Most businesses have migrated their Flash content to other technologies, mostly HTML5. Some are still converting; however they may not be able to convert completely by the end of 2020 because of the sheer volume of the content they currently have.

The question is, if they aren’t able to convert content completely because of some reasons, can they run Flash beyond 2020? We think they can play.

Though browsers have added some restrictions, they are still supporting Flash Player. These major browser vendors will release new versions to remove Flash support. So if users don’t update their browsers, they will still be able to run Flash.

Individual users will have to prevent their browsers from auto updating. If they can’t do this with some browsers, they can preserve old versions of Firefox (freely available open source and allows download of previous versions). They also need to preserve Flash Player plugin.

Organizations who control system and software updates through policies can prevent auto update of browsers. They can also preserve old browser versions and Flash Player plugin.

There are implications of using non-up-to-date browsers running on computers. Updates come with bug fixes, security fixes, new features and improvement of the web rendering engines. If browsers don’t get these updates, they might be vulnerable to security threats and attacks. Businesses like banking, who want to focus mostly on security, don’t want to go with this option. A solution could be that organizations can have a dedicated machine with old browser versions and Flash Player plugin to access applications that use Flash content.

Even though using old browsers and Flash Player plugin is a practical solution, it’s feasible only in the short term. So converting the content into other formats (popular is HTML5) remains the foolproof solution.

There are several groups have started working on a new web assembly player which will load inside web browsers. These web assembled players are not considered a plugin and thus will be supported by many browsers. The problem is that most of these groups have not released any updates for the last several months or have stopped working altogether. If they complete these projects and come up with the web assembly player, this could be good and long-term solution.

The post Can you play Flash after 2020? This is how first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

Yes!

Manual conversion of a complex Flash project to HTML5 is a labor-intensive and time-consuming process that can be very expensive for organizations due to platform differences.

Cost of such a conversion depends on the development environments used for Flash development and the nature of content embedded in the Flash files. To convert courses to HTML5 in a cost-effective manner, you need a thoroughly planned process that cannot only cut down on the cost but also yield better and future-proof output.

There are lot of rapid authoring tools that offer adaptive or completely responsive design capabilities. The challenge is to find the right tool which can retain the functionality of interactivities and global features of the Flash-based content while converting the content to HTML5.

Tools like Articulate Studio 13, Articulate Storyline, Articulate Rise, Adapt, Evolve, gomo, Adobe Captivate, Trivantis Lectora, and so on are both appropriate and popular. Obviously, the choice can be prioritized on the basis of the tool’s functionalities, features, and output expectations.

And, an experienced team who has worked on different authoring tools can help you select the right tool for the conversion.

What’s so great about these tools you ask?

Core eLearning companies choose to work with these few popular authoring tools as they take into account various factors, like

1. Type of content in the eLearning course

2. Multi-device support

3. Complete adherence with eLearning compliances like AICC, SCORM, and xAPI

4. Accessibility support

5. Turnaround time

6. Availability of technical expertise

7. Translation requirements and

8. The cost of authoring tool

Have a look at their outstanding features:

Articulate Storyline and Articulate Studio

This is one of the popular and widely used authoring tools. Storyline output is adaptive in nature and supports most devices. Its new responsive player dynamically adapts to the tablet and smartphone screens. On smartphones, the player delivers mobile-friendly player controls.

Unlike other tools e.g. Adobe Captivate or Lectora Inspire, there is no need to design for different breakpoints. The content player does this automatically.

Touchscreen gesture support by the player gives vast freedom to create many types of interactivities. The core structure of the tool easily helps to create synced content and animations.

With an easy learning curve, Articulate Storyline makes it an attractive investment, especially for organizations planning to make use of an in-house team for the rapid conversion of eLearning courses from Flash to HTML5, ensuring the content looks great, irrespective of the device used to view the eLearning course.

The Flash courses created using an older version of the Articulate Studio can be converted easily into HTML5 using new version.

Lectora Inspire

Lectora was the first tool to publish output in HTML right from its inception. Its open development platform helps create linear navigation, non-linear navigation, and can be utilised in video-based and scenario-based learning. Its Responsive Course Design feature helps create multi-device courses easily. It’s open and easy-to-use interface give more possibilities to create different type of interactions. It is a best tool to be used for text heavy and lengthy courses.

It could be used for Flash to HTML conversion in two different ways.
1) Convert pages into videos and embed those to scale the page size if the source of the Flash course is not available.
2) Replicate Flash pages as is with same layout if source of the Flash course is available.

Adobe Captivate

The best tool for simulations, Adobe captivate can be used to convert existing Flash-based simulations into HTML5-based simulations. Its multi-state object feature allows efficient development without creating multiple objects. With support to custom states in addition to predefined states for interactive objects, it’s easy to change the look and feel in different views while developing responsive content.

