PowerPoint: Converting Presentations to HTML5 with iSpring Converter

by AJ George 

 

If I don't like a PowerPoint app or add-on, rest assured I'll tell you. And I have found plenty of tools not to like when it comes to making your PowerPoint presentation play on iDevices.  But in iSpring Converter, I have finally found a PowerPoint distribution tool to really like.

 

Here's what iSpring Converter does. Imagine you want to create an eLearning module in PowerPoint and then distribute it--to everyone (even people on iPads and iPhones). The latest and greatest way to ensure the maximum number of devices can play with your end product is to ensure it is formatted in HTML5.

 

In the past, I have saved my PowerPoint presentations intended for mass distribution as videos. This wasn't a bad option, per se, but doing so eliminated any interactivity I had built into my course. For example, I have a presentation that allows the user to click an image of a folder to "view" its contents. The apparent functionality was created with PowerPoint triggers and actions, which cause the presentation to branch to the relevant slide. When I saved the presentation as a video, all of this interactivity was gone.

 

Enter iSpring Converter. Within moments of installation (it installs to PowerPoint's Ribbon), I was able to click iSpring's Publish button from within PowerPoint and bazinga! HTML5! I'd done my research, so I knew before installing that iSpring would maintain my presentation's transitions, embedded audio and video, animations, and styles. But I was unsure whether the actions and triggers for branching in my presentation would be maintained. I am happy to report that after conversion with iSpring Converter my actions and triggers still work beautifully!  

 

To see a PowerPoint presentation converted to HTML5 using iSpring Converter, check out my sample presentation. You'll notice that clicks and mouse over actions linked to other slides remain intact, as do animations and video playback. There is also an option to publish the HTML5 file with a menu at the side so viewers can choose to skip around to different slides (and could also serve as a Table of Contents) but I chose to disable that feature for my test.

 

iSpring Converter is free to try for a month (but adds a relatively large watermark to the converted HTML5 presentation). I found it well worth its purchase price of $99. 

 

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AJ teaches a live, 3-hour class that offers tips/tricks for improving the look and feel of your PowerPoint presentations: Slide Sprucing: Remodeling Lackluster PowerPoint Slides for eLearning and Presentations. 

Comments

[Debra Robinson]

What about the ability to add closed captioning? We are a public University and any video that is to be mass distributed must include Closed Captions to meet our 508 Compliance. Does this version of iSpring include the ability to add CC?

DR

[AJ]

I looked into it and I didn't see that option, but it looks like they make another product, called iSpring Pro, that does handle closed captions. It converts to Flash instead of HTML5, however.

[charles kaplan]

do you think iSpring is better than Adobe captivate? I have been trying to work with Adobe Captivate 6
for a few months. It does not import a lot of the animations and transitions i made in my powerpoint projects.
it misses almost every cube transiton. simple motion of a small picture on a PP slide is lost.
i have a mac, and ispring doesn't work on mac.

[charles kaplan]

concerning ispring pro and ispring suite, they have a new version coming out in a few months that will not only publish to flash, but also to html5.

[AJ]

Hi Charles,

I wouldn't say it's better--I'd say they do different things. If you're using a mac and ispring doesn't have a mac version, then I guess you don't have much choice.

I don't do a lot of work within Captivate, but you may just have to remove the transitions and animations.