Known Issues – Blackboard System Status

Mobile App/Mobile Browser

Inconsistent behavior of back button from integration launches (New: 2/14/2024)

Issue

After an integration is launched in the Mobile app, the back button does not work as expected. When a user clicks on the back button after launching a tool, it takes them to the course list. When they re-open the course, it takes them to the integrated tool. Using the back button again will take them back to the course.

Workaround

Use the back button multiple times, or access Blackboard through a computer.

Potential Resolution Date

Blackboard Inc. is aware of this known issue and are working on a resolution. At this time, there is no known date that this will be resolved, but we will continue to update this page if there are any changes.

Keyboard does not open consistently when touching grade pill to enter grades (New: 3/4/2024)

Issue

When using a mobile device and attempting to grade, clicking on the grade pill does not automatically open the keyboard to enter the graded. It may take several clicks to open the keyboard.

Workaround

Click on the grade pill multiple times, or use a computer to enter the grades.

Potential Resolution Date

Unable to access course videos from mobile app (New: 2/14/2024)

Issue

When accessing a course using the mobile app or browser and are not connected to internet or data, there is no offline content available to view.

Workaround

Access the content on a device connected to internet or data, or on a computer.

Potential Resolution Date

Users are unable to log in with SSO (New: 7/22/2024)

Issue

When attempting to log in after the July update, users may be unable to log in.

Workaround

Use a different device to log in.

Potential Resolution Date

Vertically misplaced content bar (New: 2/19/2024)

Issue

When accessing your course via the mobile app or a mobile browser, a floating bar appears at the top of the screen with the content area name. The bar will stay while content scrolls above and below the bar.

Workaround

Ignore the bar and access content like normal, or use a computer to access the content page.

Potential Resolution Date

Zoom meetings will not launch when accessing through mobile app (New: 10/16/2024)

Issue

When attempting to access a Zoom meeting via the Blackboard app, the Zoom meeting will not launch.

Workaround

Launch the meeting through a different device or via your web browser.

Potential Resolution Date

Ultra Courses

Additional content in test submission cached between submissions (New: 10/16/2024)

Issue

When test submissions include content in the Additional Content text box, that content remains visible when navigating between submissions, even if the next submission does not have any content in that field. If the first submission contains content, it will be visible in all other submission views, even if they don't have content.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Altering question order freezes assignment screen (New: 10/5/2023)

Issue

In an Ultra Assignment where there are multiple questions, when an instructor changes the order of the questions, the screen will freeze. When the screen is closed and re-opened, the new order is presented.

Workaround

Close the frozen screen and re-open it. The new changes should be saved.

Potential Resolution Date

Attachment links in announcements are sent with a broken URL (New: 11/11/2024)

Issue

When an announcement is sent via email and contains an attachment, the link for the attachment is modified so that it cannot be clicked on or opened via the email.

Workaround

Instruct the students to open the attachment via the announcement in the Blackboard course.

Potential Resolution Date

Bb Annotate: buttons become inoperable when viewing multiple page documents (New: 6/5/2024)

Issue

When viewing a multi-page document in Bb Annotate, the zoom and page navigation buttons become inoperable when you scroll to the second page of the document.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Bb Annotate: Comment Mode is not sticking after each comment (New: 8/13/2024)

Issue

When grading an assignment and using the Comment tool, the Comment tool turns off after each comment is made. It should remain on until the user turns off the Comment tool.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround. Click on the Comment tool before making each new comment.

Potential Resolution Date

Bb Annotate: duplicate text function only duplicates first line (New: 10/16/2024)

Issue

When grading an assignment and using the Text tool with multiple lines of text, then using the Duplicate option, only the first line of text will be duplicated.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround. Copy the text using the Control + C shortcut, click Text, then paste using the Control + V shortcut.

Potential Resolution Date

Bb Annotate: inconsistent actions while in Comment Mode (New: 11/19/2024)

Issue

When grading an assignment using Bb Annotate, there are several issues that may arise while editing your comments that moves the cursor to the top of the page.

When typing words using apostrophes too fast, such as "don't", the cursor will move to the top of the page.
When pressing and holding the Backspace key to delete letters or words, the cursor jumps to the top of the text.

Workaround

Type slower if you are typing a word that contains an apostrophe. To remove text, use the Control + A option to select all and remove it, or delete the comment and recreate it.

