by Jennie Ruby, COTP
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Website Accessibility: 17 Steps You Can Take Today to Ensure Future 508 Compliance
Until now, website accessibility hasn't been a big concern for most business owners, marketers, and content creators. Owners of brick and mortar stores, restaurants, and office buildings are required by law to accommodate the needs of customers with disabilities via wheelchair ramps, braille product signage, accessible restrooms, and more.
As a website owner, you will soon be required to deliver website design and content that is accessible to people with a wide range of disabilities including blindness and low vision, deafness and hearing loss, learning disabilities, cognitive limitations, limited movement, speech disabilities, and photo sensitivity.
By 2018, The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is expected to roll out official compliance guidelines concerning online accessibility for the disabled as part of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The DOJ will soon be expecting all websites (Federal government, state/local government, and private companies) to accommodate people with disabilities. Whether the DOJ will implement web accessibility standards is not a matter of "if," but "when."
Waiting until it's the law may still make your organization legally vulnerable in the meantime if you aren't in compliance, as organizations such as Peapod, Target, Reebok, and the NBA have already found out. All of them have already been sued for website accessibility non-compliance.
Attend this 3-hour live, interactive and online session and you’ll learn about the WCAG 2.0 Guidelines and what you must do to make your website functionality and content accessible today and in the future.
Sign Up for IconLogic’s Free Weekly “Skills & Drills” Newsletter
It's been said that nothing good or useful is ever really free. Whoever said hasn't read our weekly "Skills & Drills" newsletter. Not only is the newsletter very, very free, and not only does it come out each and every week, it's chock-full of awesome tips, tricks, and news covering technical communication software (think Adobe FrameMaker, Adobe RoboHelp, and MadCap Flare) and eLearning tools (think Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, Adobe and Articulate Presenter, and TechSmith Camtasia), writing (think step-by-step documentation, eLearning scripts and storyboards), and training best practices (for both live, online training and in-person training).
The next issue goes out today (1 p.m. Eastern). Sign up and you'll learn about controlling Adobe Captivate quiz feedback questions, get an introduction to generating forms in MadCap Flare, and learn about an opportunity to get certified as an online training professional.
Are you ready to exercise your brain with this week's "skills & drills?" Sign up now! (Remember, it really is 100% free!)
TechSmith Camtasia: Enhanced Library Assets
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eLearning: Attention, Attention!
by Kevin Siegel 
A few years ago I wrote about the perfect playtime for an eLearning lesson (or module). In my article, I referenced a piece by the BBC, Turning into Digital Goldfish, where the author said "The addictive nature of web browsing can leave you with an attention span of a goldfish."
In my eLearning 101: Introduction to eLearning class, I discuss learner attention span and refer often to the domestic goldfish. Believe it or not, research has been done that says the attention span of a goldfish is actually 9 seconds.
So does that mean that a person surfing the web gets distracted in 9-seconds? Of course not, that would be silly. In my class, I tell attendees that typical human attention spans are between 12 and 15 seconds. 15 seconds! Does that surprise you? If so, look at the bright side… that's better than a goldfish.
And as I mentioned in my first article, an adult learner accessing your eLearning content will have an even greater attention span than a typical web surfer. In my experience developing eLearning, I put the attention span of an adult learner at 15-20 seconds per slide or scene. But I have long come to realize that if the slide/scene plays any longer, my learners will begin to fog out.
Times have changed… and I need your attention for another moment (see what I did there?).
Remember when I said that the typical attention span of a web surfer was 9 seconds? Hold onto your hat. According to Microsoft and an article published online by Time, we now lose our concentration in a mere 8 seconds. That's right… we've now gone "sub-goldfish."
According to the article, "Microsoft found that since the year 2000 (or about when the mobile revolution began) the average attention span dropped from 12 seconds to eight seconds."
The article went on to say, "Microsoft theorized that the changes were a result of the brain's ability to adapt and change itself over time and a weaker attention span may be a side effect of evolving to a mobile Internet.
"The survey also confirmed generational differences for mobile use; for example, 77% of people aged 18 to 24 responded 'yes' when asked, 'When nothing is occupying my attention, the first thing I do is reach for my phone,' compared with only 10% of those over the age of 65."
