Bold text not displaying properly in Rise

Nov 30, 2017

Recently we've noticed an issue where sometimes bold text displays oddly in our Rise courses, and were wondering if anyone could shed some light on this. The problem is persistent across multiple browsers (I've checked with Firefox 57.0 and Chrome 62.0.3202.94) and multiple types of display (but only on some of our machines, not all). We're using the Open Sans font, size 17 (the text is fine in other sizes). The issue is also present in preview mode and Review, but curiously not in the screenshots generated with Review comments.

It's most noticeable with the lowercase i character which just becomes a solid line, but most letters look a bit off. If I change the zoom level it displays properly. I've also come across an instance where within a single word the font changes from being normal to having these display problems.

I have attached screenshots of the text that's playing up, the Review screenshot which shows the text as it should be, and the instance in which the way the text displays changes mid-word.

44 Replies
Vanessa Tirpak

Has there been any solution to this issue? We're experiencing the same problem where lowercase bolded i's appear as l's in all internet browsers. As Tim mentioned above, it's frustrating since our clients think there are typos in our courses, when in fact it's a bug with the software. If anyone knows a simple solution, I'd love to hear it! Thanks!

Crystal Horn

Hi there, Vanessa. Could you confirm a few details for me?

  • Are you using the Open Sans font at 17px?
  • In which browser(s) are you seeing the issue? Is it on a Windows or Mac machine?
  • Can you share a screenshot?

We'll retest this behavior since there have been browser updates since this issue was originally reported.

Vanessa Tirpak

Hello -
Here are additional details of my issue:

* I'm using open sans font, 17 px.

* I'm seeing the issue in Chrome, but other have seen the issue in Internet Explorer and Edge.

* We're testing on Windows machines (we haven't tested yet on Macs).

* I included a screenshot of what it looks like on one of my users' screens.

Thank you!

Vanessa Tirpak | Instructional Designer II

Paylocity | vtirpak@paylocity.com

M: (224) 318.3797

1400 American Lane Schaumburg, IL 60173

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Yolanda Larner

Adding mine to the thread since Articulate doesn't think enough people are having the issue to justify them working to resolve.

I'm using Chrome on an HP laptop with Windows 10 64-bit. I am having the same issue with the default Open Sans 17px font when changed to bold. It's really inconvenient because it's the default size which means I have to add an extra step of changing it. Additionally when I click on Edit for the block it shows just fine, see attachment.

Vanessa Tirpak

Thank you. Please update us when there's a solution. Our Rise courses are going out to external clients and we want them to be in tip top shape :)

Vanessa Tirpak | Instructional Designer II

Paylocity | vtirpak@paylocity.com

M: (224) 318.3797

1400 American Lane Schaumburg, IL 60173

[Paylocity - Glassdoor 2018]

This e-mail message and any files transmitted with it may be confidential and are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. The contents thereof may also be privileged or otherwise protected by work product immunity or other legal rules. If you have received this e-mail message in error, please notify the sender and delete the message. Any views or opinions presented in this e-mail message are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Paylocity. E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain viruses. The sender therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this message which arise as a result of e-mail transmission.

Jim DeRosa

Having this issue right now. It's clearly been an issue for several years. If the issue is "external" then defaulting to a font that causes trouble seems like a bad choice. Give us the option to globally change the default font. Or stop making 17pt the default.

These responses are pretty tone deaf for a problem that's been happening for years with no action.

Meghan McKay

Adding mine to the thread for the same problem. 

We use Windows 10 Enterprise. The following screenshot was taken while using an Edge browser, but when I opened the course in Chrome I didn't get the same problem. 

We tell our learners to open their course in Chrome, but that doesn't always happen. Agree with Jim's comment above that if it is known that this font is causing problems for multiple users, it would be helpful to globally change the default font or not make 17pt the default size. 

Crystal Horn
Hi folks. I reviewed the history of this issue with my team, and I’d like to update you on where we stand: We aren’t going to be able to solve this issue for Open Sans font in Rise using size 17. Let me provide some additional context on what we’ve explored, and what the options are going forward.
 
We had initially looked into changing the default font size in all of Rise to size 16. When we tested this approach, it created layout problems for existing courses regardless of whether they used Open Sans. We also looked into changing the default font size for just the Open Sans font. Unfortunately, this wasn’t technically possible.
 
Here are two options that I can offer right now:
  • For existing courses, the quickest way to make these courses look better is to use a different, comparable font to Open Sans. I tested with Work Sans and Nunito Sans, and the bold text looked good in Windows browsers. Here’s information on how to use custom fonts.
  • For new courses that must use Open Sans, create block templates for your most used blocks where you can set the font size to 16 or 18. Choose blocks from your template library rather than the new block library to take advantage of the right text size.
I hope this helps you with your planning, even if it isn’t the exact news you wanted to hear. Thank you again for continuing to share how Rise 360 works for you.
Jim DeRosa

While I'm sure I don't understand all of the technical details involved, I am at a complete loss why this is the final answer. If changing the font size globally to 16 or 18 messes everything up, why is my layout unaffected if I manually change every font in a course to 18 pt?

If there's just no way to make the font work correctly, perhaps replace Open Sans as a default option with one of the fonts that have been tested to work correctly. 

While I'm sure the workarounds are fine for people who use Rise daily, they just don't solve the problem. Every new or casual user who chooses Open Sans for a course will continue to have the problem.

Yolanda Larner

This is a very disappointing solution. However, if you are going to suggest workarounds instead of fixing the issue you need to at least put a warning or disclaimer somewhere stating that this may happen so users won't be blindsided after creating tons of modules like we were. It seems like you are done with this issue and I think it is unfair to give us a poor workaround as if it's a minor issue when it's not but at least you could be fair and give others an opportunity to avoid this issue going forward.

Devin Arbenz

I am disappointed in this answer as well, although I appreciate the suggested workarounds. But because Open Sans is a default text option in Rise, this will continue to be an issue for users. In my opinion, offering it as a default text option when this issue continues to exist is pretty misleading. At the very least, you guys should remove Open Sans as a default text option.

I also echo Yolanda Larner's suggestion about adding a warning or disclaimer somewhere about this issue. My team has been using Rise to build 100+ courses over several curriculums for a client. If I knew about this issue on Day 1, I would not have offered our client Open Sans as a font option. 

Tim Harris

I have to say I am also very disappointed with both the outcome and the way this issue has been handled. It doesn't seem like the problem's ever been considered with the seriousness its impact merits, as reflected by the fact it's taken over 3 years to reach this non-resolution. While the mitigants mentioned by the posters above wouldn't help those of us who are aware of all of this, hopefully they would at least prevent the same thing happening to people in the future. 

We will now have to weigh up whether either of those workarounds are viable for us, or if being unable to follow our branding without significant extra effort is a dealbreaker and it's time to move away from Rise.