Has anyone found a way to use Storyline to create responsive web design courses? We are having to design for mobile now, and need a solution that will work as a framework for responsive design.
I think this must be a burning issue for many people here. Have you had to leave Storyline for another tool for this reason?
Thanks for any insight or solutions you may have found.
Hi Karen, I don't think any eLearning tool supports responsive design. The best you can do with Storyline right now is use a story size that works best with the majority of devices and then set the player size to scale with the browser. It is also best to use custom buttons for nav instead of the built in player nav buttons because they scale down too small on some devices.
I just finished creating a responsive design website for my company and would love to see this type of functionality introduced into eLearning tools. I think it would require a major rewrite of the code for these tools so don't expect to see anything for awhile.
I'm glad Nancy was able to help you out, and it's also worth noting that Storyline content may work on some Android devices. However, Articulate does not officially support Android devices or browsers. Click here to review the system requirements for authoring and viewing Storyline content.
I agree with Nancy, without hand-coding content in HTML/HTML5 and using Javascript libraries for added interactivity, there is currently no way to provide true responsive design in eLearning. Several years ago, Adobe had launched an 'Open Screen Project' which was meant to provide tools to 'author once and then deploy content to any screen'. Unfortunately, this initiate was based on Flash, but with Flash being on its way out, it's gotten very quiet on that front. Also several years ago, RapidIntake had launched the beta version of a cloud-based elearning authoring environment that provided some responsive design features. But that seems to have fizzled out too. So here we are, being stuck with what the current HTML5 implementations allow us to do...
How do you and your viewers expect "responsive web design" to work?
What use cases do you envision?
Would filling full screen on a tablet or phone with a collapsable menu (aka hamburger) for the player menu work or are you envisioning something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjXZ5mxtggE
If the latter, what would the course author workflow look like on a fixed stage in a desktop tool?
Hi Karen, I don't think any eLearning tool supports responsive design. The best you can do with Storyline right now is use a story size that works best with the majority of devices and then set the player size to scale with the browser. It is also best to use custom buttons for nav instead of the built in player nav buttons because they scale down too small on some devices.
I just finished creating a responsive design website for my company and would love to see this type of functionality introduced into eLearning tools. I think it would require a major rewrite of the code for these tools so don't expect to see anything for awhile.
I'm not sure how good this works but the new Captivate 8 seems to be able to create responsive eLearning content. Hope to see this in Storyline 2
I'm an avid fan of Articulate Storyline. Incredibly powerful, and I can do nearly anything my client requests with it. Unlike Captivate (which I'm also very experienced in), I haven't yet hit a ceiling, and continue to find new and interesting ways to use it (Javascript to Google spreadsheets being my latest adventure). So thumbs up for Storyline in general!
However (and this is a big one), my new major project demands a responsive interface for integration into a website that is responsive. This means responsive objects, not just display size. At this point Storyline looks like it might be passed over in favour of the newly released Captivate 8 :-(
Any news/information pertaining to timelines for this functionality could save us ... Even information such as, 'yes it's a high priority for next release' would be extremely helpful... (along with "next release is scoped for ").
Thanks again for a great product, and I hope to hear positive news sooner rather than later!
Even Flash CC can be a good solution today for responsive design if you need only HTML5 without backward compatibility with older browsers. It generates HTML5 output that runs on canvas.
Unfortunately we don't announce release dates or what features may or may not be included ahead of time. I wish I had more information to offer you, but at this time I'll suggest to share these thoughts in the form of a feature request so that our product development team can keep track of all these requests.
With a number of questions coming my way, I put together this little AS example of how I see things working.
And for what it's worth, I've looked into Captivate 8 again, and I'm not convinced of the efficiency losses compared to the value their model of Responsive UI would provide. I'll wait to see what AS do...
Not only Captivate 8 but Lectora next version coming out in the fall is supposed to include responsive design as well as DominKnow Claro. I'm hoping Storyline is working on some sort of responsive solution for courses.
I have been working with various responsive design tools and I can give you an idea of what you can do up to this date...
1. Adobe Captivate 8 - Responsive Design templates (you still have to adjust the items on each device's layout i.e. desktop, tablet, mobile) It makes the process a little bit easier but, it hogs resources(memory) and can be buggy. It is a step in the right direction.
2. Adobe Edge - Designers tool to help create HTML without knowing a lot of code. It has limited responsive capabilities. You still would have to build out a mobile site. We have been using this the most to build a lot of animated sites.
3. Adobe Muse - Create multiple layouts for each device (pc, tablet, mobile). can make it a little bit easier. Missing basic animations (you can insert Flash objects or export animations from Adobe Edge).
