I just experienced a font substitution problem with published output from Storyline 360. No variables (except for closed captions) and no text entry fields. The problems were in text boxes, shapes, captions, and even the player (similar to the last few comments in this thread before this one).
The problem occurred in IE 11; didn't check Edge yet. Everything was fine in Chrome and Firefox. (We're in a Windows environment.) The desired font was Open Sans. The substituted font in IE was some sort of Times. On my computer in IE, the substitution looked accurate and OK (though undesirable). However, on a colleague's computer in IE, the font was also some sort of Times, but some letters were dropped (frequently Fs) and kerning and tracking were pretty wacky throughout.
The publish settings were HTML5 with Flash backup.
Our work computers are pretty locked down; our clients are all in-house with the same system setups. We only use IE and Chrome, and which of the two we use depends which sites we access.
I'm wondering if IE being the infamously bad browser that it is and our IT department not really keen on using Flash in IE, that the HTML5 and Flash backup Storyline published outputs will look bad not matter what we do here because of our system environment. Chrome is fine.
So, 1) the HTML5 in IE is so bad/old that it doesn't render properly, and 2) IE won't use the Flash backup because HTML5 is detected.
I haven't tested a pure Flash output to see if it looks OK. But, doing so wouldn't be prudent because we need the HTML5 output due to waning support for Flash (especially in our IE setup).
At this time, it seems that the two likely solutions in our environment are to: 1) recommend users use Chrome, and 2) use common system fonts (e.g., Arial instead of Open Sans) in future projects.
Even though the issue seems primarily with our Windows and browser environment, this really shouldn't be happening IMHO. There's gotta be a better way. Any thoughts about this? Thanks!
That definitely shouldn't be happening - so let's figure it out!
First, do you know if your IE is showing content in compatibility mode or similar? I ask because we just released an update to Storyline 360 which included a fix where Flash wouldn't play in IE11 when it was in compatibility mode. I also know of another discussion where folks had missing T's and F's in IE11 when it was displayed in compatibility mode.
So checking that you're using the latest update and not viewing it in compatibility mode is a good place to start!
If that's still not working, could you share the link to your course or the .story file (even just a few slides)? Then I can test as well in IE11 and try publishing a new version to see if we get any other results.
Thank you for your response and suggestions. Compatibility Mode doesn't seem to be the issue. I'll look into this a little further this evening and tomorrow, and then I'll provide an update.
Interestingly, the closed captions did not substitute fonts. (Well, they're still sans-serif, but I'm not 100% sure if it's Open Sans or something close. They look fine.)
With IE11 forcing compatibility mode it's going to display to you a version of IE that is closer to what IE7 would present. Due to the nature of our HTML5 content and the lack of support in older browsers for HTML5 it could cause things to not work correctly or as expected.
We've implemented a few fixes in Articulate to help with these issues and you may also want to reach out to your LMS team or IT team to allow for access to other browsers or disable compatibility mode.
Hey Ashley :) Yeah, it's got to be a PITA to try to make everything compatible with every browser. Thanks for the info.
As for getting our LMS team to help, it's not so simple since we have hundreds of clients each of whom have different LMS vendors, LMS teams, IT teams, IT admin rules, etc. so it's a totally new set of troubleshooting pain with each and every client. :( They all come back placing blame on us for things not working. Is there some official link from Articulate we can provide that advises to disable compatibility mode or to allow other browsers?
That's a good place to get started - and if you're using HTML5 output exclusively, this site is a good one to compare how the different browsers behave: http://html5test.com/
I have also experienced this issue but with some of my users viewing the selected font and others viewing the default serif like font (they both use IE11). It is a bit strange as the font I had chosen to use was 'Open Sans' which appears in your list of safe fonts above. Are there any other factors that would impact how the font displays?
Hi Hannah, thanks for joining the conversation. What version of Storyline are you using? Was the course published with the latest update of that Storyline version?
Also, do you have a sample file you can share here? Even one or two slides will do the trick. Thanks!
Hi Hannah, I'm happy to help you here! Can you tell me what version of Storyline are you using? Was the course published with the latest update of that Storyline version?
Also, if you have a sample file you can share here, even one or two slides, that would be really helpful. Thanks!
This has been an issue for 5 years, and this hasn't been fixed yet? Seriously? Why? You like the idea of generic system fonts to show up in an otherwise styled activity? None of us do and have been saying so for half a decade. HELLO!?!?!?
We can't make variable references display using custom fonts right now because we don't know what characters a variable might use, and embedding every character in a font would seriously bloat the size of your published output.
For example, some font files are up to 25 MB in size, and we load font files into the main CSS of the course, not just for the slide that needs it. So, imagine (1) delivering that over a mobile network and (2) not crashing mobile safari with that.
