[ARCHIVED] Can we customize the look of audio files recorded in the RCE?

[dejonghed07]

Does anyone know if it's possible to customize the player image that is automatically created when recording audio files in the RCE? 

A foreign language instructor is creating audio quiz questions and some questions contain more than one audio file. She would like to customize the look of the audio files. An example is to label them "Conversation 1", "Conversation 2", etc.

We have access to other audio software, but the RCE is such a quick/easy way to record the audio. We're hoping that there's also a quick/easy way to change the audio player image!

[awilliams]

Hey  @dejonghed07 ‌,

Unfortunately at this time there isn't a way to do much with those thumbnails although a related idea has made it onto the Product team's radar for future prioritization (https://community.canvaslms.com/ideas/3375-unfortunate-audio-icon-needs-replacing ) and there was somewhat of a workaround (albeit a technical one and maybe not what you're ultimately after) at Canvas audio link size. You can also check out the "Related Content" and "Incoming Links" section down at the bottom of those resources for even more about this in the community.

In the meantime, you could add some text around the object to help identify it.

[dejonghed07]

Thanks for your response awilliams‌! A coding solution is worth a try, but it's not ideal for instructors.

My next question is: Does anyone know how to use the Poster image field when selecting Alt-F9 (on a PC) in the RCE, then going to Insert (on the menu)>Media>Advanced? Steps are below...

1. Alt-F9 on a PC brings up this hidden menu:

2. Selecting Insert Media and the Advanced Tab provides a Poster field:

I've never been able to figure out how to use the Poster field for media.

[kmeeusen]

Hi  @dejonghed07 ‌

I know that the RCE use in Canvas is from TinyMCE, below is a link to their website. I don't have the time to search today, but perhaps you will find your answer there.

https://www.tinymce.com/

I hope this helps,

Kelley

[dejonghed07]

Thanks,  @kmeeusen ‌! This is very helpful. I always wondered how to use that hidden feature in Canvas and now I know where to search for answers.

[kmeeusen]

One more quick note, Denise, TinyMCE also has a Community, and I posted your question in there.

You can join, and watch for a response at https://community.tinymce.com/ 

Kelley

[dejonghed07]

Thanks again! I will join the TinyMCE Community to learn more - and to look for a response to your post. 

[dejonghed07]

Hi  @kmeeusen  -  I notice that someone responded to the question you posted in the TinyMCE Community, but unfortunately the response is not specific to the Canvas feature. It just describes the HTML poster attribute that we use when creating websites: "The poster attribute specifies an image to be shown while the video is downloading, or until the user hits the play button. If this is not included, the first frame of the video will be used instead.

https://www.w3schools.com/tags/att_video_poster.asp"

If anyone figures out how to use the feature within Canvas, please let me know. I think that this feature could make it easier for instructors to include images for their media, possibly for audio files too!

[kmeeusen]

Hi  @dejonghed07 ‌

I wasn't able to spend much time in there, but did note in my quick look that 99.99999999% of the comments centered around folks who were coding TinyMCE into their own websites, rather than how to use their RCE once installed somewhere.

It was the best I could do:(

Kelley

[dejonghed07]

Thanks,  @kmeeusen  for pointing me to the TinyMCE information. I'm especially interested in the Accessibility Checker plugin after trying it out at TinyMCE | The Most Advanced WYSIWYG HTML Editor 

Wouldn't it be great if Instructure could incorporate that plugin and allow accessibility checking within the Rich Content Editor? 

[kmeeusen]

Hi  @dejonghed07 ‌

I actually heard a rumor at InstCon this year,  from a vendor supposedly working with Instructure, that this is in the works.

Our school is part of a state system and are hosting UCF's UDoIt tool on a state server for state colleges, and also just contracted with Bb's ALLY at a reduced rate for state colleges.

Kelley

[dejonghed07 · Accepted solution]

Just to follow up with what worked for this project:

We added text around the audio files, but also added horizontal rules between each audio file and it's text. The horizontal rules helped separate each audio file within quiz questions (since they all look the same).

A horizontal rule feature is something missing from the RCE that would be very helpful for Canvas to include!

[awilliams]

Hey  @dejonghed07 ,

I went ahead and marked your answer correct because your solution is definitely better than none at all! Thanks for reporting back what ended up working for you so that others can consider that if they come across this question.

[Stef_retired]

 @dejonghed07 ‌, some time ago, a feature idea requesting a horizontal rule in the RCE was floated before the Community. It didn't garner much support--but that's not why I'm mentioning it here. Rather, I thought you'd be interested in reading  @James 's discussion of the use of horizontal rules in design. His comment is here (anyone who wants to view it will need to join the Cold Storage group).