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Hi all,
I've been running some Adobe Connect sessions and noticed some challenges.
Blue name?
We noticed that a name in the Attendee pod came up in blue and didn't know why! Mike had Googled it and not found an easy answer.
We later discovered that Ben couldn't see a lot of the content we were displaying (more below) as he was using the HTML client, i.e. he'd logged in through a browser and not had to download the Connect app. We had a very real Lightbulb Moment here, as once Ben has installed the Connect application on his computer, his name went to black.
So, blue names are using a browser. Important to know especially once you read the below restrictions.
Content not supported in HTML client
You may have seen this little red warning triangle on some pods. By hovering over it you'll see a warning that this content won't be displayed for anyone using a browser. I knew that this was an issue with some content and it's a fair compromise for getting access to the session. In the above situation it was a PowerPoint file that Ben couldn't see. I assumed I'd used too many snazzy animations or something. However testing this with the plainest file got the same results.
It took a bit of Googling to find this list of what is currently supported (last updated October 4th when I looked at it): https://helpx.adobe.com/adobe-connect/adobe-connect-html5-capabilities.html
Somewhat distressingly, the following content is all coming soon for browser users:
- Viewing shared content (PPT, PDF, MP4 videos, MP3, HTML, Captivate)
- Viewing shared content (Whiteboard and annotations)
- Video pod - sharing video stream
- Breakout Room (Enhanced rights for participants)
- Enhanced rights for participants
For me, this makes the HTML client browser access pretty much useless at the moment, so I'm going to switch it off for now I think. It also feels like the HTML access was a bit rushed. I'm all for a minimal viable product, but this lacks quite a lot of the basics as far as I can see. Maybe I'm seeing things negatively.
If people can join, hear and type, great. But if they can't see the slides, documents, videos, audio, webcam, join breakouts, see or draw on the whiteboard, I'm not sure what point there is.
You can, of course, design your sessions without these elements if access is more important than these tools.
I'll update this once things change.
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Replies
Thanks Jo.
We are working to add that functionality to the HTML client for participants, but I agree that for your use cases, it makes sense to leave the HTML option disabled for now. We've kept the HTML option off by default specifically so that customers don't get surprised by this.
I'll be sure to let the community know when we have a sneak peek of the new functionality coming to the HTML client.
Hi Alistair,
Thanks for your comment and we are very much looking forward to the new functionality!
Thanks for sharing your findings in detail, Jo. I've seen the same, and recommended enabling the HTML client as a fail-safe option for more basic webinars, but that's about it. The most positive thing for me though is finally Adobe are on the right track, and I can go back to being a fully-fledged Connect advocate once the full functionality is there.
Ready when you are, Alistair :-)
I agree Jo, we have ended up sticking to the original version rather than the HTML client. However, after watching the Zoom update with the virtual background option (without green screen) arriving...I could just be swayed...but note, seems you need a quad core processor on your hardware to use it.