Potential Resolution Date

Cengage content accessible through gradebook when the content item is hidden via release conditions (New: 3/25/2024)

Issue

When Cengage content is created in the course and the item is hidden with release conditions, students can still access the content through the gradebook column.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Changing grade category for an LTI item with release conditions will not save (New: 10/16/2024)

Issue

When an instructor attempts to change the grade category for a column for an LTI item (such as a textbook integration or VoiceThread assignment) and the corresponding content item has release conditions turned on, the category will not save.

Workaround

Remove the release conditions, edit the category, then re-add the release conditions.

Potential Resolution Date

Copying a document or file into the same course fails (New: 7/1/2024)

Issue

When an instructor attempts to copy an item, file, or Ultra Document within the same course, the item itself is not copied and instead a course link is created to the original item.

Workaround

Manually re-create the item, file, or Ultra Document.

Potential Resolution Date

Documents inserted in table will not display title correctly (New: 2/16/2024)

Issue

When creating a table and adding a document into the table, the name of the document, and the table itself, will not display correctly.

Workaround

Use a shorter title name, or do not add the document into the table itself, and add it below the table.

Potential Resolution Date

Due date missing for Cengage in Content Area (New: 12/9/2024)

Issue

When creating Cengage content with a due date, the due date does not appear in the Content area, only in the gradebook.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Editing fill in the blank questions break access to student attempts (New: 12/9/2024)

Issue

Editing a fill in the blank question in a question bank when it is added to a question pool will break any student attempt that has that question included.

Workaround

Reverse the changes and access should be restored.

Potential Resolution Date

Error message displays randomly when accessing discussion forums (New: 7/22/2024)

Issue

When an instructor accesses a discussion forum, sometimes an error message will be displayed when the forum is opened.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround. Reloading the forum and/or the course should remove the error.

Potential Resolution Date

Error messages displays when accessing grades in a completed course (New: 12/9/2024)

Issue

When accessing grade submissions in a course that has been marked as completed, the user will receive an "Oops! Something went wrong" error message.

Workaround

If the grades need to be accessed, uncomplete the course, view the grades, then complete it again.

Potential Resolution Date

Blackboard Inc. is aware of this known issue and a patch is scheduled for the update on January 9, 2025.

Forced sequence modules case Cengage LTI links to appear broken (New: 11/11/2024)

Issue

In a module when force sequence has been activated, then a Cengage link is placed inside the module, the link will appear with a label "This link is broken. The corresponding placement has been deleted. Select Synchronize Placements if you want to recover it."

Workaround

Either disable force sequence on the module or place the Cengage link outside of the module.

Potential Resolution Date

Grade center column for exams not sorting properly (New: 7/22/2024)

Issue

When an instructor attempts to sort an exam column by highest or lowest grade, the column will not sort.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Grade override in gradebook leaves items marked as "Needs Grading" (New: 10/16/2024)

Issue

In Ultra, when an instructor overrides an attempt with a grade, the attempt is still showing as "Needs Grading" even though the overridden grade has been posted.

Workaround

Place the grade on the attempt itself, not as an override. To grade the attempt, make sure that the attempt is open and you are viewing the correct attempt.

Potential Resolution Date

Blackboard Inc. is aware of this known issue and a patch is scheduled for the update on January 9, 2025.

Grade pill unclickable in Firefox when grading submissions (New: 9/15/2023)

Issue

In Ultra, when an instructor attempts to grade student submissions by clicking in the grade pill, the grade pill is unclickable and the grade cannot be entered there.

Workaround

This only happens in the Firefox browser. Instructors can choose to use the Chrome browser to grade, or use the override feature be entering the grade on the submissions list and not on the grading page.

Potential Resolution Date

Grades not updating when viewing discussion attempts (New: 11/19/2024)

Issue

When the instructor attempts to modify the grade in the user's attempt by clicking on the View option in the grade book, the grade reverts to its previous value after refreshing.

Workaround

Change the grade using the grid view without going into the actual attempt.

Potential Resolution Date

Blackboard Inc. is aware of this known issue and a patch is scheduled for the update on January 9, 2025.

Grades not visible in activity stream for discussion posts (New: 11/19/2024)

Issue

When an instructor posts a discussion board grade and the student views their Activity Stream, there is no link to view the graded discussion board on the Activity Stream page.