Adobe Captivate allows the use of enhanced fluid boxes to automatically author responsive, multi-device eLearning that works across all browsers and helps reduce the turnaround time for Flash to HTML conversion. It also provides easy process to convert legacy desktop content created using Adobe Captivate to mobile learning.

Adapt, Evolve, gomo, Elucidat, and Articulate Rise

These are rapid authoring tools that can be used even by individuals with minimal technical skills. They provide a long list of ready templates to work with. However, as these are the new tools and follow a mobile-first approach, content from the Flash-based courses need to be revisited to be adapted for templates available in these tools. Since most of these tools are cloud based, they offer a collaborative platform for multiple eLearning developers to work on eLearning projects. This results in a faster turnaround time for Flash to HTML5 conversion.

But can these tools deliver converted courses within the stipulated timelines too?

Again, yes. By publishing the course using fully tested functionalities and features, these rapid authoring tools are making the transition rather seamless thereby helping you reach out to those who use tablets and smartphones etc. in a jiffy!

You will be amazed to know that most organizations choose to outsource Flash to HTML5 conversions. Why?

Simple.

The time for conversion is running out and everyone wants to make sure that the conversion happens well in time.

Also, external vendors have qualified teams with up-to-date skills, and their experience and expertise is readily available for executing conversion intricacies. They are capable of understanding the complex Flash course structures and thus are able to extract all the content that ensures a flawless conversion. Additionally, external vendors ensure a high level of content accuracy through a thorough proofreading.

In conclusion, if you are ready to take the step toward cost-effective Flash to HTML5 conversion but are not sure of how to proceed or are interested in staying abreast of the conversion options available to you, better search for assistance!

The post Migration of Flash to HTML5: Here’s to Cost effective –Time Saving Tools first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

This blog features additional authoring tool Lectora Online along with other responsive authoring tools like: Adapt, Evolve, gomo, Elucidat,Captivate 9, Lectora 17 Inspire and Rise.

This blog details all the recent updates received and newer versions released by these authoring tools.

Please visit the link below for the updated Comparative Summary for Responsive Authoring Tools.

The post A Comparative Summary for Responsive Authoring Tools – Update 2 first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

Some of these authoring tools have now come up with newer versions and some have released minor updates – we have now incorporated these into an updated comparative summary for Adapt, Evolve, gomo, Elucidat, Captivate 2017, Lectora 17, and Rise.

Please visit the link below for the updated Comparative Summary for Responsive Authoring Tools. Explore to find out which ones stand out as the best authoring tools for eLearning.

The post A Comparative Summary for Responsive Authoring Tools – Update 1 first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

Perpetual license or Subscription: What is the major difference?Those who have been using Storyline 2 already, you would be familiar with paying a one-time subscription for the license and using it as long as you wanted i.e. ‘perpetual license’. The user would decide whether he/she wants to go with a new version whenever the Articulate rolled out one.  Articulate Storyline 3 also falls under the same category – a perpetual standalone tool.

With the new cloud-based annual subscription model that Articulate 360 offers, you pay the subscription amount ($999) annually (discounted price rates for existing Storyline users) for all that comes in the package. With an active subscription, a user would receive every update that Articulate rolls out. Articulate would be focusing on rolling out updates frequently rather than waiting for a whole year and then coming up with a major update.

Well, this was all about the different subscription models that Articulate 360 and Storyline 3 follow. But ever since Articulate came up with these two new versions, developers are pondering which one to choose.

In this blog; we have addressed some question that usually comes up from our clients on this topic.

Which tools do I get to work with if I choose to go with Articulate 360 subscription?Quite a number of tools, I must say. In addition to Storyline 360, you get access to:

1. Studio 360: Another template based authoring tool from Articulate, Studio 360 makes it easier to create multi-device courses. With a responsive course player, the output can work on every device.
2. Rise: A cloud-based authoring tool, it can be used for creating fully responsive courses.
3. Replay: An application that helps in recording webcasts with your webcam.
4. Preso: With this tool, you can create training videos on iPad.
5. Articulate Review: With this application, you can collaborate with your stakeholders for course review.
6. Peek: This application helps in recording screencasts on Mac or PC.

What are the pricing options for Storyline 360 and Storyline 3?

Articulate 360 which includes Storyline 360 costs $999 ($599 for upgrade from existing version) (Source: https://articulate.com/pricing).

Storyline 3 costs $1,398.00 per license ($699.00 for upgrade from existing version). (Source: https://articulate.com/)

Is it possible to use content library templates, content library characters, photos, illustrations, icons and videos that come with Articulate 360 in Storyline 3?Yes, once you download and use these assets/files in Storyline 360 project which you can later open and edit in Storyline 3, you will be able to carry those assets/files with Storyline 3.

Can Storyline 3 and Storyline 360 coexist on the same machine?All versions of Storyline can coexist on the same machine. One thing that should be taken into account is .story file will open (by default) in the most recently installed version of the software. You must manually select other version if you want the file to open in that version.

