Speaker 1: Choosing an e-learning authoring tool can be tough. In this video, we'll take a side-by-side look at five heavyweight e-learning authoring tools and see how they compare, including iSpring Suite, Adobe Captivate, Articulate 360, Elucidate, and Lectora Online. The first tool we're going to take a look at is iSpring Suite. iSpring Suite is a fully-featured e-learning solution focused on making rapid content development easy and intuitive. A major plus of iSpring Suite is that it works as a PowerPoint add-in, which makes it a familiar interface that's very easy to use. Some pros to iSpring Suite are that it integrates with PowerPoint and it has a simple interface to build courses fast. You can use it to create interactive quizzes and surveys, and you can create courses that are perfect for playback on all devices. It also has the ability to turn PowerPoint presentations into SCORM courses and Word and PDF documents into interactive SCORM flipbooks. A few cons about this option are you can't create slide-based courses without PowerPoint, and it has no advanced features like VR and interactive video production. This program is best suited for PowerPoint lovers looking to take the leap into a fully-fledged authoring tool. It's also a perfect choice for those who need an easy and fast way to move existing instructions, manuals, and textbooks online. iSpring Suite ranges from $770 to $970 per year per user, depending on the level of service and the number of users you require. Next, let's take a look at Adobe Captivate. Adobe Captivate comes in a few different versions. It's available as a standalone e-learning HTML5 authoring tool, as a part of the Adobe Creative Cloud package, or as a part of the Captivate Prime solution, which includes LMS capabilities. In this comparison, we'll focus on the standalone authoring tool. Captivate is well-suited for general e-learning development, for example, creating slide presentations or quizzes, and for developing complex interactive courses. Some pros to Adobe Captivate are that you can create assignments that tally scores when learners interact with on-screen elements, like buttons. It also has a special editor for recording software simulations. Another great positive about this software is that your courses will automatically be assigned fluid boxes that create mobile versions. It also has VR creation capabilities and an app for iPad. Some of the cons for this program are that it has a steep learning curve. Captivate definitely requires training classes. It's also quite difficult to update and maintain existing content. It's best suited for experienced e-learning developers who are comfortable working with variables and some coding to make magic happen. Adobe Captivate costs $33.99 per month or $1,299 for a perpetual license. Ok, let's move on and take a look at Articulate 360. Articulate 360 is a suite of nine tools, three of which are designed specifically for course authoring, Storyline 360, Studio 360, and Rise. As for ease of use, Articulate 360 is somewhere in the middle of the learning curve between the ease of iSpring Suite and the complexity of Captivate. Some pros to Articulate 360 are that it has solutions for most e-learning tasks and authoring options for all levels of developers. You can also create responsive HTML5 courses quickly with drag-and-drop in Rise. It has a tool for recording webinars and screencasts. And it has a content library with 5 plus million photos, templates, characters, videos, and icons. A few cons are that to take full advantage of Storyline's capabilities, you'll need some training on the main tools. Also, there is no editing of responsive versions. For example, you can't increase the text size on a slide on the mobile version of the course. And it can get expensive fast if you have a lot of authors and want to scale content. Articulate 360 costs $1,299 per year for teams or $999 for individuals. The suite of tools approach works well for large e-learning departments. Great. Let's take a look at Elucidate. Elucidate is a cloud-based e-learning authoring tool that lets you produce HTML5 SCORM-compliant content that they claim will work with any modern LMS. Pros for Elucidate include that it's easy to insert interactive elements, such as buttons, flip cards, and input boxes. Also, less experienced content developers can create high-quality output. You can create single courses that are responsive to any device, and you can see detailed data on how learners are interacting with their course via analytics dashboards. Cons include that you don't have as many options as other authoring tools for creating custom interactivity or other elements. Additionally, experienced developers may feel constrained by the workflow and lack of flexibility. Lastly, it can seem expensive, especially if you're not producing much e-learning content. Elucidate is well-suited to organizations with dispersed L&D teams and requirements to deliver course variations by locality. Elucidate has no price listed. You need to contact the vendor for pricing. Finally, let's move on to Lektora Online. Lektora Online is the cloud-based version of Lektora, which offers HTML5 authoring plus similar comparable tools to the other products in this article. The ease of use for this product is difficult. There's definitely more complexity involved in creating and editing courses compared to the other authoring tools. Pros for Lektora Online include that you get access to e-learning Brother's content library, BranchTrack dialog simulator, and ReviewLink collaboration service, and you can globally manage content and update assets. Cons include that the interface is not user-friendly or intuitive. There is a steep learning curve with limited support. It's most suitable for larger and geographically dispersed organizations with a mature L&D model encompassing multiple authors and reviewers. Lektora Online starts at $500 per year for a starter package and can go up to $1,390 per year for a team. Okay, now you should have a very clear picture of each of these five HTML5 authoring tools for e-learning. I hope we've made the daunting task of choosing the right tool a little easier.