Technical manual Human Resources Diploma Toolbox, version 1.1 BSB50801 Diploma of Business (Human Resources) Technical manual... 1 Client technical requirements... 2 Accessibility... 3 File structure... 5 Software for customisable assets... 7 Installation on a web server... 7 Making a student CD... 7 Index of learning packs... 7 Known issues... 8 Release notes for version 1.1... 9 Acknowledgements This Technical Manual was developed by Grant Focas and Alison Woodage. July 2003. Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) 2003 Page 1 of 9
Client technical requirements Browser compatibility Netscape 4.7, 6.2, 7 IE 5 + Mozilla 1.1 + The HR Toolbox works best with JavaScript turned on in the browser. Platform compatibility PC and Macintosh. The Toolbox JavaScript navigation does not work on IE5.0 on a Mac so we use JavaScript to sniff out this configuration and replace a text-only version. This does have a slight risk if the users of IE 5.0 on a Mac have JavaScript disabled, but the number of these users will be very small. Screen resolution Minimum 800x 600 pixels Plug-ins Flash Player 6 (to support Flash MX files) build 29 + Adobe Acrobat Reader 4 + Problem playing sound files? The sound player in the Toolbox is built in Flash MX. If you can see the play bar but it does not move when pressing the play button, you may have an early build of the Flash 6 player. If this happens, delete the flash.ocx file from your computer(use the search facility on your C drive to find and delete this file). Before deleting, all browsers must be closed. After deleting, the file flash will automatically install when you open the unit home pages via the Internet. Click 'Yes' when asked if you want to install Macromedia Flash Player. If you can t see the play bar at all or if it is just a grey bar, you will need to install Flash player. Download times A pre-loader is included in the Flash movies to facilitate handling of larger Flash files. Other than Flash and audio assets, the maximum page size is 50 kb. The audio files are SWF files containing compressed MP3 files. The largest of these is 323kb. Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) 2003 Page 2 of 9
Accessibility The site is compliant with W3C Content Accessibility Priority 1 guidelines. Navigation The drill-down navigation uses JavaScript so we have used a text only link inside <noscript></noscript> tags as an alternative for those who have JavaScript disabled. There is a text only version also available for those who have javascript enabled but would still prefer a text version. This is intended for those screen readers who have problems with javascript but who would not see the version inside the <noscript></noscript> tags because they have javascript enabled. The link to the text only version is invisible (rendered the same colour as the background), so it doesn t distract from the visual design, but it is the first link in the navigation page a screen reader would read. Text equivalents Alt tags are included on all images. Longdesc tags are also included where necessary. Text alternatives to flash movies are also provided. Table headers (where tables are not for formatting purposes) and summaries are included. TabIndex keys TabIndex keys have not been used for this site with the exception of the sound pages (any page with an underscore followed by 'sd' in its filename). These contain flash (SWF) files with embedded MP3 audio. A bug in Flash means that once the flash object has focus, it won't let it go. Our solution has been to use TabIndex= -1. This allows tabbing to bypass the Flash object. As a result, if a user's only method of navigation is the keyboard, they will have to follow the link to read the text alternative rather than hear the audio. Access keys The navigation utilises access keys for each Task page. Task 1 uses Access key 1, Task 2 uses Access key 2 and so on. Keyboard-only users are encouraged to use the latest version of Internet Explorer, as the up and down arrow keys and PageUp and PageDown keys are not fully supported in Netscape or Mozilla (not inside <div> tags at any rate). Links 1. Many links have title attributes which describe the link in greater detail, unless the text of the link already fully describes the target (such as the headline of an article). 2. Links are written to make sense out of context. Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) 2003 Page 3 of 9
Images 1. All content images used in this site include descriptive ALT attributes. Purely decorative graphics include null ALT attributes. 2. Complex images include LONGDESC attributes or inline descriptions to explain the significance of each image to non-visual readers. Visual design 1. This Toolbox uses cascading style sheets for visual layout. 2. This Toolbox uses only relative font sizes, compatible with the userspecified "text size" option in visual browsers. 3. If your browser or browsing device does not support stylesheets at all, the content of each page is still readable. Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) 2003 Page 4 of 9
File structure The file structure of the Toolbox is set up so that individual Units in the Toolbox may be loaded onto a web server or a CD-ROM. root folder shared folder unit folder See the next page for information about these folders. Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) 2003 Page 5 of 9
The root folder has the following folders: shared which includes all scripts, styles etc that are used in more than one unit it must be on every CD or server copy of the Toolbox, even if there is only one Unit on the CD or server lo (Learning Objects) which contains all 'Learning Packs' as they are called in the Toolbox; each is self-contained within their own folders source which contains the Flash files, which are the source of all the SWF files used in the course units which contains all the unit case studies used in the course At the root level you will find the following files: index.htm readme.txt update_flash.htm, which checks to see if the required version of flash player is installed the technical guide the teacher guide the autorun files necessary for automatic play from CD. The shared, LO and source folders can be copied along with whichever unit folder is needed. Each unit has a folder inside the units folder. The units folder can be copied as a whole by first deleting whichever units are not wanted, preserving the file structure. The navigation for each unit sits in a nav folder and can be easily disaggregated so that the unit/s may be placed in a LMS such as WebCT, Janison, etc. All references to frames use _parent rather than _top so that if needed a frameset may be constructed around the entire site. Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) 2003 Page 6 of 9