Can Storyline 360 files be edited using Storyline 3 or vice versa?Yes, they can be edited. However, the challenge would be when Storyline 360 releases a new update (as Articulate 360 is continuously updated). With a new update, there will be new features added to Storyline 360. This means when you would be using those new features, the file won’t open in Storyline 3.

Can I upgrade my existing Storyline 1 and Storyline 2 projects to Storyline 360 or Storyline 3?Yes, all you need is to open your existing projects with Storyline 3 or Storyline 360, and you will have to confirm the upgrade when prompted.

The backup files of the original project will be created automatically, in case you want to get them back later.

Is it possible to edit Storyline 360/3 projects with previous versions of Storyline?No. Storyline 360 or Storyline 3 projects can’t be opened, edited, or published with Storyline 1 or 2.

The post Storyline 360 Vs. Storyline 3: What Do You Need To Know? first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

We’ve previously written about Adapt, Evolve, gomo, Elucidat, Captivate 9, Lectora 16, and Articulate 360 – Rise, and have also published a feature-wise comparison of all these tools.

Lumesse CourseBuilder
Lumesse CourseBuilder is an online, paid tool for building desktop-first responsive eLearning content. It offers significant control over course structure and navigation. It provides five views and allows you to design only the largest and the smallest of these, with content for in-between views being automatically adjusted. CourseBuilder also lets you create multi-SCO courses as well as multi-lingual SCOs with language selection screens.

Features:
Structure: CourseBuilder has a five-level structure: At the topmost level is the course. A course can consist of one or more modules. Each module contains folders. You can create pages either within folders or directly under the module. At the lowest level of the structure are the elements and components that you use to display interactive and non-interactive content on a page.

Folders: CourseBuilder allows you to create (nested) folders within a module to help with content organization, sequencing, and branching. Folder types include:

1. Branch Folder – You can use Branch folders to organize content into continuous paths based on branching logic, and to create adaptive content flows depending on filter criteria.
2. Page Branch Folder – You can use a Page Branch folder to create a circular sub-section of content with its own landing page. Single pages inside a sub-section will return the learner to the landing page. If you link from the landing page to a folder containing multiple pages, then the last page from that set will link back to the landing page.
3. Random Folder – You can use Random folders to create question pools and draw a certain number of questions at random from the pool.
4. Quiz Folder – You can insert one or more Quizzes anywhere within a module, so you can use the Quiz folder for both knowledge tests as well as for end-of-module assessments. You can nest Random folders within a Quiz folder if you wish to draw your quiz questions at random from one or more pools. A Quiz folder can also contain “normal” pages – for example, scenarios for questions to follow.
5. Multipart Quiz Folder – You can set up a multipart quiz where each part has different scoring criteria. You need to add one Quiz folder for each part of the multipart quiz. These Quiz folders can contain Random folders. In order to pass a multipart quiz, the learner must pass all of its sub-parts. The aggregate score will be reported to the LMS.

Flow View:

CourseBuilder’s Flow View acts as a canvas where you get a visual view of your module structure and flow. You can drag and drop folders and pages to build or change the structure and sequence. You can also enter Editor View for specific pages by simply double-clicking on the page. Once in Edit mode, you can add elements and interactive components to the page and configure them as desired. A breadcrumb menu allows you to go back up the path to the main module flow view.

View Modes: CourseBuilder provides 5 breakpoints or view modes: desktop, tablet landscape and portrait, and mobile landscape and portrait.

You can follow CourseBuilder’s recommendation and manually design only for the two extreme modes – desktop and mobile portrait. The other in-between views will be automatically adjusted. Or you can choose to manually adjust your page layouts for all five view modes.

Skinning: CourseBuilder offers a set of default skins. These can be customized based on your requirements using CourseBuilder’s built-in Skin Editor. For example, you can choose which controls to include; set their position – which can be different for each view mode; and modify colors. You can also use custom buttons in place of the default ones.

The skin height and width for each view mode can also be changed depending on your set of target devices.

Modified skins can be saved for use in different modules and courses.

Page Layouts: The Editor View for a page is a WYSIWYG view. You can add content elements onto the page and set their relative positioning. You can then use the view mode icons to see and optimize the layouts for different screen sizes. In the mobile portrait view mode specifically, you can select the auto-layout option and CourseBuilder automatically creates a one column scrollable layout. If further adjustments are required, they can be manually done.