4. Articulate Storyline - Not entirely responsive. Will resize to fit but, some of my customers are looking for hybrid websites, not sites in a wrapper. Will work on tablets (ipad needs Articulate Storyline player). You can also play on safari as HTML 5 but with limited functions.
5. Lectora 11 - Need to modify HTML code...to make it seem responsive but, it is not. In essence you are re-sizing objects, not a truly responsive environment.
In our shop we are slowly migrating to building everything in HTML5 and learning more about code. Why we still use the various proprietary software for rapid development, unless changes are made, they will not meet our customers demand. Most of our customers are asking for responsive design courses that will play on anything with no issues. Some projects we are building multiple versions.
@Ryan, Have you taken a look at Hype 2.0. It only available on Macs, but it seems like it has a great feature when creating responsive designs. You can also view your designs live on your Ipad while you build your stuff in HTML5.
Captivate 8 has a responsive approach... not sure how well it works, I have my team testing it right now, it sounds good in theory. We currently use Storyline 2 and are working a custom solution for responsive delivery using Adapt.
If you are programmer you can try Adapt... the framework is hosted on github and its free opensource.... but you should have experience with Node.js, grunt and NPM
I've just completed a project that required a responsive design approach using Captivate 8, and although Captivate 8 can successfully build responsive design projects, its far from bug free and requires a fair bit of experimentation and effort. The main issue being the between states (in between the three different responsive stages) where elements display unpredictably. But with effort you can solve this and the end product is pretty great. I was hoping that Storyline 2 had a more advanced and stable responsive application, but it appears that it can only handle html5 and not responsive.
I guess you are right, if you don't have the skills in using a product it can cause a world of hurt. But as I mentioned, it is possible if you are prepared to learn and experiment.
As for gomo, this is entirely different solution, a Learning Content Management System (LCMS) that only works from their own hosting services, you are not producing a SCORM compliant package that can be used on another LMS, this is extremely limiting and locks you into their services.
Regarding Captivate 8 responsive courses, I was really taken aback with the amount of bugs and improperly implemented features in the tool. There's a real glass ceiling with what you can do.
39 Replies
Hi Karen, I don't think any eLearning tool supports responsive design. The best you can do with Storyline right now is use a story size that works best with the majority of devices and then set the player size to scale with the browser. It is also best to use custom buttons for nav instead of the built in player nav buttons because they scale down too small on some devices.
I just finished creating a responsive design website for my company and would love to see this type of functionality introduced into eLearning tools. I think it would require a major rewrite of the code for these tools so don't expect to see anything for awhile.
Thank you very much Nancy. It's nice to have my impressions verified. I appreciate your advice.
Karen
Hi Karen,
I'm glad Nancy was able to help you out, and it's also worth noting that Storyline content may work on some Android devices. However, Articulate does not officially support Android devices or browsers. Click here to review the system requirements for authoring and viewing Storyline content.
Additionally, there is a lot of good discussion linked here on the "optimal size" for viewing on an iPad.
I agree with Nancy, without hand-coding content in HTML/HTML5 and using Javascript libraries for added interactivity, there is currently no way to provide true responsive design in eLearning. Several years ago, Adobe had launched an 'Open Screen Project' which was meant to provide tools to 'author once and then deploy content to any screen'. Unfortunately, this initiate was based on Flash, but with Flash being on its way out, it's gotten very quiet on that front. Also several years ago, RapidIntake had launched the beta version of a cloud-based elearning authoring environment that provided some responsive design features. But that seems to have fizzled out too. So here we are, being stuck with what the current HTML5 implementations allow us to do...
Hi Karen, Nancy, Michael, and all:
I have a few questions around Responsive Design:
Thanks!
Julian
I'm not sure how good this works but the new Captivate 8 seems to be able to create responsive eLearning content. Hope to see this in Storyline 2
The "Adapt" technology also seems to be blazing a trail.
This will be a must-have for many soon, so I hope some sort of plans are afoot at Articulate.
http://www.kineo.com/blog/adapt-learning-wins-for-best-elearning-design-technology-in-asia-pacific
Yes, yes, and yes! The Captivate release announcement was mind blowing. I would love to see this in Storyline.
I'm an avid fan of Articulate Storyline. Incredibly powerful, and I can do nearly anything my client requests with it. Unlike Captivate (which I'm also very experienced in), I haven't yet hit a ceiling, and continue to find new and interesting ways to use it (Javascript to Google spreadsheets being my latest adventure). So thumbs up for Storyline in general!
