Known Issues – Blackboard System Status

Accessibility Issues

Ally accessibility indicators not displayed for attached assignment files (New: 5/13/2025)

Issue

When files are attached to the instructions section of an assignment in Ultra, the Ally accessibility indicators, including the icon to choose a different format, are not visible to students.

Workaround

Post the assignment instructions as a separate item in the content page above the assignment.

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.

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

Block styling button is inaccessible via keyboard navigation (New: 10/7/2025)

Issue

When navigating via a keyboard, the block styling button is not available. This prevents users from accessing the Edit, Move, Style, and Delete buttons.

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 December 4, 2025.

Drop-down menus and checkbox visibility issues in High Contrast mode (New: 6/10/2025)

Issue

When using High Contrast mode on Windows devices, drop-down menus and checkboxes are barely visible.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Excessive toolbar space limits submission readability when grading (New: 9/9/2025)

Issue

When viewing a student's submission, a large portion of the screen is occupied by toolbars or ribbons at the top. This limits the visible area of a student's paper to roughly 1/3 of the page, even on larger monitors.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Keyboard navigation places contents of learning module last in tab order (New: 9/15/2025)

Issue

Keyboard navigation through a Learning Module does not follow visual order, and the content menu is accessed last when using the tab key, instead of first.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

More options menu ignored by screen readers on decorative images (New: 7/29/2025)

Issue

Images marked as decorative are still being read by screen readers, including NVDA and VoiceOver. This includes the "More Options" listing on each image, which should be ignored.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Ultra course folder does not expand on copy items menu with JAWS enabled (New: 9/15/2025)

Issue

When using the JAWS screen reader, a user attempting to copy a course via the "Copy Item" feature experiences unexpected behavior: pressing Enter on a folder selects the course checkbox instead of expanding the folder. This issue does not occur when JAWS is disabled.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Announcements

Announcements message gets cleared out after staying idle or writing for more than 15 minutes (New: 9/29/2025)

Issue

When an instructor creates a new announcement, and either writes for a long time, or stays idle, after approximately 15-20 minutes, the description gets cleared out automatically, without explanation or warning.

Workaround

Either close the blank page, or write longer announcements in Word and copy it in.

Potential Resolution Date

Cursor defaults to message body when creating a new announcement (New: 9/17/2025)

Issue

When instructors create a new announcement, the initial cursor focus is automatically set in the message body field, instead of in the title field.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

"View Announcement" link in email leads to blank page (New: 7/29/2025)

Issue

When clicking on the "View Announcement" link within an emailed announcement, instructors are taken to a page that displays the announcement subject, with a white announcement page and no announcement text.

Workaround

Close the announcement and reopen it to view the text.

Potential Resolution Date

Assignments and Tests

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

Issue

In an Ultra Assignment or Test 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

Answers to multiple choice questions created with math editor are illegible (New: 9/29/2025)

Issue

When students are reviewing their test submissions, multiple choice question answers that were created using the Math Editor are illegible because the background color and the font color are similar.

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 December 4, 2025.

Correct multiple choice answers labeled incorrect on student view submission page (New: 4/30/2025)

Issue

After completing a multiple-choice test where Question Scores are set to be available only after all grades are posted, students see their correct answers incorrectly labeled as "Incorrect" on the View Submission page.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Fill in the blank questions corrupt python code formatting in student view (New: 10/28/2025)

Issue

When Python code is added to a Fill in the Blank question, the formatting displays correctly on the test creation page, but becomes corrupt in the student attempt. Characters such as square brackets, quotes, and mathematical operators are removed or broken. This affects how code-based questions appear to students, and make the question invalid and unanswerable.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Fill in the blank questions fail to render when square brackets are used in math editor (New: 9/16/2025)

Issue

When creating a Fill in the Blank question, inserting a matrix with square brackets using the Math Editor causes the system to misinterpret the brackets as placeholders. As a result, the question text does not render correctly, and broken markup is displayed instead.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Large tests (20+ questions) take longer than expected to load (New: 9/16/2025)

