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Relevant to: faculty, staff, and students
This article contains information considered accurate at the time of publishing. Technology updates, changes in University security practices, and/or policies and procedures may affect the information in this article - updates to articles are scheduled on a periodic basis and will address any required changes.
Introduction
To maintain performance, accessibility, and security, Brightspace recommends using the latest version of a supported browser. The list of supported browsers is updated every January and July.
Tip: By default, most browsers automatically update to the latest version. To ensure you are running the latest browser version, we recommend you set your browser to auto-update.
Desktop Computers
Brightspace Learning Environment is supported on the following desktop platforms with the latest browser versions:
- Apple Mac OS: Apple Safari, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox
- Microsoft Windows: Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox
Note the following:
- Ensure that JavaScript and cookies are enabled in your browser.
- As of December 31, 2020, Adobe no longer supports the Flash Player plug-in and Adobe blocked Flash content from running in Flash Player on January 12, 2021. For more information, see Adobe Flash Player End of Life.
Tablets and Mobile Devices
Brightspace Learning Environment is supported on the following tablets and mobile devices with the latest browser versions:
- Apple iOS for iPhone and iPad: Apple Safari
- Android OS for Android phones and tablets: Google Chrome
Retro and legacy browsers
You can access Brightspace Learning Environment with a legacy browser (specific older versions of supported browsers); however, the vendor does not test Brightspace Learning Environment against these older browser versions. This means you may encounter unexpected user interface behavior and appearance or broken and unsupported functionality.
If a user attempts to connect to a Brightspace instance with an unsupported browser, Brightspace Learning Environment's browser version check displays a retro or legacy browser warning message.
Currently, the browser version check displays a warning for the following and earlier versions:
- Chrome 103 (released June 2022) to 134 (released March 2025)
- Edge 103 (released June 2022) to 134 (released March 2025)
- Firefox 103 (released June 2022) to 134 (released March 2025)
- Safari 16 (released September 2022) to 17 (released September 2023)
The Extended Support Release (ESR) version of Firefox installed on SUNY Empire computers may not be updated as often as the standard version of Firefox and may experience some issues in Brightspace. If you experience issues in Brightspace using an ESR release of Firefox, we recommend you try another supported browser.
Unsupported (blocked) browsers
Unsupported or blocked browsers are browsers that are explicitly blocked by Brightspace Learning Environment, due to extremely low usage, potential security vulnerabilities, or performance issues.
SUNY Empire does not provide technical support for unsupported browsers.
If a user attempts to connect to Brightspace with an unsupported browser, an error message displays, preventing them from logging in. Currently, this list includes all versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge Legacy and older versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari.