Replace Flash with HTML 5

[joel_mills]

This idea has been developed and deployed to Canvas

Adobe's have announced that they will no longer be pushing flash development instead recognising that HTML 5 replaces much of the functionality that was once provided by Flash.

https://blogs.adobe.com/conversations/2015/11/flash-html5-and-open-web-standards.html

Please can Canvas remove the need for Flash across its Web platform as part of core functionality and replace it with HTML 5?

Comments from Instructure

For more information, please read through the https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-15947 .

[jthoms]

Hi  @Renee_Carney ‌,

Just curious how things are going on the Flash-replacement front. It's not yet a burning priority, but is gradually becoming less supported in Chrome. Thanks!

[ffdixon]

Hi John,

We're making solid progress to create an HTML5 client for Android devices that gives the student the ability to participate from a mobile device.  Our goal is that the student can do everything today in Canvas Conferences minus two-way video (that can come in a later version).

Here's a video showing a recent build running of the HTML5 client running on Latest developer build of the HTML5 client - YouTube.

We'll be giving an update InstructureCon 2017 (look for the speaking session "Canvas Conferences goes Mobile') with a live demo.

Regards,... Fred

Product Manager for BigBlueButton

[jthoms]

Thanks,  @ffdixon ‌! I'm also interested to hear how things are going elsewhere in the Canvas platform (SpeedGrader media comment, media upload, etc).

[ffdixon]

As stated in a previous post

> As the product manager for BigBlueButton (I work at Blindside Networks), 

I can't speak for Instructure, but I can answer all questions related to BigBlueButton. 🙂

Regards,... Fred

[ffdixon]

Hi Everyone,

We are making progress on creating an HTML5 client for BigBlueButton (Canvas Conferences) that would implement most of the features for the viewer.   You can see a video of the features implemented in the current developer build here

  Overview of the HTML5 client for BigBlueButton (dev build) - YouTube 

For more details on our plans, see this blog post

   BigBlueButton HTML5 Client (developer release) - BigBlueButton 

The BigBlueButton HTMl5 client is under heavy development.  I'll be sharing the latest updates at InstructureCon 2017 (look for the presentation titled "Canvas Conferences goes Mobile").

The HTML5 client uses WebRTC, which isn't supported yet on iOS in the browser.  We are working in parallel on an iOS client as well (will give you updates on this as well at InstrcutureCon 2017 presentation).  

The first release of the HTML5 client is targeting all viewer (student) capabilities except two-way video.  You can expect two-way video a subsequent release.  By focusing on the viewer capabilities, we cover a large number of the use cases (i.e. a student wanting to participate from their Android device) for mobile access to a BigBlueButton (Canvas Conferences) session.  Teachers would still use the web client for its presenter/moderator capabilities. 

Hope to see you all at InstructureCon 2017 and at our presentation.

Regards,... Fred
BigBlueButton Product Manager

(I also moonlight as CEO of Blindside Networks 🙂

[dholton]

I don't know the progress in Canvas, but it is feasible to record video/audio without Flash using WebRTC.  Here's an open source demo if you want to test it.  It worked in Chrome for me, even in Android, and supposedly webkit/safari supports WebRTC now, too, but I haven't tested this demo in it (don't have a mac or iphone):

RecordRTC | WebRTC Audio+Video+Screen Recording 

If there's no update soon from Canvas, perhaps a 3rd party LTI app could offer the functionality using WebRTC.

[susanjaw]

From the Canvas beta release page: "Using the camera and microphone to record media content within the Canvas Rich Content Editor currently still relies on Flash and is being addressed by Canvas engineers." Can we get a timeline on this? It is now a completely useless function for me and, I suspect, many others.

[cwindsor]

Agreed.  We would like to use this functionality to record our students' performances. It's been on the radar for over a year.  Any success?

[jteaney]

I have my entire user base running Chrome OS Version 62.0.3202.94. In that version I am seeing that I have to add my Canvas instance URL to the Flash allow list to be successful with camera/microphone recording.

[jfridell]

Yes, it would be great to see a shift to HTML5 when it comes to media recordings such as teacher comments, we are getting more and more support tickets regarding this.