Tag Archives: flash

Resource on HTML5 vs. Flash from Allen Learning Technologies

Posted on by Judy Unrein
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I just finished reading this paper from Patrick Krekelberg at Allen Learning Technologies, makers of ZebraZapps, and I’m adding it to my HTML5 Resources for the Learning Community page. It’s accurate and well-reasoned, and Patrick avoids the three pitfalls common in writing about HTML5 right now:

  1. overhyping it
  2. downplaying it (common among vendors whose tools don’t do HTML5 output), or
  3. making promises that their tool doesn’t support (not relevant here, as ZebraZapps currently doesn’t do HMTL5 output at all).

But speaking of that last item… I have to consider this paper an sign, kind of like how Michael Allen and Ethan Edwards blogged for a couple of years about more powerful authoring tools prior to the launch of ZebraZapps. They have already acknowledged that they’re working on HTML5 output in response to ToolBar Episode #8… so maybe this means they’re close.

Resources on Elearning, HTML5, and Flash from CM Group

Posted on by Judy Unrein
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I came across Luminosity Studio from CM Group while researching HTML5 authoring tools for my DevLearn 2011 presentation and ended up adding it to my list of tools to be aware of… definitely in the new-tools-with-limited-fuctionality-but-solid-HTML5-publishing category.

And I just came across some excellent blog posts written by their technical director, Alex Mackman (@AlexAtCMGroup). In the age of the Flash vs. HTML5 Ring of Death, I really value well-reasoned opinions and correct information, and he’s giving both. Flash and HTML5 for eLearning is the most recent.

I should note: Luminosity Studio publishes to both HTML5 and Flash.

Adobe Has Discontinued Work on Mobile Flash. What Does it Mean for Us?

Posted on by Judy Unrein
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I was swamped from my week at DevLearn when this was first announced, but as I think it’s of interest to onehundredfortywords readers, I’ll weigh in now.

1) Don’t panic. This doesn’t mean someone is going to reach into your phone or computer and take away software that you — or your learners — already have. How long has it been since Internet Explorer 6 has been in active development? And yet… it’s still around in more organizations than I want to know about.

2) Having said that, mobile devices and mobile browsers get upgraded more frequently than desktop/laptop ones, so there’s an increased chance that your — and your learners’ — next mobile devices won’t play Flash content.

I’m still seeing a lot of posts covering this issue that are either very sensationalistic or self-serving, in my view. But what I find most interesting in the whole “HTML5 vs. Flash” debate is that people are mostly arguing about when the future is getting here. There is very little disagreement that the future is HTML5.

And Speaking of HTML5… Adobe Captivate!

Posted on by Judy Unrein
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Adobe has been working on the ability to convert Captivate-created SWFs to HTML5 for some time, so I hear. I never made time to try this converter when it was in beta, but I made a contact at DevLearn who let me know this was on its way… and with full interactivity, not just exporting to video.

It looks like the converter is now at “Preview 2″ stage. Here’s the press release from Adobe, including a link to download. I’ll definitely be carving out some time to try this out in the next couple of days. Feel free to let me know about your experiences here!

Hype

Posted on by Judy Unrein
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Yesterday I started playing with Hype, a new tool that creates animation and exports to HTML5. It supports tweening, scenes, multiple timelines, actions, and video, and it’s super-easy to use. Mac only, $29.99 for a limited time on the App Store. This will be a very interesting tool as it matures, but “Flash-killer” (as I’ve seen in some reviews)? Not quite.

It is, however, the kind of thing I think Trivantis should have been focusing on in the last year: making Lectora a tool that more fully utilizes the “pretty” in the HTML5 spec. But no matter… Now I can just create stuff in Hype and embed it in Lectora as external HTML. Like this.

Joking aside, it’s a tool. Use it wisely.

What I don’t know yet is how screen readers will interpret the embedded Hype content. Anyone?

Update: Testing for accessibility, with results here. Also tested on the iPad, and I didn’t find any issues.