Issue

When opening a test that has more than 20 questions, there is a pause without any questions being shown. The page appears frozen. Then the questions will appear. The delay increases as the number of questions increases.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Multiple choice answers appear as white font when formatted (New: 10/22/2025)

Issue

When a student selects an answer on a multiple-choice question, the text of the selected option will turn white if the original text was formatted, such as bolded, italicized, underlined, or struck through.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Rounding of student answers in calculated numeric questions (New: 9/9/2025)

Issue

When students answer a calculated numeric question with precise values (e.g., 0.00005), the system rounds the input to 0.0001 during grading and display.

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 as the test is submitted.

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

Unable to drag and drop images for students in test questions (New: 2/18/2025)

Issue

When a student attempts to drag and drop an image into the content editor on a test, the screen freezes and will not render the image.

Workaround

Do not use the drag and drop, instead upload using the paperclip attachment icon.

Potential Resolution Date

Blackboard AI

AI Generated multiple choice question answers reordered during student attempts (New: 10/22/2025)

Issue

When instructors create multiple choice questions in a test using the AI Generator, the order of the answer choices appears differently when students attempt the test. Although the randomization setting is disabled, the answer options are still displayed in a difference sequence than originally generated.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Blackboard Integrations

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

Browser Issues

Cross-site tracking preventing login and access to integrated applications (New: 3/11/2025)

Issue

When users attempt to log into Blackboard on Safari or Chrome, they may receive an error message stating they cannot log in. This may also affect users when they attempt to open an integrated application, such as VoiceThread or a textbook publisher.

Workaround

By turning off cross-site tracking, users are able to log in successfully. Instructions for each browser are below.

Safari:

Click Safari in the top left corner of the screen
Select Preferences or Settings
Click Privacy
Uncheck the box next to Prevent cross-site tracking
Close the window and reload the page

Chrome:

Click the three dots in the upper right corner
Click Settings
Click Privacy and Security
Click Third-party cookies
Select Allow third-party cookies
Verify Send a "Do Not Track" request with your browsing traffic is toggled off
Reload the page

Potential Resolution Date

Content Area, Documents, Folders, Learning Modules

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

File options setting changes to "download only" after saving an Ultra document with multiple files (New: 9/29/2025)

Issue

When multiple files are uploaded to a document, the default file options setting is "view and download". However, after saving the document, the setting changes to "download only".

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Indented list format not saved when changing font size in content editor (New: 9/9/2025)

Issue

When changing the font size on an item in the content editor that is part of an indented list, the indented list formatting is not saved when the font sized is changed successfully.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

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

Unable to edit caption for image on documents (New: 9/9/2025)

Issue

The pencil icon intended for editing image captions does not function as expected. Nothing happens when the user clicks on the pencil icon.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround. However, you can add the caption as another text block beneath the image.

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 place 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 or at the bottom of the learning module.

Potential Resolution Date

Grades, Grading Tasks, Feedback and Rubrics

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: words containing apostrophes cause the cursor to move (New: 11/19/2024)

Issue

When grading an assignment using Bb Annotate and typing words using apostrophes too fast, such as "don't", the cursor will move to the top of the page.

Workaround

Type slower if you are typing a word that contains an apostrophe.

Potential Resolution Date

Deleting a form from the gradebook displays the wrong text (New: 9/9/2025)

Issue

When attempting to delete a Form from the Grades tab in the grade book, the pop-up displays the text as code instead of the words "Delete" and "Cancel".

Workaround

Use the Delete option on the Gradable Items tab.

Potential Resolution Date

Downloaded gradebook omits overall feedback for attempts with override grade (New: 4/30/2025)

Issue

When attempting to download a gradebook with overridden grades, the feedback for the attempts where a grade was overridden will not be visible in the downloaded file.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Flexible grading skips submissions when using the next button with needs grading filter applied (New: 9/9/2025)

Issue

When instructors use the Needs Grading filter on a submissions list, and navigate to the next submission using the Next button, not all submissions are loaded.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Grade distribution graph only shows 5 grade points on letter-based schema (New: 9/9/2025)

Issue

When viewing the Student Activity Tab on an assignment set to display grades on the letter-based schema, only 5 of the letters show instead of all the letters.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Grade pill is blank when item graded with rubric is peer reviewed (New: 10/24/2025)

Issue

When an instructor tries to score an attempt using a rubric that also has peer review enabled, the score is not being captured in the grade pill at the top near the submission receipt.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

HTML characters in inline grading comments translate 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 '&amp', '&lt', 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

Instructors are not able to scroll up or down while leaving audio feedback (New: 9/29/2025)

Issue

When students include lengthy text in their submissions, and instructors go to grade them using audio feedback, instructors are unable to scroll up or down on the submission while recording.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

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

Rubric total points round incorrectly based on criterion order (New: 11/4/2025)

Issue

When creating a points-based rubric, sometimes the total points possible are rounded inconsistently. This occurs with points that contain decimal points.

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 submission focuses on Bb Annotate comment instead of submission (New: 5/14/2025)

Issue

When a user goes to view a submission that has comments from Bb Annotate, instead of being able to view the submission on the screen, it instead focuses on one of the comments. This leaves the submission and other comments inaccessible in the window.

Workaround

Resize the screen when viewing or adding comments.

Potential Resolution Date

Groups

Group submissions will not display content or feedback with release conditions (New: 7/29/2025)

Issue

When a group assignment is configured with a release condition that hides the item after a specific date, students are unable to view the submission ones the item is no longer visible.

Workaround

Disable the hide after date. To prevent late submissions, turn on the setting to prohibit late submissions after the due date.

Potential Resolution Date

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

Self-enrollment indicator missing in group discussion settings (New: 10/21/2025)

Issue

When creating a new group discussion configured for self-enrollment, the discussion page no longer displays the "Self-Enroll" indicator in the settings section. Previously, this label appeared next to the count clearly identify discussions that allowed students to join in groups on their own.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Submit attempt button unresponsive when a student joins self-enrollment group with attempt already in progress (New: 10/28/2025)

Issue

When an assessment is configured for submission by self-enrollment groups, if a student selects a group that already has an existing attempt, either submitted or in progress, the "Start Attempt" button remains visible, but does not respond when clicked.

Workaround

Make the self-enrollment period end before the assessment is visible to students or before students start submitting.

Potential Resolution Date

Journals and Discussion Boards

Enrolled instructors are unable to access journal submissions (New: 10/21/2025)

Issue

When an instructor tries to access the student submissions from a journal, the instructor gets a session debug error.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Journal grade pill deletion frequently unsuccessful (New: 10/29/2025)

Issue

When instructors attempt to delete grades from the grade pill for journals, the grades remain unchanged after deletion attempts.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Messages

Notifications text in message email is plain text instead of link (New: 9/29/2025)

Issue

Email messages include a "manage your notification settings" option at the bottom that should be a clickable link, leading to the panel to modify their notification preferences. However, the text is actually plain text with no associated URL.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.

Potential Resolution Date

Mobile App/Mobile Browser

Audio feedback does not play on Safari on iPad (New: 10/7/2025)

Issue

Students using Safari on an iPad who check the feedback left by the instructor will see any audio feedback files. However, when they attempt to play the files, they will not play, and instead says "loading".

Workaround

Use the Blackboard Mobile App or use a different browser or device to listen to the feedback.

Potential Resolution Date

Blackboard Inc. is aware of this known issue and a patch is scheduled for the update on December 4, 2025.

Users not receiving push notifications on Android devices (New: 6/4/2025)

Issue

When a user is logged into the mobile app on an Android device, they are not receiving push notifications, even if the settings say that they will.

Workaround

At this time, there is no known workaround.