Executive Summary
How difficult is it, though, to convert them? Especially if you’re using Articulate Storyline or Adobe Captivate as your tool. Isn’t it just as simple as clicking “Publish”? Not. Even if you can simply open an outdated course and submit it to HTML5, it’s unlikely to go off without a hitch. You’ll need to budget time to investigate and resolve problems, that is, Flash to Html5 conversion. And this is what today’s article is about.
A Brief Overview – It’s Time For Flash to Html5 Conversion
21 December 2020 The last gasp for this once revolutionary browser plugin was marked earlier this month when Adobe formally released Flash Player’s final version. Adobe will stop distributing, maintaining, and supporting Flash Player on January 1, 2021. Are you ready for Adobe Flash’s end of support?
When Flash was first launched in the 1990s, it was a ground-breaking piece of technology that allowed for multimedia content that completely changed the web. First-generation websites became dynamic, interactive pages with animations and multimedia content thanks to Flash, which changed them from boring, static, and text-heavy sites.
But as time passed, Flash became a notoriously bad source of security flaws. One survey from 2010 found that Flash Player was installed on 99 percent of all computers, making it a prime target for malware and online crooks.
- Why is Adobe Plugged out of Flash?
Security will likely be one of Adobe’s numerous considerations in retiring Flash. Even though Adobe has never stated outright that Flash’s susceptibility to cyberattacks is one of the primary motivations for its retirement, its “end of life” statement from 2017 stated that the company had made the decision “after collaborating with other tech giants which include Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Mozilla.”
The late Apple CEO was especially concerned about Flash’s security flaws in 2010 when he decided to remove it from the iPhone. In 2016, cybercriminals used Flash as a vulnerability to compromise almost all of the main desktop platforms, notably Microsoft.
Aside from security, there is a lot easier solution for Flash’s redundancy. For running online content in web browsers, a privately held proprietary plugin is no longer actually required or in high demand. An open-source alternative has emerged in recent years to do all the functions of Flash and more.
Two Main Motivations Behind Ending Flash
- Cleaning The House
Simply removing Flash from your environment could be more difficult than it seems. Before those Flash dependencies are removed, it can take some time.
Flash continues to be required by millions of public websites, business intranet sites, e-learning programs, and document management solutions. Businesses now have to keep older browsers that still support Flash in order to use those systems. Additionally, in order to stop the browser from updating and eventually uninstalling Flash, they will need to disable the automatic update feature.
A possible security risk and attack vector for malware, as well as other exploits, is created by using out-of-date browser versions and unsupported Adobe Flash. Other Flash conversion options include bundled browsers and “assist programs”. Any strategy should be thoroughly assessed to determine its level of complexity and usability. The main objective should be risk mitigation while moving away from Flash in web content and applications.
Although Flash Player played a significant part in the creation of the WWW, all technology eventually became obsolete. It’s time to upgrade to newer technology, even though doing so can be challenging.
- Perilous Business
Cybercriminals have a long history of using browser plugins’ innately lax security. Antivirus companies frequently struggle to identify harmful plugin activity without producing false positives because of how the plugin interacts with the web browser. Furthermore, plugins need many access rights, making them vulnerable to abuse.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s national vulnerability database contains more than 1,100 entries for Flash Player going back to 2002. The one software issue that was exploited the most in 2019 was thought to be a single vulnerability.
As concerns about security grew, new technologies appeared that offered many of the features that Flash Player invented. Adobe announced that it would no longer support Flash Player and that open standards like HTML5, WebGL, and WebAssembly have rendered Flash less useful.
The major browser vendors prefer these open standards. By the end of 2020, Flash Player will no longer be supported by Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, and Google Chrome.
Beginning on January 12, Flash-based content will no longer be able to run due to Adobe removing the download links for Flash Player from its website. The majority of browsers will disable Flash, but security professionals advise that you remove it from your entire environment to get rid of any security risks.
How To Handle It Now – The Flash To Html Conversion
We at Folio3 have extensive experience converting slides of material from Flash to HTML5, primarily in Storyline. Here is our recommendation based on that knowledge.
- Start Right Away!
In reality, it began two years ago.
- Look For The Most Detail-Oriented People
Some of the problems that arise are very subtle. In the original version, a word is bold; in the updated version, it is not. Three formerly aligned objects are no longer aligned. You’ll need a person with strong attention to detail to notice these details. We’ve discovered that the best way to catch these issues is to compare the initial and updated publish side by side. This brings me to…
- Prioritize The Problems You Need To Fix
Some problems, including text rendering that leads to overlapping text blocks, must be fixed immediately. You should be concerned about that, and fortunately, a solution is simple. A word that ought to be bolded but isn’t? Not really important. (However, it is simple to repair, so why not?) Other problems, though, are little annoyances that are also difficult or impossible to resolve.
- Some Things Won’t Make Sense
Conversion might be unpredictable. There will be unforeseen failures. A drop shadow could appear odd on one slide while appearing normal on all the other slides. Sometimes I just have to fix something without attempting to figure out why it must be corrected, putting my troubleshooting curiosity to rest.
- Recreate Some Content
The easiest solution is to recreate those slides that just won’t work anymore. If the feature that was used to create the slides is no longer available, you may need to reconstruct them in other situations. For instance, earlier versions of Articulate Studio included games that are no longer accessible. Those slides require reconstruction. There is no HTML5 counterpart for Adobe Captivate’s rollover objects. They must be reconstructed.
- Brace Yourself To Change Design
The buttons and controls on some features, such as those in the new software version, might not look the same. There may be differences in how some things work, such as various navigational options. Stakeholder clearance may be required for anything that has a changed appearance, and you may want to talk to them about whether or not you want to use features that weren’t previously available.
- Alter The Content As Needed
Stakeholders will probably find things they wish to modify if they revisit your courses. Establish up front whether the project is a conversion or an upgrade.
- Give Adequate Time
We’ve been spending, on average, about 30 minutes for each slide for Storyline conversions, thoroughly testing it on various mobile devices and browsers.
Conclusion
Of course, the procedure of Flash to Html5 conversion may take significantly longer if you lack the source files, utilize an outdated authoring program, or have never enabled HTML5 publishing support. You can use the interactive flowchart to assist you in choosing a course of action if you find yourself in any of these circumstances.
You may also show stakeholders this brief film about Flash’s passing if they ask why all of this is required.
