Any test web sites to insure browser/Flash player/other is adequate for all Captivate content

[MarkAllenSchneider]

My prior subject header was a little confusing, so I hope it's okay I start over again and state more clearly what I need.

I have hundreds of users accessing Adobe Captivate 5.5 training.  Many users have no trouble viewing the content.  SOME users have trouble, specifically when viewing a video inserted into the training.  It just won't play for them.  These users have different browsers, so it would seem the type of browser is not an issue.

What I am hoping for is ...

a web site that lets users know they have everything needed to run any content within a Captivate session.  For example, as you know, Adobe has a web site to inform the user what version of Flash Player they have (if any).  I would be great to have a site that would let the user know if they meet the minimum requirements (not just Flash Player) to participate successfully in a training.

Is anyone aware of such a site?  Or have ideas on how to build one?

Thank you, and I'm sorry for not being clearer on the prior post.

Best regards,

Mark

[Erik_Lord · Accepted solution]

Captivate outputs (generally) as Flash. So as long as users have a recent version of the Flash player, they should technically be able to play back the content.

However, of course, online delivery depends on the user's internet connection. What if you're feeding them video and their connection is slow?

For similar concerns, we point our users to speedtest.net and ask them to post their results. Sometimes that helps illustrate their slow connection means a slow video delivery.

And, of course, the older the computer, the less-fast it'll be in rendering the course. My oldest computer, used occasionally and with frustration by my 5 y/old, plays Flash sites horribly - and it's a 1.6ghz computer with 512mb RAM and XP...with latest browsers and Flash player. You can always ask for their computer spec, but that's not an easy thing to determine via software/website.

So you can create a simple 'minimum requirements' page that you can point to...but one that actually does a diagnostic...well, aside from simple Flash player/version detection (which is fairly simple), that's a complex task.

[MarkAllenSchneider]

Thanks for your input.  True to all your comments.  It's at a university, and the pipe is pretty fast.  True that some PCs are running XP, but many, if not most, are Win 7 (or Mac OS X).  The content is streaming, so why it would have problems ONLY at a video is strange.  I agree it would be helpful to list minimum standards for online delivery, which we do for Blackboard.  I do love the diagnostics Adobe has for Flash, and the "test" for Connect.  Maybe I should just create a very basic page test page that incororates the Flash test, displays their browser name and version, and speed.  Then they could provide the info if they have problems to see if there is a common thread.  Thanks again!

[Erik_Lord]

"why it would have problems ONLY at a video is strange"

Other slides are going to be pretty quick to load, even on a slower connection, being text and images. Video, on the other hand (as you likely know) is a lot more intensive - several 'frames per second' of images trying to load quickly. And unless you've got an actual 'streaming server' in the backend, it's just progressive streaming like the rest of the content.

So one idea may be to use video with a lower frame rate?

Or, what exactly is the problem? It's not that some users don't see the video at all...is it? It's that it comes in slow and/or choppy....? Which indicates a bandwidth, or possibly rendering, or both, issue.

But overall I agree with your idea - such a diagnostic page sure couldn't hurt!

[MarkAllenSchneider]

Erik,

So I'm taking over this position in two weeks as their ISD.  But I'm told the video does not even start.  And stranger yet, on the SAME COMPUTER, it may work one time but not another.  And it had the latest, greatest Flash Player.  I do need to verify their streaming server.  I would be very disappointed if they were not running FMS or something similar.  That would need to be rectified.  So I guess there are two issues.  1. to find out what this is happening 2. to develop a web page for end users to make sure their system has the minimum specs to run the trainings.  For the latter, I might check the version of Flash Player, Browser, Javascript, etc and provide links if they need to update.  I just cannot believe a more complete diagnostic page by Adobe does not already exist.  Thanks!

Mark

[Erik_Lord]

Good call. Works sometimes and not others on the same computer? Either a delivery problem or a computer-resource problem almost surely. If the net connection seems fairly stable and unsaturated, then get the specs of the computer and be sure it's not overwhelmed.

Trying to do a Flash piece with video on an older computer with minimal CPU/RAM and perhaps a few other applications open and running...could result in some poor playback.

Good luck!