Technical Communications – Page 19

May 29, 2013

Adobe Captivate: Jumping to Named Slides

by Kevin Siegel

You can allow your learners to jump from one slide in your eLearning lesson to any other slide via interactive slide objects. Adding this level of user interaction is commonly referred to as branching.

To create a branch, select an interactive slide object (such as a button or click box) and select Jump to slide from the On Success drop-down menu (via the Action group on the Properties panel). For example, in the image below, the Play Lesson button has been set to Jump to slide 3 in the project.

Jump to a slide by number

While creating branches by jumping to slides based on a slide's number is simple enough, creating multiple branches is likely to get confusing for you as a developer. Since the slide numbers themselves do not offer any clue as to what is happening on any given slide, prior to creating a jump you will need to memorize what is happening on the target slide (or map things out before creating the branches). Instead of jumping to a slide by number, consider naming the destination slide and then jumping to the slide based on its name.

Name a Slide:

Select a slide and visit the Properties panel.
At the top of the Properties panel, type a slide name into the Name field (the name can contain spaces).

In the image below, the same button shown in the first image above is selected. Notice however, that instead of simply jumping to Slide 3, the jump is targeting the third slide, which is named Begin Lesson 1.

Adobe Captivate: Jump to slide by name.

Note: If you'd like to see a demonstration of jumping to named slides, visit the IconLogic YouTube channel.

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Looking to learn Captivate quickly? IconLogic offers multiple live, online Adobe Captivate 6 classes each month including Introduction to Adobe Captivate and Advanced Adobe Captivate.

May 24, 2013

Localization: Writing for Translation

by Jen Weaver

Have you ever borrowed someone else's notes to try to study for an exam or understand a topic? You probably found that it was more difficult to fully grasp a concept when using someone else's thoughts. You might have spent a great deal of time trying to navigate new abbreviations, note-taking styles and the nuances of the author–and missed a key concept. Translated materials can have the same uncomfortable feel to the Limited English Proficient (LEP) reader when the source document is not written with an LEP audience in mind.

Experienced translation professionals know that sculpting written content into another language is best accomplished with documents written with the understanding that they will eventually be translated into other languages. Here are some tips on creating content ready for translation:

Use numbered or bulleted lists rather than lengthy paragraphs of text.
Avoid using slang. It will not often translate well between languages and will date your materials when used in the future.
Break up lengthy phrases.
Avoid embedding text in graphics when possible. Embedded text requires that the graphics are recreated when translated, resulting in a higher cost. When possible, it's better to place text labels under graphics rather than inside of them.
Limit the use of screen shots unless you want to have those re-created and translated as well.
Try and use location and cultural neutral images. This includes ambiguous ethnicity for people and locales that can relate to many countries or areas.
Leave white space in the English files to allow for text expansion when the file is translated.
Concise, straightforward content is best. Plus, translation is billed per word, so short simple text will also save you money in translation.
If reading level is a concern, keep this in mind when writing the English copy. It is very difficult to translate materials into a different reading level than the source copy.

Following these simple guidelines for translation will allow your LEP audience to focus on the important things you have to say.

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If you would like to learn best practices for managing translation projects, contact Jen at Carmazzi Global Solutions.

May 21, 2013

Adobe Captivate: Repurpose Preferences

by Kevin Siegel

Have you ever visited the Preferences dialog box in Adobe Captivate (Windows users, Edit > Preferences; Mac users, Adobe Captivate > Preferences), made several changes and later, maybe months later, needed those settings on another computer running Captivate? I'm betting your answer is yes, and you've had a tough time ensuring the Preferences in one project match those in another.

When I teach Adobe Captivate, I try to stress the value of creating a project template (and creating templates from scratch is a big part of my Captivate 6 Advanced class). If you set the Preferences within a Captivate template and then use the template when you create new projects, the Preferences will match from one project to the next. However, you can create perfectly nice Captivate projects without a template. In that case, understanding how get Preferences from one project into another is useful.

For instance, in the images below, I accessed the Preferences dialog box and set the Preferences on some of the screens.

In the Project Information area, I added information about the Author (Biff, as usual, gets all the credit around here), Company name, Project Name and the Description.

In the SWF Size and Quality area, I set the quality to Medium.

From the Project Start and End area, I added the company logo as the Preloader, set the Preloader % to 50, enabled Fade In on the First Slide, and set the Project End Options.