Workaround

Access the grade for the discussion board either through the course or through the Grades tab on the homepage.

Potential Resolution Date

Blackboard Inc. is aware of this known issue and a patch is scheduled for the update on January 9, 2025.

Grading journals via "# to grade" skips items (New: 9/25/2024)

Issue

When an instructor attempts to grade a Journal using the "# to grade" option, once a student has been graded, the arrows to move to the next submission will become unresponsive for the first click, and the second click will move the user to the submission after the one that was intended.

Workaround

Close and open the "# to grade" interface after every change, or open each submission individually.

Potential Resolution Date

Blackboard Inc. is aware of this known issue and a patch is scheduled for the update on January 9, 2025.

HTML characters in inline grading comments translated to plain text (New: 3/12/2024)

Issue

When adding comments using the inline grading comment feature, the characters "&", "<", and ">" will be translated from html to plain text, instead showing '&lt', '&amp', and '&gt'.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Incorrect message displayed when copying rubrics (New: 7/24/2023)

Issue

In Ultra, when copying a rubric, a message is displayed saying "When you create a copy, existing grades will be converted to overrides." However, the grades are not actually overridden, and the message is displayed incorrectly.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Incorrect message displayed when late submission shows overdue (New: 5/30/2024)

Issue

When an assignment or test is overdue, with no late submissions allowed, students see an incorrect message on their Activity Stream if they have not done the assignment. Instead of the correct message stating no late submissions are allowed, they see a message stating the attempt can be started.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Issues arise when editing or pasting tables in Ultra Documents (New: 7/22/2024)

Issue

When an instructor is editing an Ultra Document, issues with editing may arise when removing, editing, or pasting a table in the document.

Workaround

Reload the page if editing no longer works, or re-enter any changes if the changes are lost.

Potential Resolution Date

Journal settings do not save during initial creation (New: 6/11/2024)

Issue

When creating a Journal and setting a due date, the first due date will not save.

Workaround

Re-set the due date for the Journal.

Potential Resolution Date

Manually overridden scores in gradebook are not reflected in downloaded results file (New: 10/21/2024)

Issue

When an instructor manually overrides the score for a test or assignment in the gradebook, the updated scores appear correctly in the grid view. However, these manually overridden scores do not match the scores displayed in the offline workbook or the downloaded results file.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

New submission label remains after grading attempt (New: 11/11/2024)

Issue

When creating an attempt with multiple attempts and setting the "Attempts to mark" option to "Last attempt", only the last attempt should count for grading. However, if a student submits more than one attempt, and the instructor only grades the last one, the gradebook will still display a "new submission" label.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Blackboard Inc. is aware of this known issue and a patch is scheduled for the update on January 9, 2025.

No indication that feedback is saved on group submissions (New: 7/22/2024)

Issue

When an instructor adds feedback to a group submission and saves the feedback, the text editor does not exit Edit Mode, and there is no visual indication that the feedback has saved.

Workaround

The feedback should be saved automatically. Reload the page, clicking Save if prompted to save or discard the feedback, and the feedback should be visible.

Potential Resolution Date

Peer review assignments are missing on the Gradebook Overview tab (New: 10/16/2024)

Issue

Any assignments that are set up to be peer reviewed will not be visible on the "Needs Grading" and "Needs Posting" lists on the Gradebook Overview page.

Workaround

The attempts will be visible if the instructor goes to the attempt or views the Submission list for the assignment.

Potential Resolution Date

Points possible cannot be set to zero unless column is displayed as points (New: 2/23/2024)

Issue

When creating a column or a test/assignment, the grade cannot be set to 0 unless the grade display option is set to Points. If it is set to Complete/Incomplete, Letter, or Percentage, the points will revert to 100.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Questions with more than 170 characters in question text moves the points possible pill (New: 12/9/2024)

Issue

When a question has more than 170 characters in the question text, the points possible pill moves to the right in the gradebook an is inaccessible.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Blackboard Inc. is aware of this known issue and a patch is scheduled for January 9, 2025.

Release conditions cause send email reminder from gradebook to fail (New: 10/21/2024)

Issue

When displaying a content item with the release condition "Access from", then using the "Send Reminder" option from the gradebook, the reminder email will fail, with a displayed message "Your reminder could not be sent as there are release conditions against this item."

