We recently interviewed two of our top in-house eLearning consultants and course developers, Kenny Dyer and Erin Cochran, on their thoughts from Adobe’s announcement about the official retirement of Flash coming up on December 31, 2020.
Here is what our experts had to say on how it will impact the learning community and what you can do to prepare.
Interview Series
Rupa: Hi team! In regard to Flash, what is happening on December 31, 2020?
Kenny: Adobe announced in 2017 that it is officially retiring Flash on December 31, 2020. Any Flash content that is a part of an online training course will no longer function and launch in browsers.
Rupa: Wow, this is an important change to the learning community as a whole. Can you help elaborate on why LMS admins should care about this change?
Kenny: All the training you have created in the last several years is most likely using Flash, and that means it will not function after December 31st.
Rupa: What tips do you have for the learning community to proactively prepare for and support this change?
Kenny:
- Identify courses in your catalog utilizing Flash (e.g. .swf, .flv files).
- Convert Flash based courses to HTML 5 in your course authoring tool and republish.
- Replace the courses on your learning platform with the newly published files in HTML 5 version.
Erin: This is also an opportune time for your team to evaluate if some of your content can be archived.
Rupa: Those are insightful tips, Kenny and Erin—thank you for sharing your expertise!
In conclusion, this is an impactful change for your learning catalog. We recommend proactively updating your eLearning content before support for Adobe Flash is retired and your users are left with non-functioning courses in your catalog.
If you need help converting your courses to HTML5 or have questions about Flash retirements, eSkillz has a team of content experts that can help you convert or develop custom, interactive content using the latest tools and technology.
