Using Internet Explorer 8 with Blackboard 8

Internet Explorer 8 is considered by Blackboard Inc. to be "compatible" with Blackboard 8, but is not yet fully "certified" with Blackboard 8. What this means for you is that while IE 8 should work without issue in most areas of Blackboard, it may cause some unexpected errors. Because these errors are not documented at bugs with Blackboard, there are no definitive list of what may cause a problem and what will not. As we encounter compatibility issues between IE 8 and Bb 8, we will strive to provide workarounds where possible, and error reports where workarounds cannot be found.

Known Issues:

1. If you are using Internet Explorer 8 with Blackboard 8, you must run Blackboard in "Compatibility View" mode. Otherwise, certain menus and fields may not appear correctly in the browser.
   
   Solution: To set Blackboard to run in "Compatibility Mode" you can either log into Blackboard and click the "Compatibility Mode" button that sits between the address bar and the "Stop" button in IE, or you can add blackboard to the list of sites IE runs in "Compatibility Mode". To do this, open IE 8 and go to the "View Compatibility Settings" option. In the "Add this website:" area, type "blackboard.usi.edu" (no quotes) and click Add. Then click the "Close" button.


2. Some users report that they receive an error along the lines of "This application is being shut down to protect your computer" when trying to perform random functions in Blackboard. Clicking to show more details will mention a Data Execution Prevention, or DEP, error.
   
   Workaround: This is not a Blackboard problem, but a problem between using IE 8 and older versions of Java. Many users report updating their Java, then clearing the Temporary Internet Files and restarting their computer will solve the problem. Java updates are free and can be downloaded at http://www.java.com.
   
   Other users report that updating Java does not work for them, but switching to the Firefox browser does. The Firefox browser is a Blackboard certified browser and should not cause problems in Blackboard 8. It can be downloaded for free from http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/.
   
   Please note that USI Blackboard Support provides the information above on an as-is basis. We are unable to provide support for installing or updating third-party software on users' computers.