My department, OIDI, recently purchased a license for SmartBuilder and we began learning to use the tool for future projects.
Melissa Hicks mentioned that she was talking with Mark Heckel about the tool. I just caught up with him on the phone and he shared some very useful insights…
Accessibility
- content is only accessible is if it is being run Windows 8 on a Windows XP machine (?) using Window Eyes (a screen reader); user has to manually turn on CC and if this is done the audio is turned off
- when asked if SmartBuilder will be upgraded to be more accessible, their (Nab’s) reply was that it is a possibility for the future (one to two years potentially if ever)
Interface/Features
- A number of the commands are not very intuitive (publishing courses for example)
- The layers feature and working with multiple displays is clunky
- Lacks the ability to create back-end database integration that is relatively easy to do with HTML5
- YouTube content doesn’t import [well] into SmartBuilder
Propriety
- HTML5 developers are far more common than those with expertise in SmartBuilder here at Penn State; Bill Rose comments that there is a new LinkedIn presence/community growing
Publishing
- entirely Flash – this impacts the accessibility of the published content and playback, or rather lack there of, on iOS devices; also Tim Plummer confirmed that “Adobe is shelving Flash” – so why would we build new content in a technology that is being phased out by the originators of Flash?
- defaults to save on their servers – there was concern over where the content would reside
- fixed resolution – a specific resolution or size of the project has to be established and the content is fixed at that size as opposed to being flexible for viewing across a range of devices; content that is larger than the specified resolution results in scroll bars that have proven to be problem when they nest within one another; this contrasts with the fluidity of developing in HTML5
Update 2/14/13 – A formal response from Leif Cederblom of SmartBuilder
Hi Kent,
My name is Leif. I’m the Director of User Experience at Suddenly Smart. I’m writing because I saw a post you had made a few months back regarding why you thought SmartBuilder was not a good choice for developers there at Penn State.
I agree with your points regarding our current Accessibility situation. Flash has been a bear to deal with, and even despite our best efforts, Flash has made it nearly impossible. Unfortunately, Adobe has not been a great development platform for a number of reasons, and this is a prime example.
Your points about HTML 5 are also valid, but (and here’s the main reason for asking your further reflection…) we are releasing an HTML 5 conversion utility for SmartBuilder next month. This conversion utility is part of the core code of our next version of SmartBuilder. (It’s really not an if ever thing… this is something we’re furiously working toward.)
In the meantime, this HTML 5 conversion utility will also put us a step closer to having a better solution for accessibility.
Regarding one of your other criticisms that our displays are cludgy, well… I partially agree with you there, but also would point out that their functionality has enabled some advanced capabilities that are very valuable for building more robust content — in particular regarding the Flow Chart.
You mentioned that we lack the ability to do back-end database integration, but that is not in fact true. SmartBuilder has a Server Communication object built-in that does just that. (To be fair, this feature is more about data reporting, than reading in large amounts of content.)
YouTube content can be played through our iFrame object, which is pretty easy to use. (It’s true that you do need to publish your content to view the final result when using the iFrame though.)
The publish process is done a bit differently from other tools because it is a server-based product, not a desktop product. It needs to be published and downloaded in two distinct steps.
As for your content residing on our server, that is a choice that Penn State made. You could install SmartBuilder on an internal server there (and actually empower as many authors as you wanted for a very reasonable price.)
I realize that for relatively static content, HTML 5 does have some benefits. However, the reason behind SmartBuilder, and why it continues to be a popular tool in the market-place is because it allows people to go beyond building static content, and get into building more interactive exercises. While HTML 5 does have these capabilities, as our content converter will show, most other tools still focus on very topical levels of interactivity.
I’m making the assumption that others listen to your advice, so I am hoping to change your mind about SmartBuilder, and encourage you to give it a second chance. While it may be more tool than necessary for just getting content online, it is a unique tool in allowing instructors to build more meaningful practice exercises. SmartBuilder can still build content that no other authoring platform can. It also would allow your organization to re-use, share and collaborate on content in a way that only a content management system can.
Seeing as that you don’t have a community account of SmartBuilder, I’m not even sure if you’ve seen it personally first-hand, so if you’d like a personal tour of the software, I would be happy to take the time to assist with that. Between our innovative approach to accomplishing more advanced tasks, and our unlimited live support policy for clients, I think you would find it to be very well-supported, and actually quite a fun tool to work with. (It really takes off the design blinders and let’s you build pretty much whatever you want.)
Thanks for your time Kent.
I look forward to being a resource.
Cheers,
Leif (11/29/12)