Why Convert to HMTL5?
For those who are not aware, on July 25, 2017, Adobe announced that in 2020 Adobe Flash will no longer be supported by big names such as Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Mozilla. Google Chrome has in fact already closed its doors to all things Flash. With the Flash Apocalypse (no, that's not a reference to the next comic book movie) on the horizon, how can we transfer our existing courses to browsers that may not support their interface? Is that even possible? We think so.
What Will Become of Your Beloved Creations?
With the death of Flash on its way (or already here, depending on who you ask), there are a few options that can be applied to previous courseware created with Flash:
Retire the course, app, program or content: Take a moment to seriously consider whether or not the course itself could be redesigned from the ground up. If the content has withstood the test of time, however, your best option would be to . . .
Convert the published product to HTML5: Taking the original content and transferring it over to the HTML5 environment is entirely possible. You may even find some cool new features to implement along the way. If your content is outdated and you're looking to start over, then it's a good idea to . . .
Redesign/rebuild the product in HTML5: A brand-new course that is HTML5 compatible could be the answer you're looking for. If your company has changed a lot since you rolled out your first training program, it might be more effective to start from scratch.
When Do You Convert? When Do You Redesign?
Higher Costs: If your existing course has a lot of media (animations, audio, and so forth), it might take a fair amount of resources to convert it to HTML5. If this is the case, it might be better to reevaluate the course's design; maybe you didn't need all that fancy stuff to begin with.
Lower Costs: If you've built the course from templates and utilized static images like charts and graphs, then it's not too difficult to copy that information over to an updated framework. Certain formats like .xml, for example, are easy to transfer into an updated course.
Animations: Any course animation that has been created with Flash can usually be converted to an HTML movie and placed within an HTML5-compatible video player.
What Are Your Best Options If You Choose Conversion?
Export original content: Many authoring tools allow for the exporting of the original content, such as images, text, and videos. Upload these to your library and save them to recreate your content.
Give content a new life: Exploring ways to reevaluate your content can be the silver lining of this whole ordeal. Reevaluation of your old products and finding out if they are even viable for their current audience is a good chance to pursue some interesting new directions, especially given some of the benefits of working in HTML5.
At AllenComm, we love customizable corporate training. It's kind of our jam. Since that's the case, versatility is crucial to the content we make. With this in mind, we design almost exclusively in HTML5. If you don't want your instruction to feel like just another slide show, maybe you too should look into how HTML5 can mix things up. Here are a few of the benefits we've seen as a result of working in HTML5.
Benefits of Moving to HTML5
Future proof: HTML5 will be with us for a while, which means anything designed in that environment will continue to be relevant. If and when HTML5 is on its last legs, it will likely be time to reevaluate your material again anyway.
Made for mobile: HTML5 lends itself far more to responsiveness. This allows for content to be viewed on any device, removing one of the main restrictions Flash imposed.
User versatility: HTML5 has a lot of new features that, if used properly, can better meet the needs of your users. Who doesn't love a little more interactivity? Bonus, the vertical flow outline of an HTML page is also very familiar to anybody who uses the web, so that is also a win for usability.
More for less: Compared with Flash, HTML uses fewer resources and less power, and we strive to make our material nonlinear.
Though the death of Flash is already upon us, it doesn't mean the rest of us have to stop creating great content. Exploring HTML5 can breathe new life into your content and even encourage L&D professionals to consider different options for creating fresh and exciting content for their learners.