I'd love your feedback on this. What kind of attention span are you seeing with your eLearning? And given your findings, how long are your typical eLearning modules playing? (Feel free to leave your feedback as comments below.)
Adobe Captivate Prime: The Fluidic Player
by Sean Mullen
The Fluidic Player is the universal content playback experience for Captivate Prime and allows for a simple, unified playback experience, regardless of the type of content being played. Content types include MP4, PPTXs, DOCX, Adobe Captivate or Adobe Presenter projects, SCORM or AICC packages, and even xAPI-compliant content for your mLearning projects. Thank you HTML5!
Adding the Fluidic Player is really smart on Adobe's part, something they clearly heard loud and clear when speaking with customers for the two years they took to design and develop Captivate Prime. The Captivate Prime team also manages the Adobe Captivate and Adobe Presenter products. Both tools allow you to create customized playback experiences for the learner. While this flexibility is great for the content developer, it isn't always ideal for the learner because they need to learn how to use/access different playbars, sidebars, player icons, TOCs, Notes, and Search options, just to name a few.
Thanks to the Fluidic Player, learners will be able to bookmark any section of the course, or add explanatory notes at any point in their content, which they can reference during revisions.
My hope is that down the road the Notes can be shared with other learners in an organization.
There are also buttons on the Player for a TOC, Closed Captions, and Full Screen.
The Table of Contents is clean, but maybe a bit light on features at the moment. Closed captioning, which appears across the bottom of the content, also has a clean appearance. Lastly, the Full Screen toggle works great and is very responsive.
“Adobe Captivate 9: Beyond The Essentials” Workbook Now Shipping
We are proud to announce that our newest "skills and drills" workbook is now shipping.
"Adobe Captivate 9: Beyond The Essentials" is a self-paced training manual that teaches the higher-end, more advanced functionality of Adobe Captivate.
By following step-by-step instructions, you will improve your screen recording skills via project templates and by pre-editing your text captions. You'll learn how to create and produce video projects that will enable you to record screen actions in real-time. Then, after learning how to import questions into Captivate using the GIFT format, you'll learn how to create a random quiz using question pools and random question slides.
Is creating responsive eLearning a hot topic in your corporate training initiative? You'll learn how to create eLearning lessons that reflow to fit just about any kind of display (including desktops, laptops, tablets, and smart phones). You'll also learn how to create responsive projects from scratch, and how to edit and produce responsive content.
You'll fine-tune your production skills by learning about object styles, master slides, themes, and advanced actions. You'll learn to engage the learner like never before by using variables, widgets, and interactions. You will also learn how to create branching scenarios that will enable learners to plot their own learning path.
You'll ensure your eLearning and mLearning output can be used by people with disabilities by adding such 508-compliant features as accessibility text and closed captions. You'll learn about SCORM, SCORM Cloud, AICC, TinCan, SCOs, Manifests, and how to upload a published lesson into a Learning Management System.
Articulate Storyline: Animation Painting Anyone?
by Kal Hadi
The Animation Painter in Articulate Storyline 2 lets you create perfect Storyline animation effects for one object and then quickly copy those animation effects to other objects. Here's how:
Create an animation effect
- Select the object you want to animate.
- Click the Animations tab.
- Click the star icon for the type of animation you want to add (entrance, exit, or motion path).
- Select an animation effect.
- The default duration of entrance and exit animations is 0.75 seconds while motion paths default to 2 seconds. To change duration, enter the required time in the Duration field. (The duration ranges from 0.1 seconds to 59 seconds.)
- Select Effect Options to choose options for entrance and exit animations.
- Select Path Options to edit the path options for motion path animations.
Use the Animation Painter to Reuse the animation
- Select the object animation that you want to use
- On the Animations tab, click Animation Painter
- Click any other object (or objects) in your project to apply the effects
Note: To apply the same animation to multiple objects, click the Animation Painter twice to lock it in the "on position." When you are finished painting, click the Animation Painter once to unlock it (or press the Esc key).
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Looking for training or help with Articulate Storyline or Studio? Check out these awesome live, online Articulate classes.
eLearning: Color Design Challenges
by Sally Cox 
This is the first in a series I am creating on "eLearning Challenges." Over the coming weeks I will address common issues I run into when designing eLearning projects and offer tips for solving them.
