Any Difference in Export Options/Features in Export Options? Flash Vs. HTML5

[grhardingdc]

Is there any difference in the features/functionality when exporting from Flash Vs. HTML5? Specifically, I am not sure if the government people who will see our instructional course can you use the Flash plugin. We will be able to host it on a website. I'm most concerned about the Table of contents on the left, quizzes, the player skin and controls, and any other interactivity such as drag and match.

thank you

[StevePixel]

Hi,

I would publish to both, (select swf and HTML5 when publishing)  that way captivate will determine what it being used by the browser ( for example if the Flash player is installed) if it isn't then it will load the HTML5 version. Also Flash is being phased out in many browsers so publishing to both will ensure future access. As long as there are no notices in the HTML5 tracker, it will play well in both

Cheers

Steve

[Lilybiri]

Steve, since the last versions I am reluctant to publish both to SWF and HTML5 because often those different outputs not always behave the same way at all. That is the case for several learning interactions, for the Text Entry Box, for stacking static objects on top of interactive objects, use of JS etc. To be safe, I always publish either to SWF or to HTML, where the second one, although more limited in some features, is winning the battle since many browsers announce not to have the Flash plug-in anymore.

I am not the only one, because I do see more problems appearing on these forums when publishing both SWF/HTML and using the multiscreen.html file to launch the course. Some LMS's don't like that either, which caused the necessity to publish separately for SWF and HTML, and  asking the user to launch the appropriate version depending on the used device.

As for different export options: you will not be able to create an interactive pdf or a standalone version (exe) for HTML output. I mentioned some features that may look different. Normally those mentioned in your question shouldn't create problemsµ. Of course, not every browser will show the course the same way, another issue you have to be aware of.

[RodWard]

Actually using the dual-publish option to SWF and HTML5 has several issues.  Some are to do with the fact that HTML5 is much more limited in functionality compared to SWF as Lilybiri pointed out.  But a lesser-known issue is that the multiscreen.html file that initially gets loaded and has the job of determining which output is given to the learner doesn't actually work the way most people think.

Most Captivate developers seem to think the multiscreen.html file decides whether or not the user's browser is capable of viewing HTML5 and if so will deliver that instead of SWF.  However, that's NOT strictly true. 

The code in multiscreen.html looks to see if the end-user's browser is a MOBILE browser, as in, is it a browser on a MOBILE device such as a Smart Phone or tablet.  If the JavaScript code detecting the browser DOES NOT see something that indicates the user is using a mobile device then it just redirects the user to the SWF content version regardless of whether or not the user's DESKTOP browser might have been HTML5-compatible.

So if the end user had decided to ditch their Flash Player on the desktop or had chosen to use a browser that no longer supports Flash then they might not see any content at all.

[j_s69940147]

Thanks for your insights.  When I choose Publish, I am given only an html screen, with no other options. As I am publishing a quiz to link to another product, I can't use html Captivate, because, as the window tells me, the html won't support quiz features. Flash has been supplanted by Animate, so is that why it won't work? What do I do to publish a quiz?

[StevePixel]

HI Lilybiri,

Thanks for the update! I was unaware of some the things you have pointed out. Technically we are in the middle of a transition period. I know of folks who don't like using HTML5 as it takes more system resources and in many cases does not perform optimally, but I agree, that Flash is on its way out so we will all eventually use HTML5. I guess the answer is one we are often faced with in course design. What is the best case use for you rand your particular project. 

Cheers

Steve

[StevePixel]

Hi Rod,

Interesting points, so here is my question. You have a corporate client with many legacy systems, (Windows 7, etc) you create a project specifically with HTML 5 in mind. Will those legacy systems, with legacy browsers, recognize and play those projects or will it just show static images if HTML5 is not supported?

Cheers

Steve

[RodWard]

If the legacy systems have browsers that do not support HTML5 then they will likely see nothing at all and your Support phone line will light up.

Most corporate clients I have ever served will have at least one browser that is nominated as the 'corporate standard' even if they allow some other browsers on the system.  If that corporate browser is somewhere above IE9 then you are in good shape for end users being able to view HTML5 content. 

However, if the corporate browser is still IE8 you're toast.

[StevePixel]

Hi Rod,

Good point. I would like to start just developing for HTML5 and not use SWF at all, but I've been concerned about backward compatibility as I deal with some really big, and old, corporate clients. Perhaps I will need to pay more attention to my browser audit in the project discovery phase.

Cheers

Steve  

[j_s69940147]

When I choose Publish, I am given only an html screen, with no other options. As I am publishing a quiz to link to another product, I can't use html Captivate, because, as the window tells me, the html won't support quiz features. Flash has been supplanted by Animate, so is that why it won't work? What do I do to publish a quiz?

[Lilybiri]

That means that you created a responsive project, correct? That can only be published to HTML since Flash player is banned from mobile devices. Where did you read that HTML doesn't support quizzes, that is wrong information.  The only type of question which is not supported is the Likert question, all other quiz features are available.

As for Animate CC, which is the new name of Flash, it can still publish to SWF and to Canvas (HTML). This forum is about Captivate however.

[j_s69940147]

Thanks for the information about responsive design, which I did use.

When I try to publish the quiz to html, I am notified of a list of functions on my Captivate document html doesn't support. They seem to be quiz ones.  I didn't use Likert, only M/C, Fill-in, Matching and T/F.  Maybe it's one or more of those.

[Lilybiri]

Can you post a screenshot, because I never did see that. Normal quiz types, with the exception of Likert, have been supported in responsive projects from the first version of CP released for that output (8.0.0).