Not sure if Articulate has any specific specs on this, but from my testing, all of the courses that I have published in HTML5 have worked in IE, Firefox, Chrome, Edge, Safari, and Opera. You will get slight differences in how the browsers interpret the HTML5 output.
I believe Articulate recommends Chrome for best experience. Also, that said, HTML5 will only work in recent releases of these browsers... IE 8 will not support HTML5, and not sure how good the HTML5 output would look in IE9.
SL2 didn't officially support IE 10... what changed in SL 360 to put IE 10 on the supported list to play HTML5? Or has SL2 support for IE 10 HTML5 changed?
Looking for a job in the ELH forums? Jokes aside - great answer and on point. Whole new world in Articulate 360 with HTML5 so a whole new list of supported browsers. So hope that's working out well for you Sam!
I think a lot of corporate/government entities have looked at blocking Flash files as a standard practice, which is why we've also made the shift to include the HTML5 only publish option as a part of Storyline 3 and 360.
The thought of IE8 should always make you nervous. ;-)
If you know that your users are going to be using older browser that don't support the HTML5 specifications, I'd look at publishing for Flash first/HTML5 or HTML5 first/ Flash Fallback. That way it'll allow a user to view the HTML5 output if they have a browser with Flash disabled but those who will be on older browsers like IE8 would be presented with the Flash content.
What happens if a user opens an HTML5 only course in an old browser? Does the HTML5 player give them direction on why it won't work and what to do about it?
If you think your users are accessing it on older browser, I would publish with Flash first and HTML5 back up. There isn't going to be an error message if they access it on a browser that doesn't support HTML5, just the content wont' play.
What browser someone could potentially use at home on their own PC is an unknown. We anticipate that they will be using a variety of versions. What I would like is to be able to publish in HTML5, but also be able to inform the user that their browser is out-of-date if it won't support the content. Just having the content not play to me is disappointing behavior.
I can certainly understand not knowing all the browsers that folks may be accessing it through - perhaps you could look at providing some information prior to the course launch about supported browsers? There isn't a message built into Storyline to tell the user they're accessing on an unsupported browser, but it may be something folks in the community have created so hopefully they're able to share that with you here!
Thank you for the suggestion. This is definitely a good idea, but unfortunately people often do not read this kind of recommendation. I guess what I am saying is that I think that there should be a message built into Storyline (and Rise, and Presenter) to tell the user they're accessing on an unsupported browser.
Hi Ashley, for all the reasons mentioned in this thread and others, we have started publishing in Flash/HTML5.
What if the browser has flash enabled, but it's not the latest version? We have had many cases previously then content did not display correctly due to older versions of flash. It would be great if it would default to HTML5 in this case too, but I guess that's not possible as SL would need to know what the latest version is!
Could you provide a link to download the latest version of Flash prior to course launch (https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/)? Perhaps you could include a message stating that you'll have the best viewing experience with the latest version.
Thanks for your reply Alyssa. We provide all our courses via an LMS so have an FAQ with the following link to check their version: https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player.html. Problem is, not everyone will read (or follow) the instructions wherever they are put!
So can you confirm that if a user has an old version of Flash, it will still play in Flash if the setting Flash/HTML5 is used?
If you publish a Flash-first (or Flash-only) course, and the learner opens the course in a supported browser with Flash 10.3 or higher installed, we would expect the Flash version of the course to play. I can't confirm that it would play if the learner is using an older version of Flash.
We've been converting our courses from Flash-first to HTML5-first, but noticed that it breaks some of Storyline's animations/transitions. Has anyone reported compatibility issues here? I'd love to make HTML5-first our standard practice, but not if it's going to break existing courses that use those Storyline features.
There are some animations that won't work in HTML5 as detailed here, and that's based on the individual browsers and how they support those animations.
If you're running into a different issue, could you share a copy of your .story file and let us know a bit more about what you're seeing?
Do you have any idea whether IE has a timeline for when they will support masking animations in HTML5?
The animations also seem to break if we publish to HTML5/Flash... does that make sense to you? I would expect Flash to kick in for those, but I guess that isn't how it works.
Have you heard of anyone experiencing issues with quizzes in HTML5? One of our developers experienced trouble with a quiz when she converted from Flash to HTML5/Flash publishing. I don't have the specifics, but can get them.
I don't have an idea from IE...but based on how quickly they've adopted some HTML5 standards in the recent past, I wouldn't want anyone to hold their breath. 😀
If you're publishing for HTML5/Flash, and the browser can play HTML5 content in general, it won't default back to Flash. IE11 and Edge support HTML5, but that support is limited.
Let me know when you get some more info on the quizzes that aren't working in HTML5. I'd want to know:
what update of Storyline 360 you're using (we're on update 7),
where/how the courses are being published/hosted,
what browsers you're using to view the course,
and, what is behaving differently than the Flash version.
You can upload your .story file in the ELH forums using the "add Attachment" button at the bottom of the reply window.
My developer tested her courses again in both HTML5 and HTML5/Flash, and she couldn't replicate the quiz issues. So I think the issue she was having before was unrelated to publishing standards and has been resolved some other way. We're good to go here. Thank you for your help!
26 Replies
Hi Sam,
Not sure if Articulate has any specific specs on this, but from my testing, all of the courses that I have published in HTML5 have worked in IE, Firefox, Chrome, Edge, Safari, and Opera. You will get slight differences in how the browsers interpret the HTML5 output.