Color as a Training Aid
I use color to train learners to interact with my eLearning content. For instance, I use a single color for all of my interactive objects. In the image below, there are several interactive buttons. Although the buttons might look different, they are similar in color.
By only using a specific color on interactive objects, users become accustomed to engaging with the interactive objects. In this case, I would also make all interaction instructions ("Press here for more info," for example) blue as well.
Seeing Red?
In my experience, corporate style guides prohibit the use of red unless it's a part of the corporate brand. Another problem with using the color red is readability. When used on text and then viewed on a computer screen (or a mobile device), most learners will agree that the red color makes text harder to read. As an alternative to red, I often use orange.
Bright Colors
I tend to use bright colors in my designs, but I use them sparingly. In the image below, you see a series of nine rectangles on the lower right. Notice which colors grab your attention first.
For me, it's challenging to focus on anything in the image above because I am drawn to the bright blue, the neon yellow, bright red, orange, and green. I hardly even notice the dark gray objects. Use bright colors only as needed, and sparingly. Too many bright colors distract your learner and inhibit learning. Notice the more muted, toned down yellow I used for the text boxes. It's a nice shade that is far less distracting than the neon yellow.
Note: The images above are from my YouTube video on this subject; find it here.
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Looking to get started with eLearning? Check out our 3-hour mini courses.
Green Screen on a Shoestring: Part III, Production
by John Gillmore and Bucky Dodd
In the previous installment of this series, we provided a purchasing "checklist" for setting up a green screen video production studio. Part III of this tutorial series explains the production steps for recording, editing, processing and encoding video for use in Adobe Captivate eLearning lessons.
Step 1: Develop a detailed script that not only describes what the talent will say, but also what they will do while on screen. Be sure to include how the talent will enter and exit the screen and what non-verbal gestures should be performed.
Step 2: Set up the studio in a room that allows all equipment to be operated properly and still allows production staff to be comfortable. In this step, the critical production factor is the lighting. The lights should be positioned so the talent is evenly lit and the solid green background is free from any shadows and also lit evenly.
The talent should be positioned as far away from the background as possible, while still providing the desired frame for the video. This reduces shadows and greatly improves the quality of the end product.
Step 3: Establish and test the video recorder's settings for optimal performance. For audio, make the appropriate connections with the wireless microphone system and ensure the audio levels are within an acceptable range. Next, set the camcorder's recording sessions to record the video at 720p at 60fps (frames per second). Record the talent performing the script several times.
Step 4: Import the video into Adobe Premiere CS4 for editing and processing. To begin, trim the video so it starts and stops at the desired locations. Apply the Boris FX chroma key filter to the video by activating the plug-in and choosing the background color you would like to remove with the plug-in's color picker. Adjust the chroma key filter so all the background color is removed and the transparent background is free of any processing artifacts. You may find that having a still image of the Captivate lesson's interface placed behind the video will help with adjusting the video's settings and placement.
Step 5: Encode the processed video by selecting File > Export > Media. This will open a dialog box for setting the encoding parameters. Encode the video content as Flash Video (.FLV) and select the option to encode the alpha layer. This allows the background color that is removed by the chroma key plug-in to remain transparent. After choosing the encoding settings and clicking the OK button the Adobe Media Encoder (packaged with Adobe Premiere CS4) will launch automatically. Select Start Que to begin the encoding process.
Once this process is complete, you have a video in .FLV format where the background has been removed, leaving just the talent. This video can be used in a variety of ways to support and enhance the instructional value of eLearning lessons.
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About the authors: John Gillmore is an Instructional Technologist with the University of Oklahoma's Center for Professional and Distance Education (CPDE). In this role, John researches, analyzes and evaluates new technologies for potential applications in instruction; promotes the implementation of technological innovations; creates demonstrations of instructional applications of technologies; and provides assistance to faculty, staff and administrators who have instructional technology needs. In addition, John teaches freshman information systems courses at UCO. John has a B.S. in Business Information Systems from the University of Phoenix and an MBA from UCO.
Bucky Dodd is an instructional designer at the Center for Professional and Distance Education at the University of Central Oklahoma. His professional interests include innovation in eLearning, workplace learning and performance trends, and instructional design. Mr. Dodd has instructional design and consulting experience in both public and private organizations. He holds a B.A. in Corporate Communication and a M.Ed. in Adult Education from the University of Central Oklahoma.