536
We’re introducing a refreshed Blackboard interface designed to make teaching and learning more intuitive and efficient. These updates help you find information faster, reduce clicks, and simplify tasks such as managing courses, grading, and configuring settings.
The changes reflect extensive feedback from instructors, administrators, and students and aim to:
- Use screen space more effectively
- Reduce navigation errors, such as accidental exits
- Improve performance and page load times
- Provide clearer context and orientation
- Minimize motion for smoother navigation
Changes include the following:
Refreshed Base Navigation
Cleaner layout for clear access to main navigation tabs with less clutter.
- User profile now appears at the top of the navigation, complete with profile image for easier customization.
- Admin and Sign Out options are moved to the bottom of the panel, separating them from other actions for clarity.
- Administrators can now access base navigation directly from the administrator panel, streamlining workflow transitions.
Image 1: The refreshed Base Navigation menu moves Profile to the top of the menu. Admin and Sign Out are moved to the bottom of the panel. The cleaner layout improves clarity for users.
Course Panels Become Full-Screen Course Pages
Courses now open in full-screen mode to maximize horizontal space and reduce clutter. This update applies to top-level panels such as Course Content Homepage, Calendar, Announcements, Discussions, Gradebook, Analytics, Groups, and Achievements. Secondary panels will update in future releases.
Image 2: The refreshed user interface in courses includes full-screen course pages and improvements to enhance the amount of screen space for users to engage with their course.
Home button replaces Exit
The “X” to exit a course is replaced with a Home button that returns you to your institution’s landing page (Activity Stream, Institution page, or Courses page). The “X” remains for lower-level panels like learning modules for now.
Course ID and title in the header bar
The header now displays the course ID and title for better context. Breadcrumbs will be added in a future update to improve navigation further.
System navigation changes affect how the course ID and course title appear within the course experience. You can set and update these display options as part of the brand workflow, choosing how the course title and ID are shown.
Full-width banner
The course banner spans the full width of the screen with the course ID and title on a darker background for better clarity and accessibility. To improve accessibility, we recommend that your banner image not include text.
If a course doesn’t have a selected banner, a placeholder image will appear at the top. When using brands, this image will adopt a hue of the brand color you set, ensuring visual consistency across all courses.
Image 3: The Course menu has been moved further to the top of the screen to make better use of screen space for users. Additionally, the menu reflects an institution’s branding, using colors and styles from your theme settings.
Branded course menu
The course menu reflects your institution’s branding, using colors and styles from theme settings. The menu is positioned higher on the screen for better use of space.
Course Switcher
Users can quickly jump between their four most recent courses or go to the full Courses page. More enhancements are planned based on ongoing feedback.
Image 4: The new course switcher lets users move between the four most recent courses.
Administrators
Availability: Available for all Ultra courses.
Activation: None needed.
Configuration: None needed.