Pressing Tab key activates player controls

[crg381]

I'm simulating an application that requires the use of the Tab key. Within Captivate the Tab key is a shortcut for a click box that simply advances to the next slide. During playback when the Tab key is pressed, in addition to advancing to the next slide, a player control button is enabled as indicated by it being highlighted. In the simulation the user may be required to press the Tab key a specific number of times, which in turn advances to the next slide and highlights the next player control button. Once the user has pressed Tab the required number of times, any one of the player controls will be highlighted. In the simulation, users are usually required to press Enter after a sequence of Tabs, which in addition to executing the desired simulation action, also executes the currently highlighted player control button. This could be anything from Rewind to Exit and everything in between. That's the problem in a large nutshell.

I've tried the "tab_no_yellow.swf" and "tab_no_yellow_global.swf" wizards to no avail. The result of using these files has been varied. They include no change at all, no action at all, and the user has to press Tab twice for every single press in the real application.

I've tried disabling the player controls altogether which resulted in completely bizarre Tab key behavior. In this configuration, pressing the Tab key appears to go through a list of 'hidden' player controls before executing the programmed click box action. It's pretty consistent ... it takes six Tabs to execute "goto next slide" the first time and five Tabs thereafter. If Enter is pressed before it gets through all the hidden player controls, it executes whatever player control it happens to be on.

Here's the environment this is happening in:
Captivate 3
Skin: BMP Playbars
Playbar: Captivate
Show borders: disabled
Publishing: SWF only - no html - Flash Player 7 (also tried 8 & 9)

The resulting SWF file is played as an animation on a Lectora (Trivantis) generated html page in a fixed IE 6 browser window - no toolbars, no address bar, no scrollbars, etc.

Any help to resolve this dilemma is greatly appreciated.

[KCWebPlaza-5meuTi]

There is a well documented workaround for this posted in these forums numerous times, or you can read complete instructions in this Captivate blog.. Basically, you add a line to your HTML page your Captivate is playing within, and you can bypass the default Tab functionality in the browser.

[crg381 · Accepted solution]

Thanks for your reply. I had discovered that information earlier, but still couldn't get the application to work. In the end, it was part of the solution though. Here's what it took to get things working:

In Captivate
- Disable the playbar
- Disable 508 Compliance
In Lectora
- Add 'SeamlessTabbing' as a parameter to the .swf object and set its value to 'false'

[Kathrynxyzzy]

This is still a problem in Captivate 5. I have software training that requires the student to click the tab key after text entries. After doing this the focus is switched to the captivate player bar far left rewind button. I can't figure out how to disable this. It isn't connected to the browser because this is all contained in the swf file. I have tried turning off accessibility but that doesn't seem to affect this. I even edited the player bar and tried to turn off the tabbing function from that location.

I have also tried adding the extra click box to take the focus when the tab button is pressed but that didn't work either.

I can't actually disable the player bar because it need to stay active, I just don't want the focus switched there each time the tab key is pressed. I had someone inadvertantly press the enter key and ended up back at the beginning of the training and didn't know what happened.

Any one know how to how smart this thing?

Help! Thanks!

[Kathrynxyzzy]

I solved my own problem on this for anyone else who needs it.

Open the AS3 flash version of the playerbar that you are using and add the following line of code to the Actions layer on the main timeline:

this.tabChildren=false;

This shuts off tabing on the playerbar without affecting it on the rest of the captivate project.

[SSchwa]

Hi there,

I'm having the same problem described in the original post using Captivate 5... text entry boxes that use a Tab key as a shortcut are activating the rewind button on the playbar. I tried to edit the playbar in Flash as suggested with 'this.tabChildren=false;' in the Actions layer on the main timeline. This didn't work, but maybe I'm doing something wrong? I'm not a Flash expert at all. Here's what I did:

1. With the playbar's fla file open in Flash, from the Window drop-down menu, I selected Actions.
2. After the first two lines, I added the coding suggested, so that my first three lines ended up looking like this:

var movieWidth = 550;
var movieHeight = 400;
this.tabChildren=false;

Am I adding the coding in the wrong spot?

