Surveying Browser Issues

[dburdick]

Is there a list of the current issues with various browsers? I've seen the guide regarding browsers (Which browsers does Canvas support?​) but about 75% of our user problems derive from browser issues. Firefox works the best, and we've had no problems at all with it. Chrome generally works well, but yesterday we tried audio and video messages in the email system, and Chrome did not work there. Internet Explorer and Safari have caused issues with students attempting to submit assignments. Safari is the worst, because even the faculty have problems with that. Sometimes it doesn't show options that should be there. I know Instructure claims that Canvas works with all browsers, if they are up to date, but that has not been our experience. Now we're preparing for new student orientation and we want to be sure to give students the best possible advice about browsers. Help?

[kona]

 @dburdick ​, as far as I know there isn't a list of current issues with various browsers. Probably because it seems to vary from version to version (and sometimes day to day). I can say for us IE is the one browser we tell people to NEVER use with Canvas. Otherwise it seems like Firefox, Chrome, and Safari (at least for us) seem to work about the same. In general we recommend that everyone have at least two different browsers on their computer (other than IE) and we tell them if something isn't working in one then to switch to a different one. Most of the time this fixes the issue regardless of which one they switch to or from.

[dianepbh]

We have found that FIREFOX is also the only consistent BROWSER for Canvas. Our frames get cut off in CHROME and Big Blue Button screen sharing does not work at all in CHROME. Safari seems to be OK but we still get some glitchy page views on Safari.

[kmeeusen]

We advise both our faculty and students to use Firefox, as it is the most consistently reliable - and that's a hard thing for an old diehard IE user to have to say.

That being said, we also advise our users that when something does not appear to be working, try another browser. That is something I find really hard to say, and it often feels like I am apologizing for a deficiency not of my creation. However, I do understand the root cause of browser issues - my office partner and I call it "The Browser Wars". It must be incredibly difficult for application engineers to keep up with browsers that update their systems every 49 seconds or so. An exaggeration? Well maybe, but Firefox has gone from version 8 (mid 2013) to version 31 in just two years! To quote Phoebe Buffay, "It make my mind wobble!"

Since I don't see an easy solution, I simply revert to a life-long philosophy "He who stays flexible shall not be bent out of shape". Or John Lennon's famous quote, "Life is what happens while you are making other plans". Both of which can be handy when you work in any information technology field.

Toffler defines the term "future shock" as a certain psychological state of individuals and entire societies. His shortest definition for the term is a personal perception of "too much change in too short a period of time"

There, now I feel like a true academic with all those quotes and references.:smileysilly: We all know that everyone with a Doctorate in Education quotes Phoebe Buffay, right?

[kona]

Love it, especially, "He who stays flexible shall not be bent out of shape"

[snugent]

I agree  @kmeeusen ​. We tell faculty and students to try a different browser if something isn't working. And yes it is the browser wars and then you add mobile in the mix as well. I love the Toffler quote. I remembering reading that book in HS humanities.

[BKINNEY]

Funny you should mention Future Shock (1970).  It's almost comical when you consider how concerned we were over the pace of change at a time when there were no browser wars, no mobile devices, no cable TV, and barely any internet.

[kmeeusen]

Oh God, I know!

How naive we all were. I look back on the pace of the 70s as nostalgically relaxed. But, of course, for someone who came of age in the 50s, it must have seemed chaotic.

I sometimes think we create the shock ourselves through our own drive to participate in the culture of the time. Tune in, turn on, and drop out Dudes!

Oops, I think I mixed my generational metaphors!

[curtain]

I agree with the overall conclusions of this discussion.   Despite Instruture's claims, we don't find very good support for all the various browser flavors.   Firefox and Chrome have been the most consistent for us while Safari and Internet Explorer are the most consistently called in about.

[ysmalls]

Hello,

I will be out of my office the afternoon of August 17. I will respond to

emails as I'm able to.

If you need a quick response on an Eduporia question feel free to use the

Eduphoria Conference through UTechHelp.

If you need a quick response on a Canvas question feel free to use the Canvas

Conference through UTechHelp.

Have a great day!

[700958421]

Just echoing the general sense that Firefox and Chrome are more consistently performing as promised with Canvas, and that IE and particularly Safari are misbehaving. Safari seems to cache pages and images a lot more by default. Also has a harder time with file uploads.

[Robbie_Grant]

 @dburdick n,

We are giving the Canvas Admins area a little bit of love (especially questions that are really, really old) and just want to check in with you.  This will also bring this question new attention. 

Were you able to find an answer to your question? I am going to go ahead and mark this question as answered because there hasn't been any more activity in a while so I assume that you have the information that you need. If you still have a question about this or if you have information that you would like to share with the community, by all means, please do come back and leave a comment.  Also, if this question has been answered by one of the previous replies, please feel free to mark that answer as correct.

Robbie