I believe Articulate recommends Chrome for best experience. Also, that said, HTML5 will only work in recent releases of these browsers... IE 8 will not support HTML5, and not sure how good the HTML5 output would look in IE9.
Here is a link to the list of supported browsers: https://articulate.com/support/article/System-Requirements-for-Articulate-Storyline-360#viewing-content
SL2 didn't officially support IE 10... what changed in SL 360 to put IE 10 on the supported list to play HTML5? Or has SL2 support for IE 10 HTML5 changed?
SL 360 has a totally new (and way better) HTML5 rendering engine.
It's completely different than SL2 and Studio '13. It also has a built in responsive player for mobile devices, so the courses automatically resize.
Sean,
Looking for a job in the ELH forums? Jokes aside - great answer and on point. Whole new world in Articulate 360 with HTML5 so a whole new list of supported browsers. So hope that's working out well for you Sam!
Why wouldn't you publish with a Flash backup version? Just to save space?
Hi Will,
I think a lot of corporate/government entities have looked at blocking Flash files as a standard practice, which is why we've also made the shift to include the HTML5 only publish option as a part of Storyline 3 and 360.
I guess the thought of that makes me nervous that some user from home who is still using IE 8 or 9 would launch my course.
The thought of IE8 should always make you nervous. ;-)
If you know that your users are going to be using older browser that don't support the HTML5 specifications, I'd look at publishing for Flash first/HTML5 or HTML5 first/ Flash Fallback. That way it'll allow a user to view the HTML5 output if they have a browser with Flash disabled but those who will be on older browsers like IE8 would be presented with the Flash content.
Right. Which is why it makes me nervous to not have Flash as a backup. Unfortunately a user's browser version at home is kind of out of our control.
What happens if a user opens an HTML5 only course in an old browser? Does the HTML5 player give them direction on why it won't work and what to do about it?
Hi Will,
If you think your users are accessing it on older browser, I would publish with Flash first and HTML5 back up. There isn't going to be an error message if they access it on a browser that doesn't support HTML5, just the content wont' play.
What browser someone could potentially use at home on their own PC is an unknown. We anticipate that they will be using a variety of versions. What I would like is to be able to publish in HTML5, but also be able to inform the user that their browser is out-of-date if it won't support the content. Just having the content not play to me is disappointing behavior.
I can certainly understand not knowing all the browsers that folks may be accessing it through - perhaps you could look at providing some information prior to the course launch about supported browsers? There isn't a message built into Storyline to tell the user they're accessing on an unsupported browser, but it may be something folks in the community have created so hopefully they're able to share that with you here!
Thank you for the suggestion. This is definitely a good idea, but unfortunately people often do not read this kind of recommendation. I guess what I am saying is that I think that there should be a message built into Storyline (and Rise, and Presenter) to tell the user they're accessing on an unsupported browser.
Great idea!
Hi Ashley, for all the reasons mentioned in this thread and others, we have started publishing in Flash/HTML5.
What if the browser has flash enabled, but it's not the latest version? We have had many cases previously then content did not display correctly due to older versions of flash. It would be great if it would default to HTML5 in this case too, but I guess that's not possible as SL would need to know what the latest version is!
Hi Vispi,
Could you provide a link to download the latest version of Flash prior to course launch (https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/)? Perhaps you could include a message stating that you'll have the best viewing experience with the latest version.
Thanks for your reply Alyssa. We provide all our courses via an LMS so have an FAQ with the following link to check their version: https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player.html. Problem is, not everyone will read (or follow) the instructions wherever they are put!
So can you confirm that if a user has an old version of Flash, it will still play in Flash if the setting Flash/HTML5 is used?
Hi Vispi,
If you publish a Flash-first (or Flash-only) course, and the learner opens the course in a supported browser with Flash 10.3 or higher installed, we would expect the Flash version of the course to play. I can't confirm that it would play if the learner is using an older version of Flash.
We've been converting our courses from Flash-first to HTML5-first, but noticed that it breaks some of Storyline's animations/transitions. Has anyone reported compatibility issues here? I'd love to make HTML5-first our standard practice, but not if it's going to break existing courses that use those Storyline features.
Hi Coral,
There are some animations that won't work in HTML5 as detailed here, and that's based on the individual browsers and how they support those animations.
If you're running into a different issue, could you share a copy of your .story file and let us know a bit more about what you're seeing?
That is exactly what I needed to know, thank you!
Do you have any idea whether IE has a timeline for when they will support masking animations in HTML5?
The animations also seem to break if we publish to HTML5/Flash... does that make sense to you? I would expect Flash to kick in for those, but I guess that isn't how it works.
Have you heard of anyone experiencing issues with quizzes in HTML5? One of our developers experienced trouble with a quiz when she converted from Flash to HTML5/Flash publishing. I don't have the specifics, but can get them.
Hi Coral,
I don't have an idea from IE...but based on how quickly they've adopted some HTML5 standards in the recent past, I wouldn't want anyone to hold their breath. 😀
If you're publishing for HTML5/Flash, and the browser can play HTML5 content in general, it won't default back to Flash. IE11 and Edge support HTML5, but that support is limited.
Let me know when you get some more info on the quizzes that aren't working in HTML5.
I'd want to know:
You can upload your .story file in the ELH forums using the "add Attachment" button at the bottom of the reply window.
My developer tested her courses again in both HTML5 and HTML5/Flash, and she couldn't replicate the quiz issues. So I think the issue she was having before was unrelated to publishing standards and has been resolved some other way. We're good to go here. Thank you for your help!
This discussion is closed. You can start a new discussion or contact Articulate Support.