Workaround

Remove the release conditions, send the reminder, then re-add the release conditions.

Potential Resolution Date

Removing a group set causes group submissions to be lost (New: 2/23/2024)

Issue

When an instructor removes a group set that has assignment submissions, all of those submissions are lost. The grade will remain, but will only be visible to students.

Workaround

Make the group set unavailable instead of deleting it.

Potential Resolution Date

Rubric point range can be changed if rubric grade is overridden when anonymous grading is enabled (New: 3/12/2024)

Issue

When using 'point range' type rubrics in an Ultra Course with Anonymous Grading enabled, the criterion grades can change from what it was set if grading with the rubric and then overriding the total grade for the rubric.

Workaround

Do not override the grade as a whole, change the point ranges to match the score you want to give.

Potential Resolution Date

Rubric values being cached between submissions (New: 10/16/2024)

Issue

When navigating between student submissions that have rubrics for grading, the rubric values are being cached between submissions. They will display correctly on the student's page, but will be cached between views on the instructor page.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Second attempt appearance in the gradebook is delayed (New: 11/19/2024)

Issue

When attempt exceptions are granted to students to submit a second attempt, the attempt will be delayed when it appears in the gradebook.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Blackboard Inc. is aware of this known issue and a patch is scheduled for the update on January 9, 2025.

Selecting one row in a table automatically expands to select the whole table (New: 7/22/2024)

Issue

When editing a table inside of a textbox and selecting the contents of only one row, it will instead select the entire table.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Self enrollment group date and time picker disappears after groups are created (New: 7/22/2024)

Issue

When an instructor creates a self-enrollment group, and reloads the page, the date and time picker for the enrollment period start and end time disappears.

Workaround

Close and reopen the course to view the date and time picker again.

Potential Resolution Date

Sending messages through the Analytics tab fails to send email to instructor (New: 11/11/2024)

Issue

When sending a message to students from the Course Activity tab within the Analytics page, the messages will be sent via email to the student, but will not be sent to the instructor.

Workaround

If the instructor wants a copy of the message via email, they should send the message from the Messages page.

Potential Resolution Date

Some discussion boards post grades automatically (New: 2/26/2024)

Issue

Even when the option for "post automatically" is not selected, some discussion board grades will automatically post to students.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Spaces removed from content editor during tests (New: 6/11/2024)

Issue

When a student is editing an essay response on a test, some spaces or indentations are removed when the test is submitted.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Student activity report for assessment displays no activity details (New: 12/9/2024)

Issue

When downloading the Student Activity Report for assessments, the file is empty and does not display any details.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Students cannot see rubric icon on assignments with multiple or unlimited attempts (New: 7/22/2024)

Issue

When students attempt to view feedback for an assignment with multiple attempts or unlimited attempts allowed, they are unable to see the rubric icon.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Students cannot submit test when internet is reconnected (New: 4/3/2024)

Issue

When students submit a test attempt while disconnected from the internet, the attempt will not submit. After reconnecting to the internet, they are still unable to submit their attempt.

Workaround

Make sure to check the internet connection prior to starting the attempt, and when possible, use a wired internet connection when taking a test.

Potential Resolution Date

Submission download breaks if file name contains "sessions" (New: 7/22/2024)

Issue

When an instructor attempts to download a student's submission file, and the file name includes the word "sessions" or "Sessions", the file will not download and an error occurs.

Workaround

Edit the file name to remove the word "Sessions" or "sessions" and attempt to redownload.

Potential Resolution Date

Blackboard Inc. is aware of this known issue and a patch is scheduled for the update on January 9, 2025.

Time limit inconsistencies when extra time is allowed in tests (New: 10/16/2024)

Issue

When Extra Time is set for the time limit for the test itself, the test time is displayed as the entire time (time limit + additional time), instead of displaying the time limit plus any additional time granted.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround. For student's clarification, the instructor can add the time limit information to the Details section of the test.

Potential Resolution Date

Unable to access discussion board rubric when grading on complete/incomplete schema (New: 11/19/2024)

Issue

When instructors create a discussion board that is graded with a rubric, and the grade is set to display as complete/incomplete, the instructor is unable to access the rubric while grading.

Workaround

Do not attach a rubric or use another grading schema instead of complete/incomplete.

Potential Resolution Date

Blackboard Inc. is aware of this known issue and a patch is scheduled for January 9, 2025.

