The Logical Blog by IconLogic

eLearning: More Reflection

by Kevin Siegel   

Last week I wrote about how you can use Reflector to create software simulations and demonstrations from your mobile device.

I received emails from several people who, having read the article, downloaded Reflector and attempted to create a simulation using Adobe Captivate or Articulate Storyline. While most folks were successful in reflecting the mobile device onto the computer, several people reported that none of the actions they took on the mobile device were captured by the eLearning tool. 

As I mentioned in last week's article, the reflection of the mobile device you see on the computer is passive; you cannot control the reflection with the computer. Instead, you can simply see what's happening on the mobile device through your computer.

During the simulation recording process, if you're creating a software simulation, programs like Captivate and Storyline only capture the screen if you click your mouse (or manually create a screen capture by pressing the appropriate keyboard shortcut). Since you're not clicking anything on your computer (remember, the computer is simply showing you a reflection of the mobile device), neither Captivate nor Storyline will capture anything.Unless...

On your computer, start the recording process using Captivate or Storyline. Just prior to performing an action on your mobile device, click the reflection on your computer to create a screen capture. Next, on the mobile device, perform the action. Back on the computer, click the reflection again to create a second screen shot that shows the result of whatever it is you did on the mobile device. Continue this process over and over until you have completed all of the processes you wish to simulate on the mobile device.

If clicking over and over again to create a simulation sounds too difficult, all three of the top eLearning development tools (Camtasia Studio, Captivate, and Storyline) excel at creating videos. If you create a video of the reflected mobile device, everything you do on the mobile device is captured because the video isn't creating individual screen shots, it's capturing everything you do without discrimination. 

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If you'd like to learn more about eLearning, come hang out in my next eLearning basics mini course. And if you'd like to learn more Captivate, Presenter, or Storyline, we've got a great collection of live, online classes for you.

User Assistance: HUDs in Technical Communication

by Tony Self  

 

Did you ever see the 1986 movie "Top Gun?" If so, perhaps you recall seeing gun-sights, cross-hairs, warning messages, and air speeds displayed as green text on the cockpit windshield of the jets. What you saw in the movie was an early Head Up Display (HUD). If Top Gun is too old for you, how about Iron Man? HUD was featured prominently in that movie as well.

While HUDs may seem like something you'll find only in fighter jets or the movies, they are actually creeping into everyday life. For instance, HUDs are now installed as standard equipment in many cars displaying speed, distance, and messages onto the windshield. Drivers don't need to move their head up or down to read the text; they can keep looking straight ahead.

If your car isn't equipped with a HUD, you can use your smart phone, download a HUD app, place the phone on the dashboard, and reflect an inverted readout onto the windshield. And you can purchase HUD navigation systems (such as the unit shown below from Garmin).

   

There's a new type of HUD that's attracting lots of attention: Google Glass. Glass isn't the only product of its type on the market (there are dozens), but it attracts the most publicity. These wearable technology products display text in a tiny HUD in a pair of lens-less spectacles. The text displayed depends on the application; it could be the current time, an appointment, alerts... but it could also be procedural information, checklists, or product descriptions.

What does HUD technology have to do with technical communication? HUDs will provide innovative new ways to deliver technical information. For instance, Virgin Atlantic is currently testing Google Glass at Heathrow Airport. According to CNN, "The airline is conducting a six-week experiment with the wearable technology for passengers in its Upper Class Lounge at London. With data flashing before their eyes, staff can update customers on their latest flight information, as well as weather and events at their destination."

 Source: CNN

If the Virgin Atlantic tests prove successful, the opportunities for technical communicators are endless. Beyond simply documenting HUD devices and applications, technical documentation and eLearning content could actually be displayed on a HUD. There will be challenges of course. Writers looking to create content for HUDs will need to embrace writing techniques such as minimalism and separation of content and form. Nevertheless, it will be possible for technical communicators to one day deliver to this new media... a layer above reality. 

Adobe Captivate: Best Practices for Creating Compliant eLearning

by Kevin Siegel

A few years ago I was in Canada teaching Captivate for a large Toronto-based company. We were just getting ready to cover the accessible features found in Captivate when I was informed that I could skip the section because Canadians were not required to create accessible content.

