Blackboard Browser Wars

Overall, Firefox tends to be a faster and more reliable browser to use for Blackboard than IE. However, we are seeing a problem with hiding users in Firefox that works okay in IE. In the Grade Center, when you click the chevron next to a student's name, then click Hide User the student will be hidden in IE, but not in Firefox. To work around this in Firefox you can hover over the Manage button, then click Student Visibility and hide your students there. This bug isn't slated to be fixed until version 9.2, so it will be quite a while before it gets fixed. We're currently on version 9.0 SP4.

We've seen cases where the scroll bars in the Grade Center weren't showing in IE 8, so those using IE 8 may want to try using Firefox instead. This bug will be fixed in the next Service Pack (SP5) update.

Another bug challenge we're seeing is the Mark as Read button doesn't work in the discussion board when using IE. This does work in Firefox. Grading discussion boards is faster in Firefox, so you may want to switch just for that reason.

You might want to suggest that your students use a different browser anytime they're having problems with Blackboard as the first possible solution.  This very often fixes problems.  Here is a list of the most compatible browsers for Blackboard that you can give your students.