On December 22, 2021, Blackboard will be getting an upgrade. A significant change is a new text editor that contains a number of new features and improvements that will be present anywhere text is entered in Blackboard including content areas, tests/quizzes, and discussion boards. Read on for some highlights that are coming with this release.
1. Plus Button to Insert Attachments and Images
The plus button (+) replaces the paper clip and allows for someone to insert files or images from their local computer or other areas where content is stored.
2. Optimized Support for Coding Languages
Previously, HTML and CSS were the only coding languages that could be inserted into the text editor. The new editor supports those two as well as: XML, JavaScript, PHP, Ruby, Python, Java, C, C#, or C++.
3. Accessibility Checker
The new Accessibility Checker can evaluate your content in the text editor to see if any changes need to be made to make it more accessible. It can identify accessibility errors such as forgetting to add alternative text to images.
4. Improved YouTube and Web Content Embedding
For linking to articles on sites such as the New York Times or embedding videos from YouTube or Vimeo, the text editor will now automatically embed the content for you when you paste the link into the text box and click Enter/Return.
5. Source Code Button for Embedding Video from UVM Streaming
As with the previous text editor, you will copy the embed code from the video page and paste it into the source code.
6. Emojis
While there was limited availability for emoticons in the previous text editor, the new editor supports modern emojis. These emojis are available to all users in a Blackboard course and provide more opportunities for instructors and students to express themselves in their work.
7. Toolbar Display
Use the ellipsis button on the right to see all rows of the toolbar.
Also, the toolbar layout will respond to your screen size and wrap to fit it. For example,