Fast forward to a recent online Advanced Captivate class that included students from South America, Australia, and Canada.In speaking about accessibility with the class, it became apparent not only does the Canadian government now require compliant eLearning, but according to the Canadian students in class, the rules in Canada are often more stringent than those in the United States. I was also happy to learn that other counties, such as Australia, are also addressing accessibility when it comes to eLearning.

If compliant eLearning is a requirement for you, I would encourage you to review your local laws to familiarize yourself with as much information as possible. If you work in the United States, or create eLearning content for a U.S. company, you can learn everything you ever wanted to know about Section 508 compliance online. If you are working with Canadian companies, you should familiarize yourself with the Canadian compliance laws. (Note: The Section 508 website may be down due to the U.S. Govt. shutdown. If so, you'll need to try accessing the site once the shutdown is over.)

What Does Captivate do to be Section 508 Compliant?

Selecting the Enable Accessibility option (Edit > Preferences > Publishing) makes certain elements in Adobe Captivate projects accessible or open to accessibility technology. For example, if you select the Enable Accessibility option and you have filled in the project name and project description text boxes in Project preferences, a screen reader will read the name and description when the Adobe Captivate SWF file is played.

The following Adobe Captivate elements are accessible when Enable Accessibility is selected:

• Project name (derived from Project Properties)
• Project description (derived from Project Properties)
• Slide accessibility text
• Slide label (derived from Slide Properties)
• Buttons
• Playback controls (The function of each button is read by screen readers)
• Password protection (If an Adobe Captivate SWF file is password protected, the prompt for a password is read by screen readers)
• Question slides (Title, question, answers, button text, and scoring report are read by screen readers)

Output generated with the Section 508 option is displayed by all supported browsers. However, your output may not be Section 508-compliant unless it is viewed with Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer is the only browser with support for MSAA (Microsoft Active Accessibility).

Note: To access Flash files using a screen reader, users must have Flash Player 9 or later installed.

Tips for Creating 508-compliant Adobe Captivate SWF Files

While Adobe Captivate Section 508 output is compliant for navigation, make sure that other elements are also compliant in your project. Assistive software must be able to "read" elements on the screen to visually impaired users. Use these tips to design accessible projects.

• In the Project preferences, write a meaningful name and description for your Adobe Captivate projects.
• For users with hearing impairment, add text equivalents for audio elements. For example, when delivering narrative audio, it is important to provide captions at the same time. One option is to place a transparent caption in a fixed location on slides, then synchronize the text with the audio using the Timeline.
• If your project contains visual multimedia, provide information about the multimedia for users with visual impairment. If a name and description are given for visual elements, Adobe Captivate can send the information to the user through the screen reader. Make sure that audio in your Adobe Captivate projects does not prevent users from hearing the screen reader.
• Supply text for individual slides that screen readers can read.
• Ensure that color is not the only means of conveying information. For example, if you use blue to indicate active links, also use bold, italics, underlining, or some other visual clue. In addition, make sure that foreground and background contrast sufficiently to make text readable by people with low vision or color blindness.
• For users with either visual or mobility impairment, ensure that controls are device independent or accessible by keyboard.
• Users with cognitive impairments often respond best to uncluttered design that is easily navigable.
• If mouse movement is critical in your Adobe Captivate project, consider making the pointer twice its normal size for easier viewing.
• Document methods of accessibility for users.
• Avoid looping objects. When a screen reader encounters content meant for Flash Player, the screen reader notifies the user with audio, such as "Loading....load done." As content in a project changes, Flash Player sends an event to the screen reader notifying it of a change. In response, the screen reader returns to the top of the page and begins reading again. Therefore, a looping text animation on a slide, for example, can cause the screen reader to continually return to the top of the page.
• If you are creating click boxes, you can make them more accessible by adding sound. The sound can play when users tab to the click box or hover over it. To add this accessibility feature, attach a sound file to the hint caption. (If you do not want the hint caption to appear on the slide, you can make the caption transparent and add no text.)
• Accessibility in Adobe Captivate works better when all the slides have interactive content.

Source: Adobe, Creating Accessible Projects

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Looking for training on Adobe Captivate? IconLogic offers multiple live, online Adobe Captivate classes each month including Introduction to Adobe Captivate and Advanced Adobe Captivate.