Thanks so much for any help you can provide!

:

this.tabChildren=false;

[Kathrynxyzzy]

That is the same code that I used in exactly the same location.

You also have to save the file. Publish the file. And copy the .swf (published file) to the following folder:

program files\Adobe\AdobeCaptivate5\en_US\Gallery\Playbars\AS3\

Forgive me if that last step is too obvious but considering you did everything else the same that is the only other thing I could think of.

All of this is for Captivate 5 using Action Script 3. If you are using an earlier version, this will not apply most likely.

[SSchwa]

Thanks for the reply. I completed all the steps you mentioned, but it's still not working. But it is working better than it was. In my project file I have three text entry boxes in a row, so the first two work successfully after pressing Tab, but unfortunately, when I press Tab on the third one, the focus goes to the playbar and highlights the rewind button... the rewind bubble help also pops up. Very frustrating... I'll continue to investigate. Thanks anyways.

[mikeORCL]

I had to use the following 'heavy-handed' approach to resolve my similar tab focus issue.  In my case, not only was <tab> focus moving from text entry fields to the playbar, it was tabbing to the rollover captions on certain screens.  To eliminate this messy focus behavior, I disabled all tab actions to the playbar and rollover captions using these steps:

1. Edit the source .fla of the playbar that you are using (in this case an AS3 playbar).

Add the following lines of AS to the fla root timeline > 'Actions' layer

// disable tab control from simulation area to playbar
// & rollover captions
parent.tabChildren=false;

Note: Playbar .flas are located in your Cp5 program dir here:

\Adobe\Adobe Captivate 5\Templates\PlaybackFLA\AS3\

2. Publish the new playbar .swf, then copy it to the playbar directory referenced by the Cp5 Skin Editor:

<Cp5 program location>\Adobe\Adobe Captivate 5\en_US\Gallery\Playbars\AS3\

3. Publish your project from Cp5, and edit the <object> tag in the generated.htm file, to include the "SeamlessTabbing" parameter set to false:

<param name="SeamlessTabbing" value="false">

This is an important step as without it, IE browsers will take control of tab focus from your published .swf and use it for control of Web browser menus and functions.

If anyone knows how to set the "SeamlessTabbing" parameter using swfobject, then please post a response .

Note about accessibility: Note that this technique disables key accessibility features.  If you require these tab functions then you  should work with default Cp5 functionality.  In my case, I am delivering  alternative content to meet accessibility requirements.

[Kathrynxyzzy]

seamlessTabbing added to swfobject syntax:(if this is what you are looking for)

var tempso = new SWFObject("SCORM_support/scorm_support.swf", "scorm_support", "2", "2", "10", "#CCCCCC");

tempso .addParam("quality", "high");

tempso .addParam("id", "scorm_support");

tempso .addParam("bgcolor","#FFFFFF");

tempso .addParam("menu", "false");

tempso .addParam("SeamlessTabbing", "false");

tempso .addParam("movie", "SCORM_support/scorm_support.swf");

tempso .setAttribute("redirectUrl", "http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash");

</script

[mikeORCL]

Hi All,

Just updating this post with how to implement the SeamlessTabbing parameter in Captivate's SWFObject output.

First note that adding the following entry to the Captivate generated .html page does not work:

so.addParam("SeamlessTabbing","false");

The SeamlessTabbing parameter must be added to the 'standard.js' file generated by Captivate.  Once added, the paramerter will be correctly implemented at SWFOjbect runtime:

<param name=\"SeamlessTabbing\" value=\"false\">";

I input this string at the following location in standard.js and it works good on all browsers:

;_19+="<param name=\"movie\" value=\""+this.getAttribute("swf")+"\" /><param name=\"SeamlessTabbing\" value=\"false\">";var _1d=this.getParams();for(var key in _1d){_19+="<param name=\""+key+"\" value=\""+_1d[key]+"\" />";

-Mike

[SSchwa]

Thank you so much... adding the line to the htm file and the fla file worked! This was impacting several projects I was working on with tight timelines. I appreciate you taking the time to post a solution!!

