Frequently Asked Questions about Simon: Your Course Creation Companion
Have you been hearing all the buzz about Simon? It’s a real game-changer when it comes to quickly providing niche digital training in multiple languages: The new platform’s powerful technology empowers you to effortlessly create and translate courses, making them accessible and engaging for learners worldwide.
If you’re just learning about Simon, be sure to check out our previous posts that walk through Simon’s key features and why they matter for training a diverse workforce. If you have a specific question, keep on reading—we’ve answered the FAQs we’re hearing below. (Don’t see your question answered? Feel free to get in touch!)
About Simon & getting access
What is Simon?
Simon is a new platform from OpenSesame that enables easy course creation and translation into multiple languages. You can learn more about its powerful features in this article and on the platform website.
Who is Simon for?
Simon caters to eLearning publishers, L&D teams, and subject matter experts seeking user-friendly tools to create visually appealing, responsive, accessible, and fully translated courses.
While the OpenSesame course catalog has thousands of best-in-class trainings across industries and skillsets, we know there are some learning areas that are so specific to an individual organization, that the requisite content simply won’t exist elsewhere. With Simon, those teams can now quickly create that training themselves, and trust it will match—or exceed—the caliber of content their learners have come to expect.
How do I access Simon?
Simon is currently available through an early access program—you can sign up on this page. Later this summer, it will be available for purchase as an enhancement to the OpenSesame Plus subscription.
About course creation
Does Simon adhere to accessibility standards and best practices?
Yes, Simon complies with WCAG and 508 requirements, ensuring that your courses meet accessibility standards.
Can I sync updates across multiple versions of the same course?
Absolutely! When authoring, as you make modifications to course content, you can automatically sync them across the different language versions of that course. Simon’s cloud-based technology enables instantaneous updates to courses in the background, so both you and learners always have the latest version available, even if the course has already been delivered to your Learning Management System.
Can I provide a SCORM/AICC file for a course?
Yes, you can download the AICC file directly from the Course Manager in the platform. For SCORM files, you can send them to OpenSesame and download them there, just like you would with any OpenSesame course.
Can I collaborate with other people? How many authors can I have?
Yes, collaboration is encouraged! Simon doesn’t have any limits on the number of authors within your organization. You can add as many colleagues as you want, granting them the ability to edit existing courses and create their own courses within your organization.
How do I get courses from Simon to my learning platform?
Courses created in Simon will be stored in a private “My Courses” section within the OpenSesame Catalog. To upload them to your LMS, follow your standard course upload procedure (e.g. SCORM package upload or integration).
About course translation
How does Simon’s translation feature work? Is it accurate?
With a single click, Simon leverages AI technology to translate all aspects of your course, including its text, interface, video, and audio assets. While neither human nor AI translators achieve 100 percent accuracy, Simon provides simple tools for proofreading and editing both human and AI-translated course content. We recommend having qualified fluent speakers review translated courses before publication.
How long does it take to translate a course in Simon?
Asset translation usually takes as long as the assets’ duration. For instance, a 10-minute video will take approximately 10 minutes to process and translate per language. Once a course is translated and published, learners can seamlessly switch between languages, experiencing instantaneous language changes.
Can I use human translators to translate the courses?
Of course; Simon fully supports human translations. We follow industry-standard formats for uploading translated files, providing a template and an easy process for uploading it into the platform when completed.
Want to learn more about Simon?
Great! Check out this webinar recording for an in-depth demonstration of Simon’s groundbreaking capabilities for course creation. Cody Winn, Director of Product Experiences from TED@Work, also shared how they’ve built hundreds of multilingual TED Talks for learners worldwide with Simon. It’s a great way to learn firsthand how Simon can revolutionize your learning development processes—give it a watch!