Content Elements:

• Text, Visuals, and Animations: CourseBuilder allows you to place text, static images, shapes, Flash animations, and HTML animations onto pages.
• Video: CourseBuilder supports .mp4 video files. You can also embed YouTube and Vimeo videos directly onto a page.
• Audio: CourseBuilder allows you to upload audio files in .mp3 format. You can also upload .wav or .ogg formats and they will be automatically converted to .mp3 files.
  You can also use the CBVoice feature to generate machine audio from text and the same text can serve as a transcript. There are many male and female voice types available to choose from, as well as different accents. (Note: CBVoice is an add-on product, and you need a CBVoice license to use this feature.)
• Interactive Tasks: CourseBuilder comes with a set of pre-defined interactive tasks through which you can add different interactivity/question types like matching, fill in the blanks, sorting, multiple choice, drag and drop, etc.
  Since some of these tasks (like drag and drop) might not work seamlessly on mobiles, CourseBuilder offers an adaptive option that changes the behavior of the component to work better in mobile portrait mode.
  When interactive tasks are included in Quizzes, you can assign different points to different options, thereby setting up a graded, as opposed to a binary, system.
• Simulations: CourseBuilder SnapIt allows you to capture screens to integrate software simulations. Capturing can be done either automatically or manually. Simulations can then be created in three types of modes, namely Show Me, Guide Me, and Test Me. (CourseBuilder SnapIt can be downloaded for free directly from your Home tab in CourseBuilder.) The simulations work well on desktops, laptops, and large tablets.

Animation Effects:

CourseBuilder allows you to add predefined transition effects – such as slide, bounce, flip, etc. – to images, text, and other elements on a page. You can also control the animation speed using the duration property. You can also animate the elements themselves, including movement, scaling, rotation, etc. If you add animations inside a MovieClip, you can play those in loops.

Fonts: CourseBuilder has its own (default) fonts for each skin. You can also upload custom fonts in formats like EOT (IE and Edge), OTF, TTF, WOFF, WOFF2, and SVG (Safari). These custom fonts can be used when customizing the skin and/or for page level content.

Triggers and Actions:allows you to use trigger points and actions to build custom interactivities. Any folder/page/element can be assigned a trigger/action.

Steps:You can use Steps to build the content on a page in a particular sequence. Steps act as timelines and each Step can contain one or more content elements. If your module contains audio, you can use Steps to achieve loose audio synching.

Search:CourseBuilder includes a search feature, which lets you search based on specific keywords. All pages containing the search keywords are listed as a dropdown menu from where you can directly jump to any particular page.

Branching and Filtration: CourseBuilder allows you to create complex nested branching through the use of the folders described above and/or using “Skip” conditions. You can also filter content, for example, by giving learners a selection (e.g. role, department, skill level) at the beginning of the module. Based on their selection, only certain parts of the content would be shown. CourseBuilder also allows you to create adaptive paths through a module based on pre-assessment results.

Media Library:CourseBuilder allows you to upload, tag, and manage images and graphics (e.g. .png, .jpg, .gif, .svg), audio files, videos, and documents (e.g. .docx, .pdf, .xlsx, .pptx) in a searchable global library. This library can be accessed from all modules. Updating a resource in the library automatically updates any linked instances in all or selected modules.

Navigation:CourseBuilder allows you to set either free or restricted navigation between pages. Navigation between pages is through Forward/Back functions, while content within a page is scrollable on smaller devices.

Menu:CourseBuilder allows you to create menus with any number of levels. You can include or exclude individual pages or folders from the menu. You can also choose to exclude a folder but still include all or selected pages from inside that folder into the menu. The only exception is the Random folder – questions inside a Random folder cannot be included into the menu.

Accessibility:CourseBuilder implements accessibility conforming to the WAI-ARIA specification. It automatically sets tab indexes and supports predefined keyboard shortcuts. It allows you to add ‘alt’ texts for images and other graphical shapes, and subtitles for videos, to be read by screen readers.

Multilingual Support: CourseBuilder allows you to create content in different languages. Once you create the Master Language version, you can export it into XLIFF format, then replace the text with text in a different language. You can then re-import the XLIFF into the module, and a new language version will automatically be created. CourseBuilder also supports exporting “changes only” to XLIFF. Only new or changed text from the Master Language version will be exported, and you can translate and then re-import it into a different language version.

You can also switch languages in the Editor View and change texts in the different language versions.

CourseBuilder supports publishing multiple language versions as a single-SCO/ a multi-SCO course, where learners can select the language they want to use.

Collaboration: CourseBuilder lets you assign different roles to users at course level. This allows users to co-author courses and also facilitates review.

Once you start a “Review Session” for a course, you can send an email with a link to the course to all those assigned “Reviewer” roles for that course. Reviewers and developers can add comments synchronously in a common review table. Developers also receive real-time notification of such comments.

Standards Compliance: CourseBuilder currently creates SCORM 1.2-, SCORM 2004-, and AICC-compliant output that can be distributed through LMSs. It also provides an option to publish courses directly to PENS -compatible LMSs using a PENS  profile. This requires you to set up a PENS profile connecting CourseBuilder to the LMS.

Packaging and Publishing: CourseBuilder courses can contain one or more modules. Each module is equivalent to a SCO. If the course has only one module, CourseBuilder considers it as a single-SCO course. If the course contains multiple modules, then CourseBuilder automatically packages it as a multi-SCO course. In both cases, the published output is in the form of a Zip file.