We're absolutely considering ways to fix this and will continue to do so, but for now, it's a very challenging problem to solve.
I'm going to chime in. We're also having problems with fonts not working properly. The original post is 6 years old so I'm surprised there are still problems with this, but I'm hopeful there's a fix I'm missing.
We're using Storyline 360 to create and publish courses in HTML5 (no Flash allowed) and upload them to a web-based LMS. We have a big client with custom fonts (their brand fonts, which are important because they use the training to train their customers), and the fonts aren't appearing for most of their trainees.... which is a big issue. The fonts work on our computers and on the company's computers, but not for most of the people they need to train.
We did a font test with a number of fonts, and none of them came out properly for the trainees in any area of the course. Every font was replaced by fonts with serifs, some characters were missing, and the spacing is all wrong. Some of the tested fonts were custom, but we also tested basic fonts like Open Sans and those didn't work either. So we currently have a really sleek course design that just looks tacky for all the end users... and we desperately need a fix.
Any idea on a fix for this? Are the fonts not embedded in the published project? Or is there an option to have the fonts embedded? At the very least, is there a list of super standard fonts that are safe to use for any device? We need a fix ASAP, and preferably one that involves using our customer's custom fonts without issues. Thanks in advance for your help.
Thanks for describing the issue your customer is experiencing.
We have some documentation here on why learners may be seeing the wrong font. It may be as simple as the server your customer is launching the course on for those users.
I'm glad I'm not the only one! On my journey I did find a fix that you may find helpful.
1. Player Type Check the player type that you've used. Since the latest upgrade we now have the option to use a 'Modern' player and a 'Classic' player. If you have selected 'Modern' your Storyline file will automatically publish in a HTML5 format. This is great for modern browsers but isn't compatible with some server restricted / older browsers, making the fonts appear in serif.
2. 'Classic' player publishing options If you have the 'Classic' player selected you can choose how your files are published. Your default publishing options will default to 'HTML5 with Flash fall back' I found that changing this to the other way around fixed our font problem.
I hope this helps and happy to be corrected if any staff know otherwise!
Thanks for sharing that documentation. We have control of the server and it's configured properly for the fonts. So unfortunately, it looks like it's an issue specific to their customers' admin-configured Internet Explorer settings, so we have no control and their organizations are strict on security so we can't have them change settings or switch browsers. Our only fix right is to switch all custom fonts to fonts that are included in Windows, although we're still testing that to ensure it will actually work. It's a really disappointing fix.
We've been using the Classic player, so it looks like we're good to go there. I had no idea the Modern player has been having those issues, but that's great to know before we use it.
The problem must have something to do with the lack of Flash. Our customer is under strict restrictions for publishing in HTML5 only since Flash will be gone in 2020 and most browsers are already phasing it out. We're hopeful there will be a fix soon with our Articulate projects that keeps them looking nice without it. We've been seeing a number of features that are reliant on Flash to work properly, and it's making us a bit uneasy... so we're hoping that update comes soon!
I need more help on this. We've been having our end-users test out our training with standard fonts on their systems (due to organization restrictions, they have to use Internet Explorer and don't have control over the settings), and not a single font is displaying properly for them... The server is configured properly for all the fonts used, and we're at a loss for workarounds.
We're publishing in HTML5 only (not allowed to use Flash) and using the Classic player. The training is used in a WordPress-based platform/website, and all of the site fonts display properly except those inside the training. The fonts on the site are standard sans serif fonts, but every sans serif font used in the font testing version of the training (Segoe UI, Arial, Calibri, Candara, Franklin Gothic, Verdana) ends up with serifs and spacing issues, and some of them are even missing characters.
Please tell me there's a way to make this work? It appears that the only thing they're having trouble viewing are the fonts in the Storyline training itself. Everything else on the server is displaying perfectly. I'm at a loss, and this is our biggest customer so I have to come up with a fix. Thank you.
Have you tried turning on Modern Text and republishing the file? I wonder if you'll see a difference using that feature.
Go to the Design tab on the Storyline ribbon, click the Fonts drop-down list, and select Use Modern Text at the bottom of the list. This feature converts the entire project to modern text all at once.
91 Replies
Hi there!
Could you let me know your case number once you submit your case? I'm having trouble finding it based on a name search. Thanks!
I just experienced a font substitution problem with published output from Storyline 360. No variables (except for closed captions) and no text entry fields. The problems were in text boxes, shapes, captions, and even the player (similar to the last few comments in this thread before this one).
The problem occurred in IE 11; didn't check Edge yet. Everything was fine in Chrome and Firefox. (We're in a Windows environment.) The desired font was Open Sans. The substituted font in IE was some sort of Times. On my computer in IE, the substitution looked accurate and OK (though undesirable). However, on a colleague's computer in IE, the font was also some sort of Times, but some letters were dropped (frequently Fs) and kerning and tracking were pretty wacky throughout.
