eLearning Authoring Tool Comparison

Legend	1 - Most preferred
	4 - Least preferred

Feature	Captivate 8	Lectora	Articulate Studio '13	Storyline	Custom HTML5
Price	1	3	2	2	4
Ease of use	3	2	1	1	4
Graphics capability	2	3	1	2	1
Animations	2	4	1	2	4
Interactivity	3	2	1	1	1
Quizzing	3	1	2	2	1
Power/flexibility	2	2	3	2	1
ADA/Accessibility	2	1	3	2	1
Mobile	1	3	2	2	1
Software simulations	1	3	4	1	2
Audio/Video Syncing	2	4	2	2	3
IE8 Support	NA	2	2	1	1
HTML5 Support	2	2	2	2	1
PowerPoint Source	3	3	1	2	4

eLearning industry is evolving and so is the list of the authoring tools. There was a time when Flash was everyone's favorite and now it is the most hated one and everyone sees it going to death. 

This comparison summarizes my experience with the tools. I may be biased in some cases such as I favor HTML5 because of its reach on mobile devices. For example Captivate 8 provides IE8 support also but not along with responsive content. You can have only one at a time i.e. either IE8 support or responsive. So, IE8 support does not make sense to me at this point of time.

Adobe Captivate 8

• Pros
• HTML5 output
• Responsive design support
• Best suited for software simulations
• Timeline based
• SCORM support
• Imports PowerPoint as source
• Cons
• Learning curve
• Responsive content does not support IE8

Articulate Studio ’13

• Pros
• HTML5 output
• Uses PowerPoint as source file
• Graphics and animations using PowerPoint capability
• SCORM support
• Quick translation
• Cons
• No official support from Articulate for third party mobile apps (such as SumTotal app) 
• Not responsive

Storyline 2

• Pros
• HTML5 output
• Easy to use
• Interactive templates
• Software simulations
• Timeline based
• SCORM support
• Quick translation
• Imports PowerPoint as source
• Cons
• Not responsive
• HTML5 output can be with some glitches
• No official support from Articulate for third party mobile apps (such as SumTotal app) 

Lectora 12

• Pros
• HTML output
• Interactivities
• Customization with JavaScript
• SCORM support
• Quick translation
• Imports PowerPoint as source
• Cons
• Limited graphics and animation
• Not responsive
• Learning curve

Custom HTML5

• Pros
• HTML5 output 
• High level of control 
• No dependency on proprietary tools
• SCORM support
• Quick translation
• Cons
• High initial cost as almost everything to be built from scratch
• Separate tool requirement for graphics and animations
• Learning curve
• Does not use PowerPoint as source

Tips to Avoid Issues with CreateJS JavaScript Library

• Remove any blank key frames in the fla. Do not leave any blank key frames in the Flash file. This can save a lot of your time later. Blank key frames can even create issues somewhere else in the application and keep you scratching your head for hours.
• In motion tweens, ensure that both start and end key frames have the same symbol type i.e. either both key frames have graphic symbol or both key frames have movie clip symbol.

Still, if you are facing weird problems in the app and everything else looks great logically try this weird solution - distribute motion tweens across layers to have only one tween per layer. I know this can be really weird for big apps but if everything else has failed there is no harm in trying luck :-)

Some other worth noting points are:

• Flash CreateJS plugin converts dynamic text fields to static text.
• Frames are index based i.e. the frame number starts with 0, not 1.
• If same text field has both bold and italic text, fla file will not publish. Do not do this in Flash if you have to export the file using CreateJS later. Do this later in JavaScript/CSS.
• Sometimes, CreatejJS includes unexpected line breaks in the code. But, this is probably the first thing you will notice when testing in browser. You can also check your application JavaScript  in Dreamweaver or some other good editor that highlights syntax errors.