Import/Export:Courses can be exported as Zip files and then re-imported for editing and further development. Modules can also be archived (online and/or offline). Archived versions contain all information (including QA information etc) contained in the modules at the time of archiving.

Offline Access: CourseBuilder is an online authoring tool. It currently does not come with any other ecosystem components like an LRS or an offline player. So while content can be viewed when offline, learners must be online for any data to be tracked.

For offline viewing, CourseBuilder does give you an option to create a standalone package that can be run from a web server or LAN/CD-ROM/hard drive as an .exe file. When offline, data can be tracked locally across sessions; however, it cannot be sent to the LMS.

Observations/Limitations:

• CourseBuilder is suitable for text-based courses and courses with loose synching between audio and content. Since you can include multiple audio files onto one page, each associated with different steps, it’s easier to synch audio in different languages. You just swap in the step file in the different language, thereby avoiding the need to work with cue points or events each time. If you need to create content, which is closely synched with audio, you create them as animations and import them into CourseBuilder.
• The breadcrumb feature makes it easy to know where you are in the module structure and navigate between levels.
• The inbuilt CBVoice feature can come in handy when creating quick prototypes.
• The facility to import and export courses lets you to share courses between accounts, allowing for better client-vendor communication and project management.
• Both single- and multi-SCO output can be created. Modules can be reused/ recombined into different courses – either by copying or by linking them to multiple courses.
• If you have multiple media elements in one Step or page, the video currently being played needs to be manually stopped before playing the next one, i.e. the CourseBuilder player doesn’t automatically stop the current file when the next one begins playing.
• The SnapIt tool makes it easy to record simulations in different sizes. You can include simulations in three modes on larger devices; however, these will not display well on smaller devices.
• There is no support for dynamic linking of Google fonts.
• There is no live preview. Every time you add to or change the content, you need to regenerate the course preview. This increases development time.
• CourseBuilder currently doesn’t include any default Glossary or Resources features at Skin level. Resources can be included at module level by adding a custom button to the Skin and displaying a Document List when it is clicked.
• The current version does not include any gamification features.
• The current version does not support xAPI.

Platform Support:CourseBuilder version 8.3 output works on following devices:

Desktop Platforms:

• Microsoft IE 9, 10, 11
• Microsoft Edge
• Firefox 40 (or later)
• Google Chrome 40 (or later)
• Safari 8 (or later)
• Opera 32*

Mobile Platforms:

Android 4.1 or later:

• Chrome 45 (or later)
• Firefox*
• Opera*

iOS8 or later:

• Mobile Safari
• Chrome

Win8 PRO / Windows 10 (Intel-based tablets):

• Microsoft IE10, 11
• Microsoft Edge
• Chrome
• Firefox*
• Opera*

* Not fully tested, but expected to work.

Conclusion:

CourseBuilder works well for creating both simple and complex eLearning courses. It offers a high degree of control over the module structure, including branching and displaying content based on filters.

CourseBuilder allows you to define different content and behaviors for each of its five views, which means you can better optimize experiences for different devices. The WYSIWYG Editor View helps to visualize page layouts as you work, and the ability to select views in which to preview courses is a very useful feature.

CourseBuilder allows you to put together multipart quizzes, with questions for each part drawn at random from separate question pools.

By allowing separate audio files to be associated with each step, CourseBuilder makes it easy to sync content in different language versions. It also supports exporting “changes only” to XLIFF, allowing you to easily update content in different language versions.

With CourseBuilder, you can create single- or multi-SCO courses. You can also create a multi-lingual module as a single SCO with a language selection option at the beginning.

Next, we’ll be updating our comparative summary to include CourseBuilder, so watch this space.

The post Authoring Tool/Framework Selection for Responsive eLearning Development: CourseBuilder first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

The majority of mobile devices are now touch screens. Therefore, we are now going to examine the top 10 guidelines for mobile accessibility considering touch screens.

1. All the interactive elements must be large enough for the users to interact with. The recommended size for touch targets is 7 mm to 10 mm. This is also the size range of the average finger. So in fact, developers must ideally make sure that all actionable elements are larger than 9.6 mm across and provide sufficient padding around all links or touch targets/actionable elements.

2. The zoom feature of the browser/platform must not be suppressed. Zoom must be allowed for all HTML content in all mobile browsers and for embedded HTML content in native apps. If for some reason zooming is not supported by the platform then, as an alternative, users must be able to resize the fonts of the content up to at least twice the standard font size. (Naturally, any font size changes should reflect on all the pages and content should reflow properly on the screen.)

Content should also be scrollable. Developers must ensure that relative size units are used for content and containers to avoid content cut-off issues. If drag and drops are used, we must make sure that a secondary method is provided to change page size since the drag and drop functionality may cause mobile browsers to disable zoom.

