Development standards for e-learning… a starting point
My attempt at outlining standards and best practices throughout the e-learning development cycle.
SCORM API Wrapper updated to 1.1.2
Two small but important edits.
HTML 5: The strong element
In the new HTML 5 proposal, the strong element is being modified to represent “importance rather than strong emphasis.”
New: SCORM API wrapper for ActionScript 2.0
I just finished an ActionScript 2.0 class file meant to be a companion to my JavaScript SCORM API wrapper. It includes a bunch of type checking, type conversion, and error-checking, and works with both SCORM 1.2 and 2004.
A revised SCORM API wrapper
I’ve been a longtime user of the ADL wrapper (with code from the late Claude Ostyn), and to be honest, it’s pretty much met my needs. But I was never completely comfortable with the wrapper for two reasons: 1) The code is hard to read with confusing and overly complicated looking variable names, and 2) the code made heavy use of global variables, which in this Web 2.0 world is a big no-no. This past week I decided to roll up my sleeves and make a new SCORM API wrapper that takes care of these issues.
Loading Captivate files into an AS3 Flash SWF
I researched the different methods available for AVM1 to AVM2 communication, and discovered there are a few workarounds that can enable the AS3 SWF to communicate with the AS2 SWF. I spent the entire day whipping up a Captivate-specific proof-of-concept.
Tip: Quick and efficient screenshots without special software
Here’s a really simple way to get screenshots without needing any special software.
Assistive computer technology and web accessibility
Just thought I’d pass this link on: http://www.assistiveware.com/videos.php (short write-up here — thanks to Roger Johansson for the link.)
These are video profiles of people with disabilities — mild to severe — who use assistive computer technology to improve their lives. Some people use the computers to simply help them with their jobs (such as a blind person who is a professional French-to-English translator), while others use their computers as a lifeline to the rest of the world.
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Armed with a basic understanding of accessibility, and with a little planning, a web developer can create courses and/or websites that contain rich content — even Flash movies and videos — while supporting a majority of assistive computer/alternative web browsing technologies.
ActionScript, JavaScript, and SCORM
For the last week, I’ve been doggedly attempting to create a hybrid of Flash-to-JavaScript communication techniques for creating cross-browser SCORM-conformant courses that work with almost any version of Flash Player. Today I threw in the towel. Here’s my story.
A cross-browser JavaScript prompt
While working on a project earlier today, I discovered a nasty little problem… Internet Explorer v7 (IE7) disables prompt() by default! This means you can’t rely on prompt() being available in IE7 when building your online applications. I decided to make a workaround using Microsoft’s proprietary showModalDialog function.