SCORM and mobile devices - Appsembler

Help & How-to

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SCORM and mobile devices

If SCORM content is HTML5 compliant, will it work on mobile?
Possibly, but not always. Here’s what we know…

Our initial testing has shown that SCORM content works on mobile if:

  • There is no flash
  • There are no pop-ups (something opening in a new tab/window) *
  • The content is responsive or designed for mobile viewing, or just happens to present well on mobile (otherwise, could encounter usability issues)
  • Offline viewing is either not an option or is properly addressed **

* Pop-ups: We performed initial tests with SCORM content provided by NYIF. These tests showed that some of the content provided by NYIF does have popups.

** Offline viewing: There are issues with connectivity and offline storage. (SCORM is a standard that wasn’t designed to work offline and synchronize data.) This is best described in greater detail in this technical overview by Moodle. (See section titled “Offline support”)

How to help our customers:

  • Ask what authoring tool they used to create their SCORM content. Some tools have mobile-specific output options we could ensure they are taking advantage of. We also may have future recommendations for authoring tools.
  • Invite customers to test their own content. HTML5 content will look and behave differently across various browsers and devices. This makes it critical to perform thorough cross-browser and cross-device testing. Jaime can provide a download link against any tahoe site or mobile-enabled enterprise site if the customer (or any member of our team) wants to do further testing.

Notes on authoring tools:
The KESDEE publisher SCORM content isn’t fully mobile compatible, as it uses popups to access table of contents/index navigation, glossary, some other things. It also has Flash in some cases. Claro and Lectora are better. Articulate has specific HTML5 output options.

HTML5 mobile compatibility (as of June 12, 2019):

  • Safari in Apple iOS 10 or later
  • Google Chrome in Apple iOS 10 or later,
  • Google Chrome in Android OS 4.4 or later

A bit more on HTML5, SCORM, and it’s evolving role in e-Learning:

  • HTML5 is a web standard that defines a set of rules on how content is created, organized and displayed in browsers.
  • SCORM defines a standard interface between an LMS and content (regardless of the authoring tool that was used to create that content).
  • HTML5 and How It’s Changed the World of E-Learning