Forum Discussion
Automatic Selection of preferred language in LMS/SCORM-Package
Hi Felix,
did you manage to skip the dropdown and have the language selected automatically, according to the users preferred language within your LMS?
For us, it would actually be interesting how to make the language selector pop-up reappear, in combination with automatic language, and in general.
Our use case: many learners use the default language as their preferred language in the LMS, so the SCORM would automatically show in that language. We would like to give learners an option to override their preferred LMS language for a specific SCORM module, because our LMS is available in fewer languages, than the SCORM content is.
But even without setting the language automatically, we have the problem that the language selector pop-up only shows on learners' very first entry to the SCORM module, and in case s.o. would like to change the language later, it is not possible.
Any idea how we can make the pop-up with language selector re-appear or how to show a menu with language selector?
Kind regards
Kathrin
Hey KathrinH,
Thank you for sharing your use case.
Currently, this is the expected behavior for LMS playback of localized SCORM packages. Once a learner selects their language on first launch, that choice is stored in their SCORM suspend data as a bookmarking mechanism. This prevents accidental language switches after progress has been tracked, which may cause mismatched data in the LMS. The selector won't reappear until the learner's progress is reset by an LMS admin.
That said, I'm happy to relay your feedback to our Product team. Real-world context and specific use cases are valuable when evaluating improvements to how localized SCORM packages behave in an LMS.
Do you mind sharing how many learners and courses are affected by the gap between your LMS and SCORM language availability? Also, if learners could switch languages mid-session, what would that improve most for them and the rest of your team?
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Hi StevenBenassi,
thanks for getting back to me and the explanation you provided. Very helpful!
For us, the number of courses would be low: due to the high cost of the translation feature, we plan to use this only for a few selected courses, but these would be available to 2000+ learners, in some cases even more.
Switching mid-session would be a nice to have, in case learners decide to start a course in one language and then would like to compare with another language, for better understanding of specific medical terms or compliance training.
The main challenge is that the language choice is stored in the SCORM package upon the learner's first access, even if no active selection is made. For example, a learner may open the SCORM content in English and then immediately close the window or navigate away without intentionally choosing a language. When the learner re-enters the SCORM, the default language has already been saved and the language selection pop-up no longer appears, even though the learner has not yet made any progress in the module.One way to make the pop-up appear again would be to force a new attempt each time the learner re-enters the SCORM. However, this would also cause learners to lose any existing progress if they pause partway through the module and return later to continue.
Hope this further clarifies our use case. Thanks a lot for forwarding it to the product team and thanks again for your support.
Kind regards
KathrinHi KathrinH,
Thank you for taking the time to explain your workflow in more detail. Your example really helps illustrate the challenge.
I can see how saving the language preference before a learner has intentionally selected a language or made any progress could create confusion, especially when your SCORM courses are available in more languages than your LMS supports. It's also helpful to understand that preserving learner progress is just as important as allowing them to choose a different language.
I have one more question that would help provide additional context for our Product team:
- How often do you see learners needing to change their language after their initial launch? Is this something that comes up regularly, or is it more of an occasional edge case?
Thanks again for all the thoughtful details that you've shared. It's incredibly valuable for helping us understand how this behavior affects real-world learning experiences.