However (and this is a big one), my new major project demands a responsive interface for integration into a website that is responsive. This means responsive objects, not just display size. At this point Storyline looks like it might be passed over in favour of the newly released Captivate 8 :-(
Any news/information pertaining to timelines for this functionality could save us ... Even information such as, 'yes it's a high priority for next release' would be extremely helpful... (along with "next release is scoped for ").
Thanks again for a great product, and I hope to hear positive news sooner rather than later!
Even Flash CC can be a good solution today for responsive design if you need only HTML5 without backward compatibility with older browsers. It generates HTML5 output that runs on canvas.
Hi Tim,
Unfortunately we don't announce release dates or what features may or may not be included ahead of time. I wish I had more information to offer you, but at this time I'll suggest to share these thoughts in the form of a feature request so that our product development team can keep track of all these requests.
With a number of questions coming my way, I put together this little AS example of how I see things working.
And for what it's worth, I've looked into Captivate 8 again, and I'm not convinced of the efficiency losses compared to the value their model of Responsive UI would provide. I'll wait to see what AS do...
Responsive UI walkthrough:
http://divers1fystorage.com/ResponsiveUI%20output/story.html
Not only Captivate 8 but Lectora next version coming out in the fall is supposed to include responsive design as well as DominKnow Claro. I'm hoping Storyline is working on some sort of responsive solution for courses.
I have been working with various responsive design tools and I can give you an idea of what you can do up to this date...
1. Adobe Captivate 8 - Responsive Design templates (you still have to adjust the items on each device's layout i.e. desktop, tablet, mobile) It makes the process a little bit easier but, it hogs resources(memory) and can be buggy. It is a step in the right direction.
2. Adobe Edge - Designers tool to help create HTML without knowing a lot of code. It has limited responsive capabilities. You still would have to build out a mobile site. We have been using this the most to build a lot of animated sites.
3. Adobe Muse - Create multiple layouts for each device (pc, tablet, mobile). can make it a little bit easier. Missing basic animations (you can insert Flash objects or export animations from Adobe Edge).
4. Articulate Storyline - Not entirely responsive. Will resize to fit but, some of my customers are looking for hybrid websites, not sites in a wrapper. Will work on tablets (ipad needs Articulate Storyline player). You can also play on safari as HTML 5 but with limited functions.
5. Lectora 11 - Need to modify HTML code...to make it seem responsive but, it is not. In essence you are re-sizing objects, not a truly responsive environment.
In our shop we are slowly migrating to building everything in HTML5 and learning more about code. Why we still use the various proprietary software for rapid development, unless changes are made, they will not meet our customers demand. Most of our customers are asking for responsive design courses that will play on anything with no issues. Some projects we are building multiple versions.
@Ryan, Have you taken a look at Hype 2.0. It only available on Macs, but it seems like it has a great feature when creating responsive designs. You can also view your designs live on your Ipad while you build your stuff in HTML5.
Captivate 8 has a responsive approach... not sure how well it works, I have my team testing it right now, it sounds good in theory. We currently use Storyline 2 and are working a custom solution for responsive delivery using Adapt.
http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/1441/responsive-elearning-with-adobe-captivate-8-step-by-step
If you are programmer you can try Adapt... the framework is hosted on github and its free opensource.... but you should have experience with Node.js, grunt and NPM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9DGPdzBIdU
https://github.com/adaptlearning/adapt_framework/wiki
I've just completed a project that required a responsive design approach using Captivate 8, and although Captivate 8 can successfully build responsive design projects, its far from bug free and requires a fair bit of experimentation and effort. The main issue being the between states (in between the three different responsive stages) where elements display unpredictably. But with effort you can solve this and the end product is pretty great. I was hoping that Storyline 2 had a more advanced and stable responsive application, but it appears that it can only handle html5 and not responsive.
See http://www.gomolearning.com/
gomo learning is a cloud-based multi-device e-learning authoring tool allowing users to create responsive content for tablets, smartphones and PCs.
Captivate 8 responsive projects line you up for a whole world of hurt. I would not recommend using Captivate 8 unless you had no other choice.
What tool do you recommend then?
I don't have a recommendation yet as we're still experimenting with tools.
However, gomo is getting better and Adapt looks promising.
Thanks for the reply! Gomo not support Scorm yet, right?
I guess you are right, if you don't have the skills in using a product it can cause a world of hurt. But as I mentioned, it is possible if you are prepared to learn and experiment.
As for gomo, this is entirely different solution, a Learning Content Management System (LCMS) that only works from their own hosting services, you are not producing a SCORM compliant package that can be used on another LMS, this is extremely limiting and locks you into their services.
Regarding Captivate 8 responsive courses, I was really taken aback with the amount of bugs and improperly implemented features in the tool. There's a real glass ceiling with what you can do.
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