Chrome 78 release on 22 October

Hi Steve,

Looks like Brian has nailed it.

Google plans to end support for synchronous XHR in Chrome 80 when it's released in January 2020. You can learn more about this change here: https://www.chromestatus.com/feature/4664843055398912

The good news is that SCORM and Tin Can API (xAPI) courses are unaffected by this browser change.

However, AICC courses could be impacted. Learner interactions that happen in the final few seconds before they close the browser tab might not get communicated to the LMS.

We're working on a solution for this issue now. I'll be sure to let you know as soon as we have steps for updating your AICC courses so they're fully compatible with Chrome 80.

I'd also recommend checking with your LMS admin or provider to see if your LMS uses synchronous XHR so they can update your system before Chrome 80 is released.

I'm a bit surprised (but relieved, if true) to hear that SCORM courses won't be affected as Mike Rustici over at SCORM.com indicates that Google ending support for synchronous XHR in Chromium 80 will affect "almost everyone" using SCORM.

https://support.scorm.com/hc/en-us/articles/360035814314-Blocked-SCORM-Exit-Postbacks-with-Google-Chrome-78-and-Above 

"The following conditions must be met for this issue to come into play:

1. The learner must be using Google Chrome 78 (or above). [Pushed back to Chrome 80]
2. The course must be a SCORM course.
3. The learner must exit the course by closing, or navigating away from, the window/frame that contains Engine's SCORM player page."

As I understand it this means that if a user exits a course by closing the course window (rather than clicking an exit button) then the final communication to the LMS will fail.   He says the issue is more likely to affect courses launched within an iframe.

The SCORM.com post is primarily concerned with changes that will need to be made to the Rustici SCORM Cloud engine, but I believe Articulate uses Rustici code in their SCORM solution, so it would be great to have confirmation that this doesn't apply here.

Not to worry, Craig! We've been working closely with Rustici on this issue since the moment we heard about it.

The problem primarily impacts SCORM Engine, which is a product used by LMS vendors. Articulate also partners with Rustici on their SCORM Driver product, but this tool isn't as impacted. The exception is AICC content, and we'll be working on a fix for AICC soon. We're very confident that content published from Articulate authoring tools for SCORM and xAPI is not impacted, so we've got you covered!

We received documentation from our LMS provider stating something similar. Question - as long as the trigger to complete the course (either submitting a score or setting completion) happens before the final slide and via its own button (not an exit button) or at the start of a timeline, there shouldn't be an issue, right? 

Hi Logan!

There shouldn't be an issue with the complete course trigger in those scenarios! I would confirm with your LMS provider to understand their best practices for this update. 

So I have a SCORM package that no longer records a score nor a completion status in Docebo. It worked perfectly when we last used it in July. It worked for a couple users who completed it at the beginning of last week (4th/5th November) and then stopped. Inexplicably.

Coincidence?

Similar case here, also using Docebo. We have a longer exam of 100 questions in SCORM 2004. It functioned correctly a couple weeks ago. It still works correctly in Firefox. But in Chrome, the LMS is only recording 60 out of the 100 questions. This prevents it from being marked as complete. I also put in a support ticket with Docebo, but I'm not sure if the issue lies with the LMS, Articulate, or Chrome?

I have a ticket open with Docebo, too, they do say the update may have affected SCORM. I've not heard from them for two days though so no news on how to fix the problem. As you say, the content works just fine in Firefox.

Hello. I am a SL author using SL360 on the Cornerstone LMS and was curious if there was any new/additional information about this. Is Articulate recommending any best practices for Submitting Results, Completion, and Exit triggers? Lauren mentioned above that SL content published to SCORM (2004 3rd ed?) is not impacted and I wanted to see if this was still the case.

Hi Ryan, 

Yes, Lauren's information and the information that I shared above are still valid.

It's a Docebo issue which is due to be fixed this week. Fingers crossed!

Hi Ryan, I also use Cornerstone. We received an email from Cornerstone yesterday with information. Your LMS Administrator should have received the email. Here is an excerpt:

"What we’re doing to help - In response to these changes, Cornerstone is updating our SCORM player to ensure that SCORM courses continue to communicate user status correctly to our system."

Happy Tuesday, all!

I'm excited to share that we just released Update 35 for Storyline 360. What's inside: We added support for Google Chrome 80, which no longer allows synchronous XHR when a web page is closed. This update ensures your AICC courses always communicate a final status to an LMS.

To see all the enhancements this version has to offer, follow these steps to update your software! 🎁

This is great news. We have Presenter/AICC content; how do we ensure it works/completes as expected?

Hi, Dwayne. Great question, and we got Studio 360 covered, too!

Our team is working on a fix to ensure that Studio 360/AICC courses will be fully compatible with Chrome 80. I'll make sure this discussion stays up to date as soon as that update is live!

And Rise 360 as well?

Hi Sharon,

We are also making sure that Rise 360 is covered as well! You're in the right place, and we'll be sure to keep this discussion updated as soon as we have more to share! 

Hello there!

For folks using Storyline 3: We just released Update 9 that offers support for the Google Chrome 80 and synchronous XHR scenario. This update ensures your AICC courses always communicate a final status to your LMS.

Here's how to update Storyline 3 to the latest version, and we'll continue to update this discussion on any new developments regarding this context for Studio and Rise 360!

Hi, 

Ok so, there is nothing to do with the courses already published in Scorm or Tincan in the LMS of our clients?

Thanks

I think that depends on the LMS. My experience was that Docebo also had to fix something at their end to allow SCORM content to play/report properly.

I received an email from TalentLMS with this warning.
https://help.talentlms.com/hc/en-us/articles/360011008919-Potential-issue-with-latest-Chrome-browser-and-SCORM

If I publish in Scorm 1.2 or 2004, does this affect my courses?

I just want to know if I should republish all my courses after the last Storyline update? Because...

Hi Mat and Christina, 

Some authoring tool vendors may be using synchronous XHR in their SCORM/xAPI output, but we've confirmed with our team that Articulate content only uses that in the AICC output. 

So, you should both be safe with your SCORM output from Articulate. 

I'd also recommend checking with your LMS admin or provider to see if your LMS uses synchronous XHR so they can update your system before Chrome 80 is released. 

Hi, Sharon! I have an update for you about Rise 360 courses published to AICC or TinCan. 

We added support for Google Chrome 80, which no longer allows synchronous XHR when a web page is closed. This update ensures your AICC courses always communicate a final status to an LMS. You'll need to re-export your AICC and xAPI courses so that they continue to work with Chrome 80.