What’s new in 2018?

No More Flash  

We’ve reached the finish line!  VoiceThread is officially Flash free, and the new HTML5 version has been released to everyone.  It’s been a long journey, and we’re very excited to have moved on to this phase. The HTML5 version of VoiceThread offers:

• Options to speed up or slow down comments as you’re watching or listening.
• More responsiveness with less software to install and run.
• Greater security since you no longer need to have Flash installed on your computer or web browser.

Expanded Conversation Channel  

Open up the conversation channel on the left side of your VoiceThread to see more information about comments, including the commenter’s full name, the date and time stamp, the duration, and the type of comment, all at a glance.

Mobile Accessibility  

We’ve streamlined VoiceThread Universal to be more mobile friendly and to launch seamlessly from the standard VoiceThread mobile app. We’ve also eliminated all Flash from these pages. This makes it easier for blind users and others who utilize screen readers to interact with VoiceThread.

New Infrastructure  

Security and infrastructure are always ongoing efforts, but we’ve made some great strides this year. All infrastructure has been upgraded to be faster, leaner, and more secure. We’ve also taken all steps required to defend against known vulnerabilities like Spectre and Meltdown.

What’s next?

Richer Video Commenting

You already can interact with and comment on video extensively in VoiceThread, and now we’re developing even more integration.  Soon you’ll be able to insert your comments into your videos so that you can see where each comment was recorded on that video’s timeline. Nothing about how comments are recorded will change; you’ll just have more information at your fingertips about where the comment was made.

New Assignments and Courses

We’ve been telling you about courses and assignments for a while now, and we’re proud to say that things are going very well!  Soon we will have “New Assignments” available for LTI-integrated institutions to try out. Some of these new features will include:

• Greater variety of assignment types and more collaborative options between students
• More grading options
• Enhancement of existing assignment types based on your feedback
• Streamlined workflows for both instructors and students
• Tighter mobile integration

This will be the first step on our way to offering self-contained courses within VoiceThread, as well. Soon you’ll be able to run a course in VoiceThread that is both simpler and more flexible than the groups you use now.

Accessibility Goals

We’re always working toward greater accessibility of VoiceThread. The specific goal this semester is WCAG 2.0 AA compliance.  This includes many small details to ensure that VoiceThread is accessible to all users.