3. Content and background must have sufficient contrast and meet the WCAG 2.0 AA level requirements. Remember, the WCAG gives these recommendations for text background contrast:

1. Contrast ration of 4.5:1 for normal text (less than 18 point or 14 point bold).
2. Contrast ration of 3:1 for large text (at least 18 point or 14 point bold)

Good color contrast helps users with visual impairments, color blindness, color deficiencies, and cognitive impairments. Good color contrast is also essential when using color as differentiator. Color contrast can be checked with Color Contrast Checker or Tanaguru Contrast-finder. The latter suggests similar but better contrasting colors.

If color is used to convey meaning, do ensure that accessible alternatives are provided. This could be underlined text for links, visible text on buttons, alt text labels and so on. Also, make sure that visual formatting alone is not used to convey meaning.

4. When it comes to visibility of the elements, developers must make sure that they use proper content hiding techniques. Techniques such as zero opacity, z-index order, and off-screen placement must not be used as this will disrupt the order. Techniques like the use of hidden attribute or visibility or display style property should be used to make the elements truly invisible. The aria-hidden attribute can be used to emulate that the element is hidden but it should not be used unless it is absolutely unavoidable.

5. Content must support alternative input methods, such as external keyboard or Braille display, as some users do not use the default input methods, like touch screen or using a mouse, provided with devices. If a device or platform supports alternative forms of input and navigation then the content must also support these.

It should be possible to act on content elements such as objects, elements, and controls to navigate, activate, and manipulate them in appropriate ways using the alternative input methods. The different gestures must be supplemented with standard navigation methods like focus, key presses, buttons, links, or other controls. For example, the carousel widget that supports touch gestures to swipe left or right should be supplemented with other input methods like buttons on both sides or by specific keys.

6. How gestures and events are implemented is very important. Actions must be triggered only when appropriate for the particular type of user interaction. The actions could be moving a mouse over an element, touching a screen, swiping or pressing a key. The events that actions trigger must only be initiated when the user finishes activation (for example, when the finger is lifted from the actionable element) and not at the start of activation (when the finger is placed on the actionable element).

This allows users to change their mind without being forced to commit to an action. It also allows users with disabilities to move their finger or stylus over items to locate the precise elements without triggering actions unintentionally.

For HTML content, if default events like ‘onClick’ or ‘onKeyPress’ are not used for some reason, then instead of using ‘onTouchStart’ or ‘onKeyUp’ events, the ‘onTouchEnd’ or ‘onKeyDown’ events should be used.

7. Audio or video must not play automatically, as it can conflict with screen reader audio and be disruptive. It may also distress users with cognitive or sensory sensitivities. If there is a specific reason for making content autoplay, we should at least design an accessible pop up to allow first time users to set their preferences to always autoplay or never autoplay content.

All content that moves, updates, scrolls, or blinks must be stopped or paused to allow users to view the content before it changes. It is also important that we provide buttons to pause, stop, or mute and that these must be fully and immediately accessible. (Exceptions can be made for content like multimedia or games in which media may play without any other surrounding content.)

Metadata including the duration, subtitles, sign-language, or transcript should be provided for media elements. This will help people find what they require, understand media, and locate alternate versions.

8. The structure of the content should be logical and in order to support a clear flow of information. Content should be coded in the order it is shown. This will help keyboard-only users, voice input users, or screen reader users, access all the content without missing any of it.

The content must provide a logical and hierarchical heading structure. Each page or screen must be uniquely identifiable through the heading. As it is the first thing users see, this will help them confirm where they are in the content structure.

If you decide not to use HTML5 semantics, then ARIA landmarks roles must be assigned to containers, which should be used to structure the content. The containers help people understand the content structure and help assistive technologies such as screen readers to describe the group of elements so that people who cannot see the visual layout can still understand the content structure. For example, you can group all the navigational elements in one container and assign the landmark role as ‘navigation’. This helps screen reader users to quickly navigate within a page or screen.

9. Some users may only use a keyboard, voice controls, or switch devices for navigation and input. In order to operate interactive elements, user must first able to focus that element. So, all activitable elements must be focusable and non-interactive elements must not be focusable. Standard controls such as buttons, links, and form fields are focusable by default. Non-standard controls must have appropriate ARIA roles assigned to them, such as buttons, links, or checkboxes. It is recommended that developers use the standard HTML elements, which also provide keyboard access automatically.

All the actionable elements must have visible state change. This includes hover, focus, active, selected, and disabled states for mouse and keyboard as well as touch states. The non-interactive elements (disabled) must not be focusable. The changes of state must be communicated visually and audibly.

It is also important to implement the focus order properly. For example, a modal popup that opens for a user action should have the focus within the component and must be accompanied by the option to close the popup.

Keyboard and screen reader users depend on the focus order provided by the content.  Usually content order dictates focus order; however, this may not always be the case. Actionable content must follow a logical sequence that will maintain the meaning and operation of the content.

