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Blow the dust off your

old Flash content - convert to HTML5

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Easy Flash To HTML5 Conversion

Come end-December 2020, Flash Player will be no more. Adobe has announced the death of this once popular plugin that made our content come alive. Most popular browsers are already in the process of phasing out the plugin. Does that mean the end of animation as we know it? Fortunately, not! Especially where learning content is involved, HTML5 is the go-to technology to make it future-ready. Converting courses from Flash to HTML5 comes with some benefits that are pertinent to the times, and we’ve listed some of these benefits at the end of this article.

What does the demise of Flash Player mean, for the humble L&D professional? We are often asked about Flash to HTML5 conversion, so we decided to list and discuss some of the most frequently asked questions.

FAQs

Well, yes. While existing Flash content will (still) work on browsers till the end of 2020, you’ll be left high and dry after that. The earlier you begin with the process of conversion, the less inconvenience you’ll face.
Yes! In fact, it’s a golden opportunity to update the content. Over time, some parts of your course might have become redundant, or you might have been pushing off updates due to sheer lack of time. Either way, here’s your chance to bring your content up to speed.
When you are redeveloping your courses, you have the freedom to change or update any element - be it the design, or even the approach. This is truly an opportunity to change all that you always wanted to!
Nothing. As mentioned earlier, your animations aren’t going anywhere! When you undergo the conversion process, they’ll just be published in a more contemporary format, like video or built-in animations provided by the development software. The difference lies in bits and bytes, not in what you see.
Almost all learning management systems support HTML5 content. Unless your LMS is really, really old, If, perchance, your LMS doesn’t support HTML5, a new LMS should be at the top of your shopping list.
For the better part, yes. HTML5 does have limitations, but they are far and few, and won’t affect the pedagogy or the learning experience. For all practical purposes, you’d be upgrading your courses to a newer technology - not making a compromise.
HTML5 is not about software, but the underlying technology. Erstwhile Flash uses/used technology that is now obsolete. HTML5 is here to stay. The software used for developing/publishing eLearning courses have evolved, and have moved on from using Flash as their form of output to HTML5. So, even if your older courses were created in earlier versions of software like Adobe Captivate/Articulate Storyline (they come with HTML5 capabilities, nowadays), they’d still cease to work once the 2020 deadline arrives. That effectively means you need to convert, if your output was published using old technology.
Yes. HTML5, as a technology, is geared towards freedom. Content should not be restricted by limitations of device or platform support, and HTML5 is the enabler that ensures your content is device and platform agnostic. With HTML5, your content can be made responsive and will reflow based on the size and orientation of the screen.
HTML5 gives greater control over accessibility features. The technology shares an amicable relationship with screen reading software, and responds better to preset controls that are personalized by the user. Therefore, you can be confident that your HTML5 courses can be made more accessible than Flash courses.
There are two ways you can go about it - if you have the source files for your old courses, and they were created in an older version of an existing software, you can simply have the old files published in the new format. You’d end up with a replica of your older courses. If, on the other hand, you’d rather do more than replicate what you already have, you could consider having the courses redeveloped. This lets you change the content, redesign the course structure, update aesthetics, and cater to the needs of your current audience. Here, you even have the choice of chunking your content into smaller nuggets and deploy them as microlearning modules.
Of course! You’d be re-creating your courses, but it gives you an opportunity to completely revamp them. Add, delete, or modify content, give the courses a makeover; essentially, breathe new life into them!
Here’s how HTML5 beats Flash to the punch:
  1. Smaller footprint: HTML5 files are less heavy compared to Flash files, giving them greater deployment flexibility and improving learning experience when bandwidth is an issue.
  2. Browser/platform agnostic: HTML5 does not require apps, plugins, or runtime environments, and works uniformly across browsers and operating systems. 
  3. Accessibility-friendly: Content created in HTML5 are better compatible with accessibility software like JAWS.
  4. Mobile-friendly: HTML5 content is responsive, and can reflow based on the size and orientation of the screen. In a world where mobile devices rule, this is an important consideration while developing a learning strategy.
Longer shelf-life: HTML5 is an evolving technology, and has a long way to go. Your courses can enjoy a long run, and minor updates can keep them relevant for a very long time.

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