You can access Blackboard using most Web browsers but it performs best with Internet Explorer version 6 or higher or Mozilla Firefox. Note: Cookies and JAVA Script must be enabled within the Web browser. You may need to install software plug-ins depending on the course content. Listed below are a few examples:

• Acrobat Reader - Allows you to view Adobe Acrobat files.
• Apple Quick Time - Allows you to play online audio and video content.
• Shockwave or Flash – Allow you to view certain multimedia files.  
• Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint Viewer - Allow you to view Microsoft's Word, Excel and PowerPoint files if you do not own the programs. Do NOT install if you already have these programs on your computer.

The following hardware and software are minimum system requirements to work with the Blackboard application:

Platform: Windows 98, 2000, XP, NT, or ME; MacOS 9 or MacOS X
Hardware: 64 MB of RAM, 1 G of free disk space
Modem: 56 K
Anti-Virus Software:  Make sure that you have a reliable anti-virus program and that its virus definitions are kept up-to-date.