Hi Martin, Apple has handed Java support back to Oracle. So I suppose the question is what version of Java you need to run in order to support BlackBoard and other educational content. I'm not sure whether your question is about the accessibility issues of using Java Preferences as a VoiceOver user or about the version of Java you need to be running to get your educational web software working on different browser platforms. As far as I know, you'll have the same issues with the accessibility of Java Preferences under Mountain Lion as I outlined for Lion, and the same workaround of using Mouse Keys should let you deal with this.
A search of the Apple Discussion forums indicates that many people are having problems with Java under Mavericks and Safari 7. I don't know how much of that is Safari 7, but the default version of Safari in the installer for even the latest version of Mountain Lion will get you out of this issue. If you need to run the latest version of Java, which is Java 1.7, then you have to get it from the java.com web site and you need to run OS X 10.7.3 or above. But there seem to be problems supporting this on multiple browser platforms, since it requires a 64-bit browser (Safari or Firefox) to work. Chrome is 32-bit, and not supported. Oracle provides its own utility in place of Java Preferences, and I have no experience with this. Here's the URL of the Java for Mac FAQ web page: http://www.java.com/en/download/faq/java_mac.xml If you upgrade to Mountain Lion you should be able to re-enable your (Apple-supplied) Java plug-in by following their Knowledge Base article: • Java for OS X 2013-005: How to re-enable the Apple-provided Java SE 6 web plug-in and Web Start functionality: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5559 Apple did recently supply a security update release for Java (1.6.0_65) that I believe was also supplied to computers running Snow Leopard (maybe in October?): • Java for OS X 2013-005 delivers improved security, reliability, and compatibility by updating Java SE 6 to 1.6.0_65. http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1572 A number of people are managing to run their software with that latest version of Java 1.6 from Apple. You still need to go through all the steps required for updating Java plugins, clearing caches, etc. that we're always required (and follow the directions I gave for how to work around VoiceOver's accessibility issues with the Java Preferences application.) I think you need to determine which version of Java you need, and that requirement also depends on the specific software and version that you're running. For example, my less-than-knowledgeable impression has always been that a lot of the questions people asked about issues with BlackBoard depended on exactly which version, and to some extent, the local customization being used. A search for the latest version of BlackBoard shows this up as 9.1. I think BlackBoard 9 uses Java 1.7, which would mean that you'd have to download this from java.com. If you do need to support Safari 7 and Mavericks, this Stack Overflow post about how to set Safari 7 security options for Java may help. You can view it in Safari Reader (Command-Shift-R): http://stackoverflow.com/questions/19542427/java-applet-cant-open-files-under-safari-7-mac-os-x-10-9 Sorry not to have any direct experience with this. You might want to check which version of Java is required by your software. HTH. Cheers, Esther On Dec 6, 2013, at 8:34 AM, "Martin G. McCormick" wrote: > Thank you very much. I appreciate your answer as several > of us as in me and my coworkers have been beating our collective > heads over this issue. This probably also means that other > platforms are having issues, also. Since java is not an Apple > product, I thoroughly understand the situation even if it still > makes one grind one's teeth and resort to > swearing. The end result is that it > just plain doesn't work and you can't think your way out of the > problem. I will forward your message to others in our > organization because, as a university, we make heavy use of > Blackboard and, in this case, another educational site which is > heavily infested with java. > > We are working to upgrade my work Mac to Moutain Lion > which brings the question, Will that make any difference? > > Esther writes: >> I think you've run up against the accessibility issues in the Java >> Preferences Utility, which is why you can't find options to clear your >> temporary files. This issue was discussed on list last year in >> connection with updates a user had to run to update Blackboard, and that >> discussion centered on Lion. However, the same underlying accessibility >> issues for using Java Preferences were true for Snow Leopard. I've >> changed the subject line of the post so people will know this is a >> general issue, especially for academic web sites of different sorts that >> use Java for course materials, and not specific to the fact that you were >> using Snow Leopard. You'll find most of the relevant posts if you search >> the Mail Archive for this list, and enter a search string like: >> from:Esther java preferences > <--- Mac Access At Mac Access Dot Net ---> > > To reply to this post, please address your message to > [email protected] > > You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Mac-Access forum at > either the list's own dedicated web archive: > <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/mac-access/index.html> > or at the public Mail Archive: > <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/>. > Subscribe to the list's RSS feed from: > <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml> > > As the Mac Access Dot Net administrators, we do our very best to ensure that > the Mac-Access E-Mal list remains malware, spyware, Trojan, virus and > worm-free. However, this should in no way replace your own security > strategy. We assume neither liability nor responsibility should something > unpredictable happen. > > Please remember to update your membership preferences periodically by > visiting the list website at: > <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/mac-access/options/> > <--- Mac Access At Mac Access Dot Net ---> To reply to this post, please address your message to [email protected] You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Mac-Access forum at either the list's own dedicated web archive: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/mac-access/index.html> or at the public Mail Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/>. Subscribe to the list's RSS feed from: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml> As the Mac Access Dot Net administrators, we do our very best to ensure that the Mac-Access E-Mal list remains malware, spyware, Trojan, virus and worm-free. However, this should in no way replace your own security strategy. We assume neither liability nor responsibility should something unpredictable happen. Please remember to update your membership preferences periodically by visiting the list website at: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/mac-access/options/>
