Accredited Online Courses and Quality Distance Learning at University of Colorado Denver - CU Online - Denver, CO

Internet Connection

Network Interface that will allow connections to an Internet Service Provider with a Digital Subscriber Line modem, a Cable TV/Broadband modem, or a wireless router connection.

• Preferred speed of the connection on the computer is 10 or 100 Megabits per second or faster.
• The connection to the internet service provider may not be up to these speeds.

Browser Recommendations

To take advantage of the latest technology incorporated in this site, and to minimize the need for additional plug-in downloads, we recommend using Internet Explorer 8 or Internet Explorer 9, Firefox (final release channel), or Chrome

The preferred web browser to use when interacting with UC Denver’s Blackboard is Mozilla Firefox Version 3.6 or newer.

Blackboard requires the latest verison of Sun JRE 6. Download available here​.

Netscape Users

Netscape Navigator is no longer being updated, but could still be available on legacy systems. The last known revision of Netscape was not completely compatible with the newer versions of Blackboard.

Downloads on the Downlow

In order to take an online course, you will need to have some basic software to be able to turn in papers, presentations, essays, and other such homework. Here are the minimum software used in all courses, along with links taking you to their respective pages…

• Adobe Acrobat Reader
• Office 2008 for Mac
• Open Office (free office suite)
• Microsoft Office
• See video requirements

If you need to convert files into a compatible format, you can learn how to do it on the Microsoft Download Center…

Vista Users

Blackboard has tested Release 7 of the Blackboard Academic Suite with Microsoft Windows Vista using both the Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 Web browser and the Firefox 2.0 Web browser. The results of the testing show that Microsoft Windows Vista is compatible. Compatible configurations are partially tested by Blackboard and should function as expected. In this instance, Blackboard has conducted several weeks of testing to determine compatibility.

Users that have upgraded to Microsoft Windows Vista should feel comfortable using it with Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 or Firefox 2.0 to access the Blackboard Academic Suite, Release 7.

However, please be aware of the following issues uncovered during testing:

AS-102054

The Visual Text Box Editor controls do not function correctly in Internet Explorer 7 because they require a component not available in Windows Vista. Users using Internet Explorer 7 when interacting with UC Denver’s Blackboard, should turn off the Visual Text Box Editor in their personal preferences or use Firefox version 2.0, or higher.

*Please check with the instructor/s of your course/s to find out if you need any further software for your course.

Apps You Might Need

The following components are needed to access certain features of the system. You will be able to access your course without these; however, you may not be able to access the specific feature. Before downloading any of the applications below, we suggest you check with your instructor to make sure the feature is used in your course.

If you wish to use the Chat feature (Virtual Classrooms), Java must be enabled.