Tackling Flash To HTML5 Migration

If you are a provider of online learning courses, chances are that you know many design-related elements of those courses are Flash-intensive. This poses as a problem because Adobe Flash has retired. With the increase in demand for mobile learning and the fact that Flash content can’t run on mobile devices, the migration from Flash to HTML5 is pertinent.

HTML5 is able to support all mobile devices, provide enhanced flexibility and improve the overall learning experience for your potential learners and customers. If you are planning to migrate, here are some important aspects you should look out for to ensure that you meet the required ROI on your investment and avoid losing money in the process.

Prerequisites of the Flash to HTML5 Migration

In most cases, the success of the migration depends on the amount of effort that is put into the pre-planning stage. You should first understand the advantages and disadvantages that come with HTML5 and Flash, and then compare the user experience that HTLML5-based designs offer to their Flash-based counterparts.

You will also want to ensure the readiness of various supporting aspects such as an updated security policy, learning management system that supports mobile learning solutions, and browsers that support HTML5. Ensure that you also pick out a list of priority courses to migrate first and perform user testing to gain feedback. This will tell you if a better learning experience has really being created for your learners.

Wallaby and Swiffy

It is simply a labor-intensive process when you try to convert a complex Flash project to HTML5 manually. Due to platform differences, you have to convert animations that were created with ActionScript and Flash into JavaScript and HTML5. Hence, you will want to consider using the following tools to help automate the conversion.

The first tool to consider is Wallaby. It’s an experimental and downloadable tool from Adobe Labs. The tool basically takes a Flash project file as input and enables the .fla to be exported as HTML5 with support JavaScript and CSS files. You will still want to take note of the features that will not be converted in Wallaby’s release notes. Whenever you need to convert animated graphical content like sound, movies and ActionScript into HTML5, and integrated them into your new web pages, Wallaby is a suitable candidate for the job.

Next up is Swiffy. Created by Google Labs, the web-based tool can convert .swf files to HTML5. While not all Flash features are converted, the output can still be embedded into a web page. You will want to ensure that your learners’ browsers support Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG). Swiffy can also support ActionScript (version 2.0) conversion. Take note that ActionScript is currently at version 3.0.

Use Responsive Design

It is a situation you might be too familiar with – you receive an email from your tech-savvy colleague who raves about the interactive design of a well-made website. You click the link and it’s extremely easy to navigate and is intuitive. However, it stands out from the many websites you visit each day. It’s because the website looks good on other devices such as smartphones and tablets as well! This can only happen when there’s a good responsive design, and you will want to take advantage of this to make your mobile learning initiatives align.