[SSchwa]

Wondering if you might be able to help me with another problem I am now experiencing, as I think it may be related to the lines I added to my playbar fla. The tabbing functionality is now working successfully, however, for my french projects only, I can not click the Forward button on the playbar for the first and last slide of the project after it is published. I don't see any differences between the English and French fla files. Even after I try changing the playbar to a different one, just to get the Forward functionality back, it still doesn't work on the first and last slides. So now I'm unsure if it has to do with the changes I made to the playbar, but it seems strange to me that this problem just started occurring since updating the playbe to disable tabbing functionality. I'm really stumped. Any suggestions? Thanks so much for your help!

[Kathrynxyzzy]

If you have changed the playbar back to an unedited one and you still have the problem then I would say it's unlikely to be related. This is not a problem that I have had before. I always pause the first slide of my pieces using since it's a title slide and have the user click the forward button to continue so I know mine is working properly. The forward button should NOT work on the last slide unless you have it set to loop to the beginning again (I don't do that so I don't know how that works). Sorry I'm not more help on this one.

[SSchwa]

You were right, this was unrelated to the playbar. After several hours of trying to figure out what this problem could be, I realized that all click boxes and text entry boxes that were inserted during the recording had the reporting option 'include in quiz' selected. Once I deselected this option in the properties and applied to all, my project works successfully. I'm assuming it was causing a problem as I didn't have any other quizzing options enabled. Regardless, I'm happy that it is now working!

[SSchwa]

Okay, now I'm having another tabbing issue with these projects. The playbar is working perfectly, but unfortunately, for certain text entry boxes, not all just some, I have to press the Tab key twice to advance to the next slide, instead of just once. Any thoughts on what could be causing my latest issue?

[Kathrynxyzzy]

If you have anything else on a slide that can receive "focus" it will when you tab. I haven't found a way to change the tabbing order of items so anything you don't want receiving focus you may need to handle in a different way. It isn't always obvious what is happening. If you can (make absolutely sure because you can't undo it) you can merge everything else into the background to eliminate all the visual stuff, and get rid of everything else you don't absolutely have to have.

I have tried a couple of times (not a full-out effort) to determine what dictates the tabbing order but have been unsuccessful. It could be the layering, or something like the order in which the items were created (Flash uses the latter as the default), but it doesn't seem to be consistent.

That is probably inadequate, but it's all I've got.

[SSchwa]

I don't have anything else on the slide that would grab the focus, and I'm suprised I would have to worry about this since the

previous posting that suggested added coding to the published htm file to ensure focus does not go to the playbar or any other object on the slide, should have taken care of this concern. I noticed on the properties for the text entry box, there is a 'on focus lost' field... thought this might provide a solution by selecting 'go to next slide', which does work, but then if the user types an incorrect entry, no error message will display to correct them... just moves to the next slide. Still continuing to investigate, but if anyone has any other suggestions, would be happy to try them. Thanks!

[Kathrynxyzzy]

The code added to the htm file (and to the playbar) ensures that focus stays within the slide but there are lots of things within the slide itself that could draw focus or cause problems. Not all of which we have access to. The CC box in on the slide for instance and can be part of the tabbing order.

Here are a couple of things I have discovered in the last day or two (don't know if they will help)

1. if you are using closed caption and it is open. The close X on the open close caption box will draw focus when you tab.

2. and this is truly madding.... if you type in the text entry field and hit the enter key too quickly after the last key stroke it doesn't always work, sometimes the whole field you just typed is just highlighted (selected) and then you have to hit the tab key a second time. tearing hair out

3. The text entry with the tab key business has to be the last thing on the slide with a continue or go to next slide for it to work with ANY consistency.

I have our stuff working (as long as you don't type and tab too quickly). If you would be willing to send me a few slides from your problem piece, I could take a look and see how it differs from what we have done. Just send me a private note with your email and we'll set it up.