10. The screen reader users are often vision impaired and unable to perceive non-textual content. So, textual equivalents must be provided for every non-textual element. The alt attribute can be used to provide the alternatives for images. Titletext is not supported on mobiles for links but it is partly supported for form elements.

There is a good guide by Steve Faulkner about Using the HTML title attribute. If you think that the alt or title attribute is not applicable then appropriate ARIA properties such as aria-label, aria-labelledby, or aria-describedby can be used.

Images of text should be avoided as they can become blurred and difficult to read when scaled up to support different resolution devices, take time to download, and the text in images of text cannot be easily changed to the user’s desired color settings or translated to different languages.

Hidden or inactive content or decorative images should not be accessible to users of assistive technology. Also, not all users will see tooltips so these must not be used to convey pertinent information.

Background images that convey information or meaning must have alternatives as alt text cannot be directly assigned to CSS background images. The alternative could be an image or a suitable replacement technique in CSS to provide visual and textual information.

We have now covered important standards and guidelines which should be followed to make content on phones and tablets more accessible to people with disabilities. WAI-ARIA’s work in this area addresses accessibility considerations for designers who want to support a wide range of browsers and devices, so do check it out as well.

After implementing these standards and guidelines, the next step will be to test the content and verify that your eLearning content complies with them. The testing can be manual or automated. Tanaguru’s automated accessibility testing service provides a way to uncover some of the accessibility related issues.

Let’s end with a simple recap of the 10 standards and guidelines for mobile accessibility:
1. Interactive elements must be large enough.
2. Zoom must be allowed.
3. Content and background must have sufficient contrast.
4. We must use proper content hiding techniques.
5. We must support alternative input methods.
6. Events must be initiated only when the user finishes activation.
7. Audio or video must not play automatically.
8. The structure of the content should be logical.
9. All activitable elements must also be focusable.
10. Images of text should be avoided.

References:

1. Mobile accessibility by Mozilla

The post Mobile Accessibility Guidelines first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

There are a lot of responsive authoring tools out there in the market. Some tools have been around for a while now and have released upgraded versions that generate responsive output. Others are newer tools designed to cater specifically to this need. You have a lot of choices!

So how do you choose the right tool to fit your specific business and learning needs? How should you evaluate a tool against your requirements? What factors should you consider?

Our latest eBook, “Which Responsive Authoring Tools Will Work for Your eLearning Needs?”, attempts to help you with this decision-making process. The eBook presents six possible cases, each illustrating a different set of requirements and tool recommendation. It shows how feature-specific information can be interpreted and linked to design requirements to facilitate tool selection and help make informed choices.

To download a free copy of the eBook – “Which Responsive Authoring Tools Will Work for Your eLearning Needs?“, click here.

The post Which Responsive Authoring Tools Will Work for Your eLearning Needs (Free eBook) first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

It just so happened that around that time, Articulate 360 was launched. And it contained a new responsive authoring tool called Rise.

Our team immediately started exploring Rise and created a couple of internal prototypes. Based on our experience using the tool, we shared our thoughts about its features, advantages, and limitations in a detailed post.

We have also updated the comparative summary to include Rise – so you can now get a view of seven responsive authoring tools at one glance. Check it out!

The post Authoring Tool/ Framework Selection for Responsive eLearning Development: Comparative Summary Update first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

Just about then, Articulate released its latest version, Articulate 360, which includes several tools and resources. We shared our initial reactions here; and mentioned that we were exploring Rise, the new responsive authoring tool included in the Articulate 360 suite. Now let’s take a closer look at the features, advantages, and limitations of Rise.

Articulate 360 – Rise

Rise is an online authoring tool that supports an up/down navigation approach between screens, with scrolling of individual screen content where required. It includes pre-built lesson (i.e. page) templates optimized for different devices types and orientations, and also allows you to use learning blocks to create custom lessons.

Because Rise is a part of the Articulate 360 suite, it also comes with several other tools that allow you to include specific types of content into Rise courses.

Features:

Views: Rise has 5 fixed default breakpoints, allowing you to design for desktop, tablet landscape and portrait, and smartphone landscape and portrait views.

Themes: Rise comes with one prebuilt theme. You can customize this theme for any particular course to suit your organization’s branding requirements by adding a logo, choosing a different or a custom color for the pre-set design elements, and selecting the fonts for headings and body text.

Lesson Templates: Rise includes a set of pre-built lesson templates for interactive content presentation like timeline, process, and labelled graphic; videos; activities; and quizzes. You can also use lesson templates to embed external content like YouTube or Vimeo videos, demo simulations created in Storyline or other tools and published as videos, or even animations created in other tools and published as videos. There is also an option to link to external content, in which case you can link to almost any type of content which is externally hosted.

Learning Blocks: Rise also gives you the option to use learning blocks to create custom lessons. Learning blocks can be stacked below one another to create specific layouts. You can choose from the Block Library to include a variety of text blocks, static graphic/image blocks, gallery blocks, multimedia blocks, and different types of interactivity blocks like accordion, tabs, flash cards, and knowledge check questions.

Content: Based on the lesson or block you’ve selected, Rise creates the appropriate layout and includes placeholders for all the required elements. You can then go ahead and add relevant content and media in the placeholders.

Actions: When working in Rise, you don’t need to apply or code any triggers or actions. All functionality is included within the available lesson and block types, and already optimized for the five different views. At lesson level, you can use Buttons/Buttons stacks to add links to lessons within the same course, resources hosted on the organization’s intranet, or external web links.

Media: Rise supports .mp4 video files and .mp3 audio files to target a wider range of devices.

Navigation: Rise allows you to set either free or restricted navigation between lessons and sections. With free navigation, you can also use Buttons/Button stacks to implement branching.

Menu: On larger devices, Rise gives you the option to display the open menu on the left or make it accessible through a menu icon in the top bar. On smaller devices, the menu automatically collapses and is accessible through an icon at the top left of the screen. On opening, the menu shows the list of sections with the lesson titles and status.

Course Management: Rise shows you your course structure visually on a single screen. You can re-sequence lessons and also edit specific lessons from this screen. The visual course structure can also help you to estimate your course development progress.

Quizzes: Rise allows you to create separate quizzes with multiple questions. Questions and options can be randomized. The entire quiz is contained on one screen, with internal navigation between questions. Available question types as of now include text-based single-select questions (MCQs).

Standards Compliance: Rise currently creates SCORM 1.2-, SCORM 2004-, and AICC-compliant output that can be distributed through LMSs. You also have the option to publish a standalone version.

Development Preview: You can choose to review one lesson or the entire course. When in the PREVIEW mode, you can use the 5 device icons to choose which view to display so you get an idea of how your content will look and behave on different devices.

Output Preview: Rise allows you to share a password-protected link to a course to anyone inside or outside your organization. This allows other stakeholders to review the course prior to release.

Supporting Tools from the Articulate 360 Suite:

Peek: You can capture demo simulations in Peek and import them into Rise as videos.

Replay 360: You can create screen cast lessons in Replay 360 and import them into Rise as videos.

Preso: You can create training videos in Preso and import them into Rise.

Observations/Limitations:

• Rise is most suitable for short, text-based courses. You can include audio clips and videos; however you cannot use the tool itself to sync the appearance of screen content with audio.
• Rise does not allow adding background images/videos to lessons.
• Quiz question formats are currently limited to single-select textual questions (MCQs).
• There is no live preview available. Every time you add or change the content, you have to regenerate a preview of a single screen or the entire course.
• Rise supports limited fonts; you cannot add any custom fonts or font styles. Also, any font you choose for a title or body text it is applied at global level – you cannot customize screen-level text to have different font types.
• Rise doesn’t allow you to import, modify, or create new templates; you can only use the lesson templates and block types provided.
• Rise restricts you to use its own navigation features. Additional global controls and features like play/pause or transcript buttons cannot be included in the player navigation.
• Currently, Rise does not include any gamification features.
• There is currently no support for any specific accessibility standards.
• There is currently no support for creating courses in different languages.
• There is currently no way for reviewers to add comments or annotations. Also, the preview link for a course always remains the same, so reviewers will see the latest version of the course. This can restrict you from updating your course until you’re sure all reviewers have completed their review.
• Rise courses cannot be imported or exported. This means you cannot share source files with your clients or vendors unless you grant them access to your account (or vice versa).

Offline Access:

The current version of Rise does not allow courses to be viewed and tracked when offline.

However, if you don’t need to track any data, you do have the option to download a course onto a desktop computer and view it without being connected. You can also download a course onto a mobile offline player or embed it into a native application.

Platform Support:

Rise supports the following platforms and browsers:

Windows

• Google Chrome (latest version)
• Microsoft Edge (latest version)
• Internet Explorer 11
• Firefox (latest version)

Mac

• Google Chrome (latest version)
• Safari (latest version)
• Firefox (latest version)

Mobile

• Safari in Apple iOS 8 or later
• Google Chrome in Apple iOS 8 or later
• Google Chrome in Android OS 4.1 or later

Conclusion:

Rise is best suited for shorter, text-based courses with simple content presentation methods. The default theme and design result in very clean, crisp looking courses. It is user-friendly for non-technical people, and its pre-built lessons and learning blocks allow for quick and easy content creation.

Rise may not be the most suitable tool if your content is primarily audio driven, simulation based, or very rich in animation.

Since Rise is part of the Articulate 360 suite, you can take advantage of other tools from the suite to create and import certain content into Rise.

The post Authoring Tool/ Framework Selection for Responsive eLearning Development: Articulate 360 Rise first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.