I also visited the Publish Settings and changed the Frames Per Second to 20 (30 is the default) and disabled both Enable Accessibility and Play tap audio for recorded typing.

Setting each of the Preferences above wasn't difficult. In fact, it took perhaps 2-3 minutes to set everything. However, since having to memorize all of the settings isn't something I look forward to on a project-by-project basis, the ability to export this project's Preferences is going to be quite nice.

Export Project Preferences

Open a Captivate project and set your Preferences.
Choose File > Export > Preferences to open the Save As dialog box.
Pick a save destination for the Preferences file and, in the File Name field, give the file a name. (Note: The Preferences are exported as a .cpr file.)
Click Save.

Import Project Preferences

Open another Captivate project (or create a new project).
Choose File > Import > Preferences.
Locate and open the .cpr file you exported.

After the import process, browse the Preferences in the project. You'll notice that most (but not all) of the Preferences exported from the first project have been imported into the current project.

Note: If you'd like to see the process of working with a project's Preferences, check out my video demonstration on our YouTube channel.

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Looking to learn Captivate quickly? IconLogic offers multiple live, online Adobe Captivate 6 classes each month includingIntroduction to Adobe Captivate and Advanced Adobe Captivate.

May 14, 2013

Adobe Captivate & RoboHelp: Incorporate eLearning within a Help System

by Kevin Siegel

Like many of today's technical communicators, I wear many hats and use multiple tools to communicate with my learners. For instance, I use Adobe Captivate to create most of my eLearning content, and Adobe RoboHelp to create my Help Systems.

It wasn't all that long ago that eLearning content and Help Systems served different roles and different audiences. There was rarely talk of combining the two technologies. These days, more and more technical communicators are being tasked with creating effective Help Systems for an audience that is more distracted and stressed out than ever before. It's a daunting task, but one that is made easier if you follow a few best practices.

If you have created an eLearning lesson using eLearning tools such as Adobe Captivate, TechSmith's Camtasia Studio or Articulate's Storyline, you can insert the multimedia directly into RoboHelp Help Topics. When the topic is displayed in a web browser, mobile device (iPad, iPhone, etc) or HTML Help, the lesson will play (and remain interactive).

The Perfect Help Topic

When creating help content (Help Topics), I suggest that the topic contain just enough information to make it easy for a learner to quickly find the information they are looking for. Specifically, today's perfect Help Topic will:

Contain no more than one or two paragraphs to explain the most important concepts of a feature.
Contain an image or eLearning simulation/demonstration to support the text.
Treat users as learners… not users. (As far as I'm concerned, a Help System is really just an opportunity for the author to teach something.)

eLearning Best Practices

The perfect playtime for a typical eLearning lesson is 5 minutes (give or take a few minutes). However, if the lesson is expected to be included within a RoboHelp topic, the person who will view the lesson is looking for specific information, not necessarily a complete lesson. I'd encourage you to keep eLearning within a Help Topic much shorter than standard eLearning lessons; 30-90 seconds is the perfect amount of time to get a quick point across.

When creating content within Adobe Captivate, avoid using Captivate features that are not supported by mobile devices (such as Flash animations or rollovers). Prior to publishing a lesson, choose Project > HTML5 Tracker to open the HTML5 Tracker (shown below). If the HTML5 Tracker displays any Unsupported objects, consider visiting the affected slides and removing those objects.

Adobe Captivate: HTML5 Tracker

Choose Project > Skin Editor and edit the lesson's playbar so that it doesn't contain features that might cause problems within a Help Topic. For instance, in the image below, I've specifically deselected the Close option (lower left). I've found that if I embed a Captivate demo within a topic, the Close button on the Playbar doesn't work and will simply lead to learner confusion.

Adobe Captivate: Playbar Options

When publishing, take the learner's device into consideration. If the learner is going to use a standard Windows PC or Macintosh computer, SWF output is fine. However, if your learner is going to be using an Apple mobile device such as an iPad or iPhone, you'll need to select HTML5 from the Output Format Options area. You'll end up publishing two distinct output formats, but both can be imported into RoboHelp (at the same time).

Adobe Captivate: Publish as SWF and HTML5.

eLearning Integration within RoboHelp

Once you've published the Captivate lesson, getting it into a RoboHelp topic is simple. Open or create a topic and choose Import > Adobe Captivate Demo. From within the Adobe Captivate Demo dialog box, use the Browse button to the right of Multimedia Name and open the SWF; use the Browse button to the right of HTML5 Output and open the HTML5 start page.

