Which is the best e-learning software for my multilingual content?

There is a wide range of e-learning solutions on offer, from multimedia content production tools to platforms for interactive training sessions. But how can you choose the right software for your needs? And which tools are best at handling multilingual content? We took a closer look at eight well-known solutions.

Digital learning requires content, regardless of whether it’s for internal or external training purposes. And that content needs to be created and stored somewhere. That’s why most companies work with dedicated software. The market is booming with tools for content creation, content hosting platforms and entire learning management systems (LMS). For many companies, deciding whether or not to use these tools can be tricky – but it’s worth considering if you need e-learning content in multiple languages.

Never fear – with the right information and a bit of reflection, you’ll be ready to make the best possible decision for your individual situation.

Three key factors that will impact your choice

To find the best e-learning tool for you, you first need to determine your specific requirements.

1. Your needs: Are you looking for a tool to help you create learning content, a central location to store documents, a database of existing training videos, or a solution that covers all of these areas? Your answer will determine whether you need an authoring tool, an LMS, a hosting platform or a combination solution.

2. Your expectations of the translation process: : Some of the tools listed below have a multilingual versioning feature. For the others, content has to be duplicated each time you need a version in a new language. The standard translation process involves exporting the content, sending the resulting file to your language service provider, and then importing the new language version back into the system. If this intermediate step is too long-winded for you, check out LearnDash or TalentLMS. LearnDash benefits from the many directly integrable translation plugins that WordPress offers. TalentLMS automatically initiates the translation process via a translation management system (TMS).

3. Language requirements for course content and navigation: Tools such as Storyline or 360Learning support a large number of languages, but only when it comes to the course content itself. If you want to offer fully localized training, you’ll also need to translate the course navigation, buttons, etc. manually – that is, if the system offers this option. Alternatively, you can display these elements in English by default. You’ll need to make this decision based on the language skills of your e-learning audience. Another point to bear in mind: if you’re providing Arabic content, you should avoid Rise or iSpring, as these tools can’t adequately represent scripts that read from right to left.

Have you already got your eye on a specific tool, or would you like to get an overview of the options available? Either way, we can help: we compare the eight most popular solutions and their language options below.

Articulate Rise

The first app in the Articulate 360 Suite is one of the easiest ways to create e-learning courses: the whole process is carried out directly in the web browser, without the producer having to download any additional software, and it lets you create everything from videos to questionnaires.

Articulate Storyline

Simple for beginners, powerful for experts – that’s how Articulate advertises its Storyline software. The platform lets you create a range of e-learning formats in just a few minutes and display them responsively across all devices.

Adobe Captivate

The Quick Start feature makes this Adobe product particularly relevant for beginners. It offers ready-to-use templates for building educational videos, screencasts and multi-module courses. Existing PowerPoint content can be converted into interactive videos and quizzes. Captivate also integrates with Photoshop, allowing you to customize the layout and design.

Udemy Business

Udemy is a global platform which offers more than 200,000 fee-based e-learning courses. Through Udemy Business, more than 12,000 companies currently have access to the curated course library and can also create their own content collections for employees and clients.

TalentLMS

This learning management system is particularly suitable for smaller companies. Online courses can be created very quickly using drag-and-drop – and it’s free if you have fewer than five users. The cloud-based platform also offers several third-party integrations.

360Learning

The platform offers international teams all the resources they need for collaborative learning. Large companies such as Toyota, Airbus and Haribo use the cloud-based tool, which is positioned as an all-in-one solution for staff development, onboarding, and partner and sales enablement. 360Learning can be linked to the major HR management systems and to content tools such as Canva.

iSpring

iSpring offers a wide range of features, from mobile learning and certificates, to compliance and product training, to onboarding, as well as various reporting options. The tool is PowerPoint-based and intuitive to use. It can turn Word and PDF documents into ebooks.

LearnDash

The largest plugin for e-learning content on WordPress turns any website into a practical learning environment offering course content, questions, quizzes and more.

Still having a hard time making your decision? Or do you require technical support with another e-learning software? Then we should talk.

Cover image via Unsplash