[Captiv8r]

Hi there

Many issues that seem maddening are due to timing. Specifically, check the pause point(s).

Often, you have something configured such that if you act too soon, the action isn't really carried out as you might expect. So you perform the action (too quickly) and *THEN* the slide pauses.

Generally speaking, I like to set my own pause points so they occur as near the beginning of the slide as I can. Then I also ensure that I deviate from the default action of "Continue". That one drives folks nuts because often the action is carried out (continuing the play) then the slide pauses and they don't realize it's behaving exactly as you told it to. That's why an action such as Go to next slide is almost always preferable to Continue.

Cheers... Rick

Helpful and Handy Links Captivate Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form Adobe Certified Captivate Training SorcerStone Blog Captivate eBooks

[SSchwa]

Hi Rick,

So I hadn't really thought about this pausing thing. I just checked the properties of my text entry box and in the timing section, it's set to appear after 0 seconds and pause after 1.5 seconds... this seems to be the default of all my text entry boxes. The length of the slide is 3 seconds... again this is a default. So I guess I'm kind of unsure of what the 'pause after' feature does... should I change this to 0 seconds? And the action is already set up to 'go to next slide'.

Thanks for your help!

[SSchwa]

Hi Rick,

So unfortunately it seems that the solution that worked for me in dragging the object on the timline so that it is the last object on the slide to receive tabbing focus, does not work for all the projects I'm working on. It's very strange, because as far as I can see, there are no differences between the projects.

If there are any other suggestions out there to help me resolve having to press Tab twice in a text entry box to continue, I'd love to hear them. Maybe I need a better understanding of how the 'pause after' feature works, but I've tried changing it to '0' and then to the length of the slide... unfortunately neither seemed to make a difference. Also wondering if anyone has heard of any issues with Captivate 5 and IE 8... not really sure if this is causing my problem, but I'm just trying to rule out everything I can in hopes of finding a solution.

Thanks!

[SSchwa]

Thanks for the info. I'm not using closed captioning, so that's not an issue. And what you describe in step two is exactly what is happening to me, but just randomly. I do have text captions on the slides along with the text entry box... so when you say the text entry box has to be the last thing on the slide for it to work, not sure exactly what you mean. The text caption on the slide lists the tasks the user has to complete, so it needs to remain on the slide along with the text entry box, so I don't think I can make the text entry box the last thing on the slide. I'd love for you to have a look at my project and see if you can offer suggestions. How can I send you a private note?

[SSchwa]

I was able to determine the tabbing order of objects on a slide by pressing Tab on the slide and then noting where the focus was going, based on what was being highlighted on my timeline. Sure enough, the text entry box was the first object receiving focus, and my text caption was the last object receiving focus. So I dragged the text entry box on my timeline up so that it was then the last object on the slide receiving focus. This worked!

Thanks for the suggestions!

[techy_kate]

Hello,

I am trying to get a successful workaround with this issue, but so far, no luck.

I've tried editing the standard.js as suggested above, along with the htm file, but it didn't help.

I also downloaded a trial version of flash and edited the playback bar. I'm not sure if that works, though, because the edited playback bar doesn't display as an option when I go to Project > Skin Editor. I'm not sure if I am doing something wrong since I've never used Flash before. Here are the steps I took:

1. Opened the playback bar (I chose Steel.fla) in Flash

2. Selected Action on the timeline.

3. Selected Windows > Actions

4. Added the this.tabChildren=false; line of code.

5. Flash wouldn't allow me to simply save the new file. I had to Save As. So I saved as Steel_custom.fla

6. I also had to save the file to a different location, so I saved it on my desktop.

7. I selected Publish.

8. I then moved the file to: C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Captivate 5\en_US\Gallery\Playbars\AS3

9. I re-opened Captivate and attempted to change the playback bar to the new one, but it doesn't display.

I would appreciate any feedback on if the steps I took are correct or if I'm missing something. I would also love to know if there's a better work around at this point. I'm using CP5.

Also, is there a work around for publishing to an exe file?

Thanks in advance!