For the best Blackboard Learn experience with your screen reader, use ChromeTM and Jaws on a Windows® system. On a Mac® use Safari® and VoiceOver. Visit the Accessibility topic to learn more about Blackboard's approach to accessible software.
Supported browsers
Blackboard supports five primary browsers for Learn releases. Links to the vendor sites for the browsers are included in this topic.
Run the browser checker to see whether Blackboard Learn supports your browser.
To learn more about Blackboard's general browser support policy as well as information about Javascript, Cookies, and other software, see the Browser Support Policy.
| Browser | Desktop Browser Versions | |
| Chrome3 | 49+ | Supported |
| Edge1,3 | 20+ | Supported |
| Firefox3 | 48+ | Supported |
| Internet Explorer1 | 11+ (Windows only) | Compatible2 |
| Safari1 | 9+ (Mac OS only) | Supported |
1. WebRTC isn’t presently supported on these browsers, so the Create Recording feature will not work on these browsers. Both Microsoft and Apple have expressed they intend to support this standard in the future, in both Edge and Safari, respectively. These browsers can play back recordings created by the feature without issue.
2. Microsoft ended active development for Internet Explorer in January 2016. Most features of Learn will work with IE11, so it is generally considered compatible. Some newer features in Learn may not, including Attendance and Create Recording. Reported issues isolated to Internet Explorer will not be resolved by Product Support. An alternative browser is recommended.
3. Google Chrome versions 42+, Mozilla Firefox versions 52+, and Microsoft Edge don't support NPAPI-type plug-ins, including Java plug-ins and many media browser plug-ins. Blackboard doesn't support these browsers for using embedded media types that require third-party NPAPI plug-ins for viewing.
Supported mobile browsers
| Browser | Mobile Browser Versions | Learn 2016 Theme | Learn 2012 Theme |
| Chrome | 49+ | Compatible** | Unsupported |
| Edge | 20+ | Compatible** | Unsupported |
| Firefox | 48+ | Compatible** | Unsupported |
| Safari | With iOS 7+ | Compatible** | Unsupported |
** Modern mobile browsers are generally considered compatible when using the Learn 2016 system theme and user-added materials are mobile-compatible. Not all tools and workflows have been optimized for mobile use. Issues reported for tools that aren't yet optimized for mobile devices may be considered an enhancement request.
Blackboard App and Blackboard Instructor are supported native apps for mobile and tablet devices that interact with Blackboard Learn 9.1 servers. These apps may have their own device requirements.
Tested devices and operating systems
A variety of devices and operating systems were used to test the supported browsers. Support is not limited to these specific operating systems. The desktop browser versions above are supported regardless of the particular device or operating system on which they run.
| Operating Systems used in testing | Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, Mac OS 10.11, Mac OS 10.12, Mac OS 10.13, Chrome OS |
| Chrome OS tested device | Chromebook (Chrome browser; features requiring NPAPI plug-ins are not supported) |
Blackboard strives to make all its products as accessible as possible. JAWS 18 and 17 are used during accessibility testing of each Blackboard Learn release.
Analytics for Learn browser support
Reports and visualizations available in Analytics for Learn are delivered via third party business intelligence tools from Blackboard partners, specifically Microsoft (Reporting Services) for embedded reports and Pyramid (Pyramid BI Office) for dashboard building. These products have their own commitments to browser support, and so the details below are subject to change based on product decisions made by our partners.
Analytics for Learn reports that display within the Learn interface are supported in all the same browsers as Learn. Standalone Microsoft Reporting Services reports are also supported in the same browsers as Learn. Refer to the Microsoft website for more information on browser support for Microsoft Reporting Services.
To view Pyramid dashboards, an HTML-5 compatible browser is required. Older versions of Internet Explorer that have been deprecated by Microsoft are not compatible for viewing Pyramid reports. To build Pyramid dashboards, an NPAPI-compatible browser is required because the Pyramid builder uses the Microsoft Silverlight plugin. Google Chrome has deprecated NPAPI support, so this browser is incompatible. Firefox or Safari users must install and configure the Silverlight plugin to use it in their browser.