Adobe RoboHelp: Importing Both SWF and HTML5.

When you generate WebHelp or HTML Help, RoboHelp will automatically use the SWF within the generated Help System. If you generate Multiscreen HTML5, RoboHelp will automatically use the HTML5 output for all of the screen layouts (although you can edit the Properties of the Desktop layout and force it to use the SWF output instead).

Note: If you'd like to see the process of embedding interactive eLearning within a Help System, check out my video demonstration on our YouTube channel.

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Looking to learn Captivate quickly? IconLogic offers multiple live, online Adobe Captivate 6 classes each month including Introduction to Adobe Captivate and Advanced Adobe Captivate. And if you're looking to learn Adobe RoboHelp, we offer a two-day introduction to RoboHelp class.

May 10, 2013

Writing & Grammar: Stylistic Conventions

by Jennie Ruby

Many words in the computer training industry have different stylistic conventions depending on your office preference or on the style guide you use. In this challenge, indicate your preferred treatment of these terms (you can post your answers as comments below):

email/e-mail

e-learning/e-Learning/E-Learning/ eLearning

m-learning/mLearning

website/Web site

Web page/web page

computer-based training/eLearning/asynchronous training using technology

the internet/the Internet (actually, most of the industry does capitalize that one)

HTML/html

Answers to Last Week's Mouse Move Challenge

Answers this week are brought to you by Tara Aukerman. Additional responses after the slash marks are provided by Clay Walnum and Ann Whitfield. Jane Edwards also adds this mouse move, which you can use for putting a folder or file name into editing mode: Southern double-click: Click once, pause, then slowly click again.

Press and release the left mouse button
— Click
Press and release the right mouse button
— Right-click
Roll the wheel on top of the mouse
— Scroll (up/down – never just "scroll to")/Use the mouse wheel
Quickly press and release the mouse button twice
— Double-click
Quickly press and release the mouse button three times
— Triple-click (but since this is uncommon, a parenthetical note like: "Click three times quickly")
Hold the mouse button down and move it from one point to another
— Click and drag (or just drag)
Put the mouse pointer over an item but do not click
— Roll over (for non-computer-saavy folks) or Hover (for computer saavy folks)/Rest the mouse pointer
Drag the mouse across text so that the text background changes color and you can then format or delete that text
— Select (because often users will double-click to highlight a word or triple-click to highlight a sentence) or Highlight
Use the highlighter tool to color the background of text
— Select the text and click
Hold down the shift button and click the left mouse button
–Press and hold the SHIFT key and click on XYZ (not a common problem for our audience so we've learned that anything else isn't specific enough)./SHIFT-click

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Looking for help with your writing technique? Jennie teaches two writing classes: Writing Effective eLearning Voiceover Scripts and eLearning: Writing Effective Scripts.

Already a writing wiz? Join Jennie to learn how to create effective quizzes and surveys.

September 20, 2011

Adobe Captivate: Quick Clicks and You’re Texting to Speech

by Kevin Siegel

The ability to convert text to speech using Captivate's built-in text to speech agents is awesome. All you need to do is select the slide note(s) you want to convert and then click the Text-to-Speech button.

Assuming you have installed NeoSpeech (a program that come with Captivate but needs to be installed manually), you will be able to choose from any one of five voices from the Speech Agent drop-down menu.

In addition to the five voices you get with Captivate, any voices that have already been installed on your computer will also appear in the Speech Agent drop-down menu. In the image below, Microsoft Anna, which comes with Windows, is also listed among the Speech Agents.

After selecting an agent, all you need to do is click the Generate Audio button to convert the selected text to an audio file. Simple! Of course, if you follow these simple steps, you won't get the agent you were hoping for in the generated audio.

In the image below, notice that I have selected Kate from the Speech Agent drop-down menu. However, Microsoft Anna is shown at the right of the dialog box. Most new Captivate developers (and even some vets) miss this little detail. If I were to click the Generate Audio button now, I'd end up with an audio file containing Microsoft Anna, not Kate.

Kate selected as the Speech Agent

There is one subtle thing you have to do before selecting an agent and then clicking the Generate Audio button: click just above the text you'd like to convert and ensure the space above the text turns gray (see the image below).

Kate re-selected as the Speech Agent.

If you miss this one simple click, you won't be using the agent you want… instead, you'll be using the default agent (which, as shown earlier, would have been Anna for me).