The Future of Boardmaker: Technology Update 9.21.2020

Next generation of Boardmaker moves away from Adobe Flash.

What’s New?

As of September 16, 2020, Safari 14 has discontinued Flash for MacOS Catalina/High Sierra. If this impacts you, please download an alternate browser or downgrade to Safari 13 until Boardmaker 7 launches.

Boardmaker has been innovating in special education since 1989. From black and white PCS® to the first color symbols, and from print-only solutions to interactive activities on an iPad, we’re proud of the advances that we’ve made to make communication and learning accessible to more people.

Boardmaker continues to evolve to meet the needs of our customers. One change that’s on the horizon is related to the technology that powers Boardmaker Online, Adobe Flash. Adobe announced that they will no longer be supporting Flash after December 2020. The only aspects of Boardmaker Online that utilize Adobe Flash are the Online Editor and Online Student Center. Other Boardmaker products are not dependent on Adobe Flash. In anticipation of this, we have been hard at work creating the next generation of Boardmaker software, which will be released before the end of 2020.

Our goal is to make the transition to the new generation of Boardmaker as seamless as possible for our customers. It will be available at no cost for current Boardmaker Online subscribers, and at a low-cost for those who own Boardmaker v6 or later versions, Boardmaker Plus!, Boardmaker SDP, or any version of Boardmaker Studio. 

Interested in User Testing?

As part of our mission to constantly improve the Boardmaker experience for our customers, we are not just removing Flash, but using this as an opportunity to make Boardmaker even easier and more convenient. When released, Boardmaker Online subscribers will have access to installed versions of the Boardmaker editor and the Boardmaker Student Center that run on Macs, PCs, Chromebooks, and iPads. It will no longer rely on a browser. We are also developing a clean and familiar user interface that is highly intuitive and is being rigorously tested by Boardmaker users before release. If you are interested in participating in user testing, please complete this form http://bit.ly/2IqVZC0 and if you qualify, we will contact you.

What Will Happen Between Now and Then?

Our Boardmaker customers may experience the sunsetting of Adobe Flash in different ways. Here’s what you can do and how we will support you:

• Flash-Enabled – Several web browsers will continue to offer Flash upgrades through December 2020. Follow the instructions provided to upgrade Flash and you can continue to use your current Boardmaker Online account. Here are some tips on how to keep working with Flash as the support in browsers change over time - https://goboardmaker.com/blogs/support-articles/managing-adobe-flash-in-your-web-browser 

• Flash-Disabled – If your organization disables Flash before the new version of Boardmaker is available and you use Windows, you can install the latest version of Boardmaker Studio, which is tightly integrated with Boardmaker Online, at no cost. Boardmaker Studio is powerful, fast, reliable, and can operate offline. Log in to your boardmakeronline.com account, look under ‘My Homepage’ and click the ‘Download Boardmaker Studio’ link.
  

• Other Instances – If your situation does not fit in the above or you’re not certain which situation applies to you our Technical Support team will be able to help you. You can contact them at one of the following:
  • Technical Support (North America): NA@goboardmaker.com 
  • Technical Support (Europe): EU@tobiidynavox.com
  • Technical Support (UK): UK@tobiidynavox.com

• Monitor the Flash Roadmap – Each browser is handling the support for Flash in a slightly different way. We have compiled the following resources to keep you informed:
  • Google Chrome – https://www.chromium.org/flash-roadmap
  • Microsoft Edge – Microsoft announced that Edge will be based on the “Chromium” technology behind Google Chrome. Microsoft Edge should follow the Google Chrome roadmap.
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer –  https://blogs.windows.com/msedgedev/2017/07/25/flash-on-windows-timeline
  • Mozilla Firefox – https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Plugins/Roadmap
  • Safari – As of September 16, 2020, Safari 14 has discontinued Flash for MacOS Catalina/High Sierra. If this impacts you, please download an alternate browser or downgrade to Safari 13 until Boardmaker 7 launches.

Whether you are a new or existing Boardmaker customer, we’re excited for you to experience the next generation of Boardmaker in 2020!