Unable to edit visibility of Cengage assignments in gradebook (New: 10/21/2024)

Issue

When viewing the Ultra gradebook, instructors are unable to edit the visibility of Cengage assignments. This prevents students from viewing their grades.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Unpredictable search behavior in Gradebook (New: 3/25/2024)

Issue

If an instructor attempts to search for a student using the search bar on the Students list in the gradebook list view, the search bar results are unpredictable and not correct.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Viewing problems in learning modules with release conditions and force sequence (New: 6/20/2024)

Issue

When an instructor creates a learning module with force sequence, and places a release condition on an individual item inside of the learning module that allows for only a specific user or group to access it, the rest of the students in the course cannot advance past the item with release conditions. They will see the existing items that they need to access, but they will have a lock and cannot be unlocked.

Workaround

Remove any release conditions. If an item needs to be set with release conditions for only a specific user or group of users, list the item outside of the learning module.

Potential Resolution Date

Accessibility Issues

Alternate formats not showing for attachments in assignment instructions (New: 11/19/2024)

Issue

When adding images or documents into the Instructions area of an Assignment, the documents do not have the Ally Instructor Feedback or Alternate Format icons like other documents do.

Workaround

Attach the document to an Ultra Document in the content page near the Assignment.

Potential Resolution Date

Alternate formats not showing for download only documents (New: 3/12/2024)

Issue

When uploading a file to an Ultra doc and selecting the "Download Only" option from the menu, the accessible alternative formats are not listed.

Workaround

Use the "Download and View" or "View Only" option for the alternative formats to be available.

Potential Resolution Date

Headings on Ultra Documents are not properly labeled in HTML code (New: 3/25/2024)

Issue

When creating content on an Ultra document and using the Headers options, the header is given the incorrect heading code in the HTML code for the document. This can affect how the document is read via screen readers or other accessible devices.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

High contrast mode will not highlight selected answer on test (New: 4/18/2024)

Issue

When taking a test, if the user has high contrast mode enabled on their computer, the selected answer for the test question will not be highlighted properly in high contrast.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Keyboard scrolling functionality is lost after screen interaction in assessments (New: 12/15/2023)

Issue

After opening an assessment (i.e. test or assignment), using the arrow keys will scroll the page up or down. However, after interacting with the page, including by clicking anywhere on screen, the keyboard scroll function is disabled.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Screen Reader interprets more than one table in gradebook view (New: 10/16/2024)

Issue

When a user is using a screen reader and is viewing the gradebook, the screen reader will read the page as if there is more than one table listed.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Screen Reader JAWS detects unavailable buttons (New: 10/21/2024)

Issue

In Ultra courses, users utilizing JAWS screen reader encounter accessibility issues. When navigating courses, pressing the down arrow key after selecting a course title causes JAWS to announce a disabled button, which can divert users to an unintended navigation list.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround. However, this is only affecting JAWS. Other screen readers do not have encounter this issue.

Potential Resolution Date

Browser Issues

Mac and Safari - Additional Login When Opening Files

Issue

When using Safari on a Mac, users are getting a pop-up asking them to login. This is because of 3rd party cookies/cross-site tracking.

Workaround

Open Safari Settings, select Privacy and uncheck Prevent Cross-Site Tracking. Some users have also had success downloading the file or using Firefox on their Mac.

Potential Resolution Date

Blackboard Inc. is aware of this known issue. At this time, no resolution will be provided.

Microsoft Edge causing 404 Error when opening content

Issue

Users who are using Microsoft Edge as a browser may receive a 404 Error when attempting to open content within their browser.

Workaround

The TU Blackboard team always recommends using Firefox or Chrome when accessing Blackboard. However, if you need to use Edge, the following workaround should allow you to open the documents within your browser without getting the error.

Open Edge settings
Select Downloads
Set Open Office Files in Browser to Off

Potential Resolution Date

Safari browser - typing in an existing Bb Annotate comment jumps to end of text (New: 10/21/2024)

Issue

When graders attempt to edit a Bb Annotate comment using the Safari browser, any text they type is moved to the end of the existing text.

Workaround

This is only affecting users who have Safari version 17.6 on MacOS Sonoma version 14.7. If you are experiencing this issue, either update your computer to MacOS version 15, update your Safari browser, or use a different browser such as Firefox or Chrome.