The publish settings were HTML5 with Flash backup.
Our work computers are pretty locked down; our clients are all in-house with the same system setups. We only use IE and Chrome, and which of the two we use depends which sites we access.
I'm wondering if IE being the infamously bad browser that it is and our IT department not really keen on using Flash in IE, that the HTML5 and Flash backup Storyline published outputs will look bad not matter what we do here because of our system environment. Chrome is fine.
So, 1) the HTML5 in IE is so bad/old that it doesn't render properly, and 2) IE won't use the Flash backup because HTML5 is detected.
I haven't tested a pure Flash output to see if it looks OK. But, doing so wouldn't be prudent because we need the HTML5 output due to waning support for Flash (especially in our IE setup).
At this time, it seems that the two likely solutions in our environment are to: 1) recommend users use Chrome, and 2) use common system fonts (e.g., Arial instead of Open Sans) in future projects.
Even though the issue seems primarily with our Windows and browser environment, this really shouldn't be happening IMHO. There's gotta be a better way. Any thoughts about this? Thanks!
Hi Jeff,
That definitely shouldn't be happening - so let's figure it out!
First, do you know if your IE is showing content in compatibility mode or similar? I ask because we just released an update to Storyline 360 which included a fix where Flash wouldn't play in IE11 when it was in compatibility mode. I also know of another discussion where folks had missing T's and F's in IE11 when it was displayed in compatibility mode.
So checking that you're using the latest update and not viewing it in compatibility mode is a good place to start!
If that's still not working, could you share the link to your course or the .story file (even just a few slides)? Then I can test as well in IE11 and try publishing a new version to see if we get any other results.
Ashley,
Thank you for your response and suggestions. Compatibility Mode doesn't seem to be the issue. I'll look into this a little further this evening and tomorrow, and then I'll provide an update.
Thanks!
Interestingly, the closed captions did not substitute fonts. (Well, they're still sans-serif, but I'm not 100% sure if it's Open Sans or something close. They look fine.)
Thanks Jeff - I'm also happy to take a look if you want to share the .story file too.
Man it seems like there have been non-stop IE11 compatibility issues the last few months. Anyone know why?
Hi Ashley,
With IE11 forcing compatibility mode it's going to display to you a version of IE that is closer to what IE7 would present. Due to the nature of our HTML5 content and the lack of support in older browsers for HTML5 it could cause things to not work correctly or as expected.
We've implemented a few fixes in Articulate to help with these issues and you may also want to reach out to your LMS team or IT team to allow for access to other browsers or disable compatibility mode.
Hey Ashley :) Yeah, it's got to be a PITA to try to make everything compatible with every browser. Thanks for the info.
As for getting our LMS team to help, it's not so simple since we have hundreds of clients each of whom have different LMS vendors, LMS teams, IT teams, IT admin rules, etc. so it's a totally new set of troubleshooting pain with each and every client. :( They all come back placing blame on us for things not working. Is there some official link from Articulate we can provide that advises to disable compatibility mode or to allow other browsers?
Hi Ashley,
I totally understand that! Some things that may help to share with all your folks are:
That's a good place to get started - and if you're using HTML5 output exclusively, this site is a good one to compare how the different browsers behave: http://html5test.com/
I have also experienced this issue but with some of my users viewing the selected font and others viewing the default serif like font (they both use IE11). It is a bit strange as the font I had chosen to use was 'Open Sans' which appears in your list of safe fonts above. Are there any other factors that would impact how the font displays?
Hi Hannah, thanks for joining the conversation. What version of Storyline are you using? Was the course published with the latest update of that Storyline version?
Also, do you have a sample file you can share here? Even one or two slides will do the trick. Thanks!
Hello there,
Would you be able to let me know when you are able to look at this for me?
Thank you so much for your help.
Kind regards,
Hannah McQueen
Learning Technology Consultant
T: 023 80352771 (ext 22771)
hannah.mcqueen@ageas.co.uk
Ageas House, Hampshire Corporate Park, Templars Way, Eastleigh SO53 3YA
www.ageas.com
Please consider the environment and do not print this email unless absolutely necessary.
Hi Hannah, I'm happy to help you here! Can you tell me what version of Storyline are you using? Was the course published with the latest update of that Storyline version?
Also, if you have a sample file you can share here, even one or two slides, that would be really helpful. Thanks!
"Variable reference fonts are not embedded"
This has been an issue for 5 years, and this hasn't been fixed yet?
Seriously? Why?
You like the idea of generic system fonts to show up in an otherwise styled activity? None of us do and have been saying so for half a decade.
HELLO!?!?!?
Hi, Kev.
We can't make variable references display using custom fonts right now because we don't know what characters a variable might use, and embedding every character in a font would seriously bloat the size of your published output.
