We are excited to announce the launch of Blackboard’s new Content Editor in the Original Course View! These updates offer improved accessibility, simplified workflows, and many other added features. The update will occur during off hours on Thursday, November 4, 2020. It should be available in your courses that use Original Course View on Friday, November 5, 2020. This update will not affect any existing content.
Toolbar Wraps Based on Screen Size
The toolbar now conforms to the size of your screen by wrapping tools on multiple lines. You can find additional tools by clicking on the ellipsis icon.
Use the Plus Button for All Attachments, Images, and Mashups
The new plus (+) button allows you to attach files from your computer or cloud storage (like OneDrive/O365, Google Drive, or Dropbox). This replaces the separate buttons for files (the paperclip), images, and videos. You can also embed media from Kaltura from the same button (it used to be under the Mashup button). Check out the section below on copying and pasting for a HUGE improvement to embedding YouTube videos!
Improved Accessibility and New Accessibility Checker
The brand new accessibility checker can help you improve the accessibility of your content. For example, if you forgot to add alternative text for an image (used by students with visual impairments so that screen reading software can provide a description of the image), Blackboard will identify that and provide instructions for how to add it.
Pop-ups have also been eliminated, making the content editor more accessible and easier to use on smaller, mobile device screens.
Copy/Paste Improvements and Simple Embed for YouTube
When you copy and paste content from Microsoft Word or a website, you can use the remove formatting option to keep basic formatting, like bold/italics, bullets, or tables, but simplify the underlying HTML code. If you choose to keep formatting, then Blackboard will retain a lot of unnecessary HTML that can cause your content to display oddly.
Even better – if you paste a link to an outside website and press enter, Blackboard will change the link to add a preview of the content. For a website, you’ll see a banner with a snippet of the page that students can click to access the site (if the site is formatted with the metadata necessary for the preview). For YouTube and other video sites, Blackboard will automatically embed the video!
Display Computer Code
The new code tool allows you to add a snippet of HTML, XML, JavaScript, CSS, PHP, Ruby, Python, Java, C, C#, or C++. The code will display with proper formatting and be separated from the other content you add.
Many More Features
These are just some of the features the new Content Editor has offer. You can learn more with the Quick Guide or the full Feature Comparison Guide.
What About Ultra Course View?
Right now, these features are only being introduced in the Blackboard Original Course View. If you are using the Ultra Course View, many of these features will be added to the content editor in Ultra very soon!
