The Virtual High School Global Consortium uses the Internet as the primary vehicle for instruction. Students taking a VHS NetCourses will use a web browser to access their courses. Students considering participation in VHS must have Internet connectivity and be able to access the Internet daily. Students must use a compatible web browser.

Computers must have a direct Internet connection or a dial-up modem operating at 56K or greater.

Browser Requirements for Blackboard

Since Blackboard courses are taken and delivered entirely over the Internet, all you need to access them is an internet browser. Below we've outlined the browsers that will and won't work with Blackboard, sorted by operating system. Browsers not listed below (Netscape, Opera, AOL,  MSN Explorer, etc.) are not supported, and may encounter problems with Blackboard.

Java Requirement

Some Blackboard features, including components of the Visual Text Box Editor require Java. We recommend all users install a current version of Java (1.6 or higher). Earlier versions of Java can cause problems for users in the discussion board and other areas of Blackboard.

Note on Windows Vista

Blackboard reports that Windows Vista operating system has been tested and deemed compatible with Blackboard, and we are not aware of any specific problems using Vista for VHS at this time.

Screen Resolution

We recommend users use a screen resolution of at least 800x600 (and preferably higher) to work in Blackboard. This is particularly important for instructors who may have problems viewing the Grade Center at smaller screen resolutions.


Full Table of Browser Compatibility:

	IE 7.x*	Firefox 1.x	Firefox 2.x	Safari 2.x	Safari 3.x
Win XP	ok	ok	Good
Windows Vista	Good	ok	Good
Mac OS X.3		ok
Mac OS X.4		ok	ok	ok	ok
Mac OS X.5		ok	Good	ok	Good

*Note: Internet Explorer 6.0 is no longer officially supported by Blackboard, and although we are not aware of any problems using it we would recommend upgrading to Bb 7.0.

Key:

• GREEN Entries are compatible with the Blackboard WYSIWYG text box editor,
• ORANGE entries are compatible with most Blackboard features, but are not fully compatible with the WYSIWYG editor (only limited functions are available). We recommend Mac users use Firefox instead of Safari in Blackboard
• Good = fully tested by Blackboard
• ok = not fully tested, but should work without any problems.