In 2017, Adobe announced that they would no long update and distribute Flash Player after December 31, 2020. On that date, Adobe will remove Flash Player downloads from its site and Flash-based content will be blocked from running in Adobe Flash Player. Learn more from Adobe about this decision HERE.
The Flash End-of-Life (EOL) can have a big impact on LMS customers. Flash-based content can be found in a variety of applications across many platforms. It is also prevalent in older eLearning (SCORM) content, published in the past when Flash was the recognized standard. We want to remind you that any Flash-based eLearning courses that you published/purchased and loaded to the LMS will no longer work properly beginning January 1, 2021. Most browsers have already reduced or ended their support for Flash player, so your courses may become problematic prior to that.
Your Flash-Based eLearning
If you have Flash-based eLearning in the LMS, you will need to address the issue prior to Flash EOL to prevent issues for your learners. Flash-based courses that you still want to use next year must be transitioned to HTML5 by the end of December.
If you produce your own courses, you need to ensure that your authoring tool supports publishing in pure HTML5 with no Flash. Most new versions of popular tools, such as Adobe Captivate and Articulate Storyline, do this. Contact your authoring tool support team for further information. For purchased content, you will need to contact your third-party provider. Although some applications offer publishing in HTML5 First with a Flash fallback to accommodate users with older browsers, the best way to accommodate the use of HTML5 content in the long-term is to update user devices to the most current browser version.
When you have a large number of courses containing Flash, you may wish to prioritize the effort for those most used and most business critical. You can develop and run reports in the LMS to look at enrollments by course. Here are the common options to consider:
- Republish: If you have a compatible authoring tool, your original authored source files, and no content changes to make, you may be able to republish to pure HTML5 with a minimal amount of additional effort.
- Refresh: For some, it may be a perfect time to do a quick refresh of the content in a particular course, then republish.
- Redo: For courses that require extensive content updates, you may determine that starting over with a new HTML5 course is the best option.
- Remove: If courses are obsolete or rarely used, there may be no need to transition them at all. Inactivate the course in the LMS to remove it from the active course catalog. They remain in the LMS visible only to Portal Administrators.
Note: You cannot use a published SCORM .zip file to edit/republish SCORM content. Reverse engineering from output to editable source is not possible. It is also not possible to use the authoring source from one tool (i.e. Storyline) to quickly modify it in another (i.e. Captivate). You may be able to re-use assets such as PowerPoint files, audio, and visual media, but the file structures between various SCORM authoring applications are proprietary and no simple "import, convert, and go" capability from package to package exists.
Flash in the LatitudeLearning LMS
You should have no concerns about Flash within the LatitudeLearning LMS application itself. Our teams have updated the LMS functionality to be Flash-free.
For long-term customers who have access to older Latitude-branded business and soft-skill courses, please note that these courses are heavily dependent on Flash and will no longer work after Flash EOL. They are unable to be converted and they will not be automatically replaced. For those interested, we have worked with one of our partners to offer, for purchase, a suite of 12 new eLearning courses in popular business-related topics. Contact us at Support@LatitudeLearning.com to learn more about these courses and to request access to a site where you can review them. You can also contact us regarding your options to inactivate or remove the old Latitude courses.
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