Blackboard Technical Requirements

Hardware Specifications
  • 128 MB of RAM
  • 2 GB of free disk space
  • Sound card with speakers (for courses with multimedia)
  • Internet Connections (at least one of the following):
    • Ethernet or Wireless network card (for high–speed Internet connection)
    • 56K modem (for dial–up Internet connection),
      56K dial–up will work, but the online course system will run slowly
    • T1, DSL, Cable, or Satellite high–speed connection
Recommended Platforms
  • PC (Windows 2000, XP, or Vista—Windows 7 has not been fully tested)
  • Mac (10.2, 10.3, 10.4)
Recommended Software
  • Java JRE Plug-In Essential! See below for PC instructions and Mac Instructions for getting this plug-in
  • Microsoft Office Viewers—will display Office files, without owning MS Office
  • Adobe Acrobat Reader—Some attachments will be in .pdf format (an Acrobat file type)
  • Media Software (all free!)
    • Real Player
    • QuickTime
    • Flash Player
    • Shockwave Player
    • Windows Media Player
PC Users: Downloading Java
  1. Click here to download the correct Java version.
  2. Click to Accept the License Agreement.
  3. Click Window Offline Installation, Multi-language.
  4. Click Run to download (This will take some time)
  5. Click Run to install. (This will take some time)
  6. Follow the prompts to install the Typical Java installation. (This will take some time)
  7. Restart your computer to complete the installation process.
Mac Users: Downloading Java
Download Java
Recommended Browsers
Note:

Other browsers and operating system may work well, however, the listed configurations are the only configurations that are tested and supported by Blackboard.

Note for AOL Users

Do NOT use the browser from AOL—use one of the approved browsers from above!