Software for customisable assets A source code folder is provided for customising Flash files and other assets. If editing HTM files in Macromedia Dreamweaver, you may experience a known bug with that software. If you open the page in Show Design View and cannot see any content, switch to Show Code View and make any change (for example, add a space then take it away again). When you switch back to Show Design View you will see the content. Installation on a web server Copy the entire contents (except for autorun.inf and autorun.exe) of the CD to the appropriate place on your web server (either in wwwroot or elsewhere using a virtual directory). If you are only copying selected Units to your server or CD, you must: make sure the entire shared folder is also copied make sure that the learning objects (learning packs) required for those Units are also copied Network administrators should ensure that the plug-ins and browsers list above are available to users. There are no server side technologies utilized in this toolbox, so no configuration is necessary. Making a student CD If providing a CD for students to use, you may first like to delete the teacher guide and technical guide from the CD, although this is not essential. You can use CD burning software, but instead of copying the whole CD, use the Data CD option to drag and drop all files, then delete the teacher guide and technical guide from the destination (usually d: drive). Index of learning packs An index of learning packs is provided for the whole Toolbox and for each Unit. Each index is accessed from the Toolbox and the nine Unit home screens. Each index contains: the titles of the learning packs used in that part of the Toolbox their file names, these begins with a serial number from 2001_329_001 through to 2002_329_053 (note: there is intentionally no learning pack for number 2001_329_047) a list of the Units and Tasks each learning pack is linked from. Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) 2003 Page 7 of 9
Known issues The following are known technical issues that users may experience when using the HR Diploma Toolbox. The sound player in the Toolbox is built in Flash MX. If you can see the play bar but it does not move when pressing the play button, you may have an early build of the Flash 6 player. If this happens, delete the flash.ocx file from your computer(use the search facility on your C drive to find and delete this file). Before deleting, all browsers must be closed. After deleting, the file flash will automatically install when you open the unit home pages via the Internet. Click 'Yes' when asked if you want to install Macromedia Flash Player. If you can t see the play bar at all or if it is just a grey bar, you will need to install or update the Flash player. Note: the STAR logo on the Unit home screens should animate with a fade in and out. If it appears but doesn't animate, that means you have an early build of Flash 6, and you should update it. Star Intranet window is a popunder instead of popup in Netscape 7 on a Mac. This means it sits under the main window rather than on top. When printing pages from Internet Explorer 5 or 5.5 sometimes the page won t print beyond what s visible on the screen. We recommend updating to a more recent browser. When opening a Word document in some Netscape browsers, a blank browser window also opens. If an audio page does not play in Netscape 7, refresh the page. You may have to do this twice. Windows computers have settings which allow Microsoft Word documents to be either opened in the browser rather than in Microsoft Word or another word processor. If your computer does this you can change the settings by opening Windows Explorer (not Internet Explorer), click Tools, select Folder Options, then the File Types tab. Scroll down to Microsoft Word Document. Highlight it and see the details for DOC extension panel at the bottom. It should say opens with Microsoft Word for Windows (or your preferred text editor). If it doesn t click the Change button and choose the application you want it to open in. In Netscape 4.7 the Feedback button in the review quizzes will not tell the user whether their answer was correct or incorrect, it will show the user both the correct and incorrect feedback. We recommend updating to a more recent browser. In Netscape 4.7 the STAR Intranet sometimes has no vertical scrollbar. If you are using a PC, maximize the browser window, if Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) 2003 Page 8 of 9
using a Mac resize the window. We recommend updating to a more recent browser. Double vertical scrollbars appear in Netscape 6.2 and 7. This browser configuration also makes the up and down keyboard arrows unusable for scrolling, although the mouse still works. After opening the text version of a Match-it or Make-it activity on Internet Explorer on a Mac, and then returning to the activity the vertical scroll bar disappears. Refresh the page and it will reappear. Release notes for version 1.1 Version 1.1 was released in July 2004 with the following issues addressed: Links from task screens in all units (bsbhr501a_task1.htm etc) to certain learning packs annotated to contain specific information for the learner on how that learning pack is relevant to the task. Mainly affects learning packs that deal with broad underpinning knowledge: Apply legislation to HR processes; Develop and document HR processes; Evaluate and improve HR processes and tools; Implement the project; Link HR planning to organisational goals; Outsource HR services; Plan the project; Train and support staff who implement HR processes. Errors fixed in textnav.htm for BSBHR502A, BSBHR504A, BSBHR505A, BSBHR507A, BSBHR508A Error fixed in link text to learning pack in bsbhr503a_task7.htm. Link to Ready Set Go website updated in Teacher Guide and in all Getting ready screens (bsbhr501a_ready.htm etc). Links to various websites updated in bsbhr505a_ready.htm; bsbhr505a_t4_pop11.htm; bsbhr506a_ready.htm; 2002_329_002_03.htm. Broken links due to case sensitivity of some servers fixed. Broken links to Thiagi website in Teacher Guide fixed. Bug fixed that caused the browser to crash if the user followed a certain pathway to enter the Documents or Message Centre sections on the STAR Intranet. Information in credits.htm updated. Links to Word versions of Teacher and Technical guides corrected in teachg_screen.htm and technicalman_screen.htm. Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) 2003 Page 9 of 9