For example, some font files are up to 25 MB in size, and we load font files into the main CSS of the course, not just for the slide that needs it. So, imagine (1) delivering that over a mobile network and (2) not crashing mobile safari with that.
We're absolutely considering ways to fix this and will continue to do so, but for now, it's a very challenging problem to solve.
Macromedia Director had that problem licked prior to 2000.
Google solved that with web fonts.
Even Flash allowed you to embed fonts.
For now, it's a big amatuer looking glitch in someone's design that they have to explain to the client why it's like that.
I'm going to chime in. We're also having problems with fonts not working properly. The original post is 6 years old so I'm surprised there are still problems with this, but I'm hopeful there's a fix I'm missing.
We're using Storyline 360 to create and publish courses in HTML5 (no Flash allowed) and upload them to a web-based LMS. We have a big client with custom fonts (their brand fonts, which are important because they use the training to train their customers), and the fonts aren't appearing for most of their trainees.... which is a big issue. The fonts work on our computers and on the company's computers, but not for most of the people they need to train.
We did a font test with a number of fonts, and none of them came out properly for the trainees in any area of the course. Every font was replaced by fonts with serifs, some characters were missing, and the spacing is all wrong. Some of the tested fonts were custom, but we also tested basic fonts like Open Sans and those didn't work either. So we currently have a really sleek course design that just looks tacky for all the end users... and we desperately need a fix.
Any idea on a fix for this? Are the fonts not embedded in the published project? Or is there an option to have the fonts embedded? At the very least, is there a list of super standard fonts that are safe to use for any device? We need a fix ASAP, and preferably one that involves using our customer's custom fonts without issues. Thanks in advance for your help.
Hi Julia,
Thanks for describing the issue your customer is experiencing.
We have some documentation here on why learners may be seeing the wrong font. It may be as simple as the server your customer is launching the course on for those users.
Hi Julia,
I'm glad I'm not the only one! On my journey I did find a fix that you may find helpful.
1. Player Type
Check the player type that you've used. Since the latest upgrade we now have the option to use a 'Modern' player and a 'Classic' player. If you have selected 'Modern' your Storyline file will automatically publish in a HTML5 format. This is great for modern browsers but isn't compatible with some server restricted / older browsers, making the fonts appear in serif.
2. 'Classic' player publishing options
If you have the 'Classic' player selected you can choose how your files are published. Your default publishing options will default to 'HTML5 with Flash fall back' I found that changing this to the other way around fixed our font problem.
I hope this helps and happy to be corrected if any staff know otherwise!
Hi Leslie,
Thanks for sharing that documentation. We have control of the server and it's configured properly for the fonts. So unfortunately, it looks like it's an issue specific to their customers' admin-configured Internet Explorer settings, so we have no control and their organizations are strict on security so we can't have them change settings or switch browsers. Our only fix right is to switch all custom fonts to fonts that are included in Windows, although we're still testing that to ensure it will actually work. It's a really disappointing fix.
Hi Hannah,
Thanks for sharing your tips!
We've been using the Classic player, so it looks like we're good to go there. I had no idea the Modern player has been having those issues, but that's great to know before we use it.
The problem must have something to do with the lack of Flash. Our customer is under strict restrictions for publishing in HTML5 only since Flash will be gone in 2020 and most browsers are already phasing it out. We're hopeful there will be a fix soon with our Articulate projects that keeps them looking nice without it. We've been seeing a number of features that are reliant on Flash to work properly, and it's making us a bit uneasy... so we're hoping that update comes soon!
As a quick fix, I changed all the fonts to standard fonts too.
I need more help on this. We've been having our end-users test out our training with standard fonts on their systems (due to organization restrictions, they have to use Internet Explorer and don't have control over the settings), and not a single font is displaying properly for them... The server is configured properly for all the fonts used, and we're at a loss for workarounds.
We're publishing in HTML5 only (not allowed to use Flash) and using the Classic player. The training is used in a WordPress-based platform/website, and all of the site fonts display properly except those inside the training. The fonts on the site are standard sans serif fonts, but every sans serif font used in the font testing version of the training (Segoe UI, Arial, Calibri, Candara, Franklin Gothic, Verdana) ends up with serifs and spacing issues, and some of them are even missing characters.
Please tell me there's a way to make this work? It appears that the only thing they're having trouble viewing are the fonts in the Storyline training itself. Everything else on the server is displaying perfectly. I'm at a loss, and this is our biggest customer so I have to come up with a fix. Thank you.
Hi Julia!
Have you tried turning on Modern Text and republishing the file? I wonder if you'll see a difference using that feature.
Go to the Design tab on the Storyline ribbon, click the Fonts drop-down list, and select Use Modern Text at the bottom of the list. This feature converts the entire project to modern text all at once.