Adobe Captivate Flash web object not playing in Chrome

Jul 25, 2016

This is very specific.  I add Captivate folder-based Flash web objects all the time to my trainings after changing the .html file name to index.html.  The "Test Link" button works fine when I add them.  I publish and then put these trainings on our own web server.  They have been working fine, but lately, and only in Chrome (Mac and PC), the Captivate demo will open in a separate window (the way I have it configured) but will not automatically start playing.  I can click the Play button and the demo will play the first Captivate "slide", but then it stops. The Play button displays the pause icon, as if it thinks it's still playing but it isn't. On all other browsers I've tested (I've tried IE and Safari), the window opens and the demo plays normally.

Does this have something to do with Chrome's Flash plug-in?  Is there something else I need to do so the Chrome behavior matches the other browsers?  Any ideas?

11 Replies
Ashley Terwilliger-Pollard

Hi Steven,

I don't know much about Captivate content - but did you look to see if Chrome had disabled the Flash plugin? If so, videos that are configured to launch in a new browser window may not automatically start playing in HTML5 output. This is a function of HTML5 browsers that can't be controlled. Some browsers will autoplay videos in this scenario, while others won't. If a video doesn't begin on its own, just tap it or click its play button.

Ashley Terwilliger-Pollard

Hi Steven,

Did you publish both the Captivate and Storyline content to include Flash and HTML5? Do you know what Chrome browser version you're using? I'm using version 51.0.2704.106 and would be happy to test a link if you're able to share here, but since the content is within Captivate, I'd also defer to their team to see if they know of any reasons why it may not be loading as expected within the Chrome browser.

Steven Strell

I'm publishing both Flash (for computers) and HTML5 (for mobile devices).  We use an HTML redirect file that we name player.html that directs devices to the appropriate version.  Demos for mobile devices are added as videos while demos for computers are added as web objects.  The latest Mac version is 52.0.2743.82 which is what I am at.  The current PC version is the version you mention.  Try looking at the demo that starts at the end of slide 17 at:

https://www.altera.com/customertraining/OLT/SignalTap_Intro_p1/player.html

Ashley Terwilliger-Pollard

Hi Steven,

Thanks for that additional information. 

I didn't see a slide 17 in your course - although I saw a 7 and a few X.7 so I checked all those - but I didn't see any interactive web objects, but some PDFs and other resources which all opened fine with Chrome and HTML5 only. If you could point me to a different slide number or provide steps on how to get to slide 17, I'd be happy to double check. 

Ashley Terwilliger-Pollard

Thanks Steven - when breaking them down into scenes, the scene numbering will take over, but hints are always ok to share here in the forums or by sending a notice to our product developers here.  

I took a look at slide 5.3 and saw the interaction launch in a new window - and as you mentioned it didn't play at first, and then paused after the wording "can be created in the tools menu" but I wasn't able to use the play/pause button - although I could seek ahead. Since it seems to be within the Captivate file (those functions and the behavior itself) I'd have to defer you to them for further testing. I did take a look at this in Chrome 51 and 52 both Flash and HTML5 just for your notice. 

Steven Strell

But if you try this in any other web browser, it works fine.  Any idea why it would play differently in Chrome?  I can play the standalone demo in Chrome just fine.  It's when it's published through Presenter that it doesn't play correctly.  That's why I'm thinking it's more of a Presenter publishing issue than a Captivate issue.

And note that this is only recently that I've seen this issue, which makes me think a Chrome update may be partly to blame as well.

Ashley Terwilliger-Pollard

Hi Steven,

It's hard to say one way or another I guess - it did work in Firefox, using Flash. If it's happened recently with Chrome, and the latest updates - perhaps the Captivate content isn't supported there? We offer support for the latest versions of Chrome using Flash and HTML5 and the latest update of Presenter 13 update 7. Are you publishing it with a different update?

Have you tried embedding this content in a web object anywhere else? Do you have difficulty with other web objects in Presenter? 

Steven Strell

We've been using web objects for demos like this for ages, so I've found the issue in other trainings as well that used to work OK.  We don't use any other types of web objects.  If it helps at all, I recently went through and ran the Articulate Updater on all trainings we've published in the last couple of years because our HTML5 output was showing blank slides on portable devices.

We are still on Captivate 7, which is 2 versions back, so that could be part of the problem.  I'll have to try the newer version to see if I have the same issue.

Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated.

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