Item: Adobe Captivate
Rating: 9
Author: caralyn karaitis

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Use it for building web-based training. SCORMed for a Moodle LMS. Business problems are it has fallen behind in functionality. Looking forward to seeing what Charm has to offer in the pretest today. We need to program a lot of behind-the-scenes functionality to do our quizzes and interactions the way we need to. We would like to add animations from ANimate, but the OEM file doesn't work well in Adobe Captivate. Layering a GIF file is complicated too. The VR capability is extremely limited and clunky. Hoping Charm will integrate more with other Adobe CC products like AE, AN, CH, PR, etc. Also, hoping 508 accessibility ALT text, CC, and the tab order is much easier than Adobe Captivate 2019. It would be nice to have MP4 CC editable and use the industry standard file type to import the CC test into Adobe Captivate instead of hand typing it. We do gov contracts, and 508 is super important. We would love to meld animation into Adobe Captivate, but AE doesn't seem to export a format for Adobe Captivate. Hoping Charm will help here. My ISDs want to jump off to Articulate, so keeping my fingers crossed for Charm.

Pros and Cons

Advanced Actions
Reading active text on screen
TTS and Closed caption with Notes
Text input
Masters
Color input

Bullets animation (as like in PPT) in one text box, not one each bullet.
Import animations from AE or CP easier. OEM files don't play well with layers or advanced actions.
Accessibility, 508 compliance could be easier.
Import Closed captioning created in Premier using the standard industry file format.
VR and 360 function is not 508 compliant.
Option to Keep ALT text if updating an image instead of having to replace it. Retyping it is annoying.
Option to Keep CC applied to a video file if it needs updating. Retyping it is annoying.
Move asset button away from the library panel. We click it when the library window closes.
Make updating images as easy as it is for InDesign. Replacing images in Adobe Captivate is difficult. Took me 3 years to figure it out. And it doesn't always work using the "replace" button in the library.
Make updating PPT easier. It only works some of the time. And relinking it doesn't always work. It is very clunky and touchy when sharing files with other users.

Most Important Features

Branching
SCORM
New technology integration
508 compliance
Responsive

Return on Investment

Adobe Captivate 2019 limits what we can do with the training because, right now, it requires special programming to accommodate many things we want to do.
SCORM helps greatly with reporting.
Needs more integration with other Adobe CC like AE, CH, AN
Needs to be easier for the ISD to be more creative.
HTML 5 needs to word for all animations and transitions.

Alternatives Considered

I have only used Adobe Captivate for web-based training. I use PS, AI, and AE mostly for designing graphics.

Key Insights

Do you think Adobe Captivate delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Adobe Captivate's feature set?

Did Adobe Captivate live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Adobe Captivate go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Adobe Captivate again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Adobe Illustrator CC, Adobe PhotoShop, Adobe After Effects, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Acrobat DC

Likelihood to Recommend

Adobe Captivate 2019 is well suited for standard web-based training. We do mostly page-turners. Branching has gotten easier but still can be complicated to program. Then If you want to do anything fancy like animations, it is less accommodating. Advanced actions only go so far - AE and AN don't play easily in Adobe Captivate. We want to move into more current trends for designing WBTs but find Adobe Captivate right now cannot handle the new trends in design and animation. Hoping Charm will bridge this gap.

Adobe Captivate 2019 is great WBT tool.

Overall Satisfaction with Adobe Captivate