MobiLogic: Inside iOS 7

by Kevin Siegel 

Apple, Inc. released iOS 7 last week, its latest and greatest operating system for its mobile devices (iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch). The last time Apple offered an update to its iOS, several IconLogic staffers wasted little time and installed the update. Some of us paid the price for being zealous. There was lost data (a few iPads lost Contacts, Calendars, photos or all three), performance issues and bugs.

This time we resisted the temptation to immediately download and install the new iOS wholesale. Instead, I selected a single iPad 3 to serve as a guinea pig. After backing up the iPad's data, I went to Settings > General > Software Update. The download file is huge--I'd suggest plugging your device into a power source prior to downloading. And because iOS 7 is such a large download, you'll need to be connected to Wi-Fi. Once the download completed for me, it only took a few moments to install the software.

The first thing you'll notice after restarting the newly updated mobile device is that the security keypad has been redesigned (assuming you have assigned a password to your device). Upon accessing the device, you'll then notice that the interface has a fresh, clean look and feel. Personally, I like the new look, but I've read several reviews where people simply didn't like it.

Images courtesy Apple.com.

I'm not going to spend any time here discussing the pros or cons of the new look since it's really a personal preference. Instead, I'd like to cover a few of the cooler features I've found and where some of the old features have gone.

Closing An Application: It used to be that closing an application required you to press the Home button twice, which displayed the running applications along the bottom of the screen. From there you would press and hold any of the application icons and tap a red minus sign to close the application. In iOS 7, you still press the Home button twice to display running applications. However, if you press and hold an application icon, you no longer get a minus sign. In iOS 7, you simply swipe up to close an application. Personally, I like the change (once I figured it out). In the old iOS, I constantly had people tell me that the minus sign didn't make sense. Those folks typically confused the red minus sign with the minimize button found in Windows. The general feeling was that the minus sign was counter-intuitive. (Don't even get me started with telling you about how many people intended to close an application, only to delete it. It seems that many folks confused the "x" that appeared on an icon when attempting to delete an application with the minus sign meant for closing an application.)

Searching: In previous versions of the iOS, pressing the Home button multiple times took you to a Spotlight Search window. Since I am constantly losing which screen contains specific applications (and I have around 9 screens), I relied on the Search window a ton. In iOS 7, I was dismayed to find the the Search window appeared to be removed. I quickly discovered, however, that it hasn't been removed, only moved. To bring up the Search window, simply swipe any window down to reveal a Search panel at the top of the screen.

Teaching Siri a Thing Or Two: In the previous iOS, Siri had a hard time pronouncing some words. In iOS 7, you can simply say "you didn't pronounce that correctly" or "that's not how you pronounce that" and a series of screens will appear where you can train Siri. You can now also use Siri to enable or disable such features on your device such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Simply press and hold the Home button to start Siri and say, for example, "Turn on Wi-Fi."

Adding Message Timestamps: If you've sent text messages with the Apple mobile devices, you know that a time stamp was added at the beginning of a conversation. Curious to learn when a message was sent in iOS 7? Swipe the message bubble to the left.

Improving Performance Issues: I noticed that my iPad lagged a bit after installing iOS 7 (I could actually out-type the keyboard, which is saying something given how "fast" I type. After resetting all of my settings, the speed returned. Here are some things to try if you notice your mobile device slows down after installing iOS 7. 

• Reset your settings. Go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Settings. Note: If you go this route, you will have to enter all of your device settings again (such as your Wi-Fi keys). You won't lose any data, but it takes time to re-enter all of the settings.
• Restart the Device. Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button for a few seconds until the red "slide to power off" slider appears, and then slide the slider. Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button until the Apple logo appears.
• Reset Your Device. Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button together for at least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears. Apple recommends this only if you are unable to restart it.

Found a cool iOS 7 feature? Please share via a comment below.

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Note: As with all software updates, there are bugs. One of the bugs I mention above is a loss of performance. Beyond bugs, some of the applications currently on your device may no longer work with the new iOS. Prior to updating to any new OS, ensure your favorite applications either have an update or will continue to work. If you're nervous about bugs, consider holding back on upgrading until patches are announced by Apple. (iOS 7.1 can't be that far behind.)