This document contains details about the Adobe Connect 12.8 release, including release dates, technical requirements, upgrades, improvements, and known issues.
Overview
Adobe Connect enables you to create rich digital training, webinars, and collaboration experiences. For an overview of Adobe Connect, see www.adobe.com/products/adobeconnect.html.
Adobe Connect 12.8 is a minor release introducing new features, improvements to existing features, greater accessibility, and fixes to known issues.
Release dates
Adobe Connect 12.8 will roll out in the following phases:
Hosted services:
Upgrades will begin on Nov 16, 2024. See Adobe Connect Downloads and Updates to determine the upgrade date for your account.
On-premise deployments:
A patch to upgrade to 12.8 will be available from first week of Janruary, 2025 for on-premise customers.
Managed services:
Contact your Adobe Connect Managed Services (ACMS) representative, or private cloud provider, to schedule an upgrade.
What's new in Adobe Connect 12.8
Session analytics dashboard (hosted only)
A new Session Analytics dashboard is now available for all meeting, training, and seminar rooms. It builds on the Event Analytics dashboard from Adobe Connect 12.7, providing a unified view of participant activities and engagement. Hosts can also download reports after the session without needing to re-enter the room. The dashboard can be accessed from Connect Central by visiting the By Sessions sub-section of the Reports section for rooms.
- The dashboard will only be available for sessions held on Adobe Connect version 12.8 and above.
- The dashboard will be available only in hosted deployments.
Event analytics dashboard improvements (hosted only)
The Event Analytics Dashboard has been updated to include:
- Updated event summary tab with more details (event name, date, hosts, top companies, recording views)
- Expanded reactions report aligned with 12.8 updates listed below.
- Enhanced UI for Participant Activity and Download Reports sections
- Detailed quiz report in the Interactions tab with four views: Question List, By Question, Leaderboard, and Individual Response
- Collapsible side navigation menu
More expressive reactions and de-linking raise hands and reactions
Raise hand has been delinked from the actions, and requests have been removed. The set of reactions available has been expanded. Reaction graphics have been replaced with more expressive emojis.
Raise Hand:
- Hosts will be alerted about new raised hands through a red dot on the raised hand icon.
- The list of raised hands can be accessed through the raise hand dropdown menu.
- The intrusive raise hand notification has been removed.
Reactions:
- New emoji set has been introduced: Like, Laugh, Love, Applause, Surprise, Agree, Disagree.
- Unused requests have been removed: Speak louder, Speak softer, Speed up, Slow down
- Reactions (except Agree/Disagree) show animations to all attendees.
Attendees Pod
- Attendees Pod will display the updated graphics for raise hands and reactions
- Status wise participant cohorts for Raise hands, Agree and Disagree will continue to be accessible via the Status view of Attendees Pod
Menu bar Preferences:
- The preference options under Menu bar Preferences have been updated to control the availability of raise hand and reactions inside the room.
- The options for controling raise hand notifications timeout have been deprecated as the notification has been removed.
- The list of raise hands will be in the mini-controller when sharing screen. This will be available with the upcoming release of the Desktop Application (version 2024.11 and above).
Popping out video cells
Hosts can now pop out up to two video cells from the video pod.
- The popped-out video cells will initiate in the bottom-right corner of the layout and can be moved and resized while maintaining their aspect ratio.
- The popped-out video cells will persist across layouts, even if the layout does not have a video pod.
- The popped-out video cells always open in the main room and cannot be moved to the backstage area.
- Breakout rooms do not support popped-out video cells. When an attendee with a popped-out video enters a breakout room, their camera will pop back into the video cell.
- Mobile users’ video cells can also be popped out and will remain visible in the video pod, even in layouts without a video pod.
- Hosts can restore popped-out videos back to the video pod by clicking “Restore” within the video cell menu.
Interesting use cases:
- Main speakers, instructors, teaching assistants, and sign language interpreters can be popped out.
- Moderators can place the video pod in Backstage and pop out/restore videos of presenters as needed across layouts. Presenters’ cameras will not turn off automatically when a layout with no video pod is reached.
- Video popouts in mobile apps will be supported an upcoming update (version 3.8 and above)
Breakout room discovery and transition experience
The List, Breakout and Status views of Attendees pod are now available as buttons within the Attendees pod UI improving the discovery of breakouts. Transistion states have been introduced when entering/exiting the breakout rooms.
- When the host starts a breakout, attendees will see a 5-second timer and will be transistioned to the assigned breakout room in the background.
- When the host ends a breakout, attendees will see a 5-second timer in the breakouts bar at the top. They will be moved back to the main room once the timer ends.
Improved pod switcher experience
- The pod switcher inside breakout rooms will list pods from the main room also. This will make it easier for hosts to design, maintain and conduct breakouts.
- The pod switcher UI has been updated to make it easier to distinguish between used and not used pod instances.
Replace recordings with externally edited videos
Hosts can now replace an Adobe Connect recording with an externally edited recording. The default Adobe Connect recording editor provides some basic video editing capabilities. Hosts looking to make more advanced edits (like adding intro/outros) can download the recording and edit it an external video editing platform. The edited video can be uploaded back to replace the original recording while retaining the original recording URL which was already shared with attendees.
Miscellaneous changes and fixes
- Poll pod will now show a message to the users when their response has been recorded or updated.
- The room exit button UI has been updated to make it more discoverable.
- Fixed an issue where the participants could not reply to private chats initiated by hosts when private chat was disabled for participants.
- The shimmer shown when landing on recording playback pages has been updated. Transparency has been introduced to display the recording thumbnail in background.
- The Fit Page display for PDFs has been updated to display only one page at a time. PDFs can now be used as presentations.
- The "Turn on camera" button will become active and can be selected as soon as the camera menu opens. Currently users have to wait for the camera preview to load before the button can be selected.
- Strings for various notifications have been updated for simplicity.
- Participants will now be able to reply to private messages from hosts and preseters even when the "Allow Participants to Chat Privately" setting is disabled.
- Universal Voice/Mixed Audio in breakout rooms will now be supported for Conference America adaptor. When launched with 12.6 release, this was supported only for Meeting One adaptor.
- Improvements to SSO
- Signed SAML request.
- Skip Adobe Connect’s login page if the account is SSO enabled (browser only).
- Auto provision groups for SSO accounts.
- Third-party library updates:
- JDK will be updated to ver 1.8.0_421
- Tomcat will be updated to ver 9.0.93
- Spring.jar will be updated to ver 5.3.39
Patch for On-Premise customers
An patch will be available for on-premise customers to upgrade to 12.8.
For more information on the new features and enhancements in Adobe Connect 12.8, see What's New in Adobe Connect.
- Beginning with the 12.8 release, all future Adobe Connect release notes will feature a new section listing the accessibility improvements included in the release.
System requirements
For the latest system requirements, see the Adobe Connect Technical Specifications page.
Upgrade paths for on-premise deployments
Here are the prerequisites for this release:
- From Adobe Connect 9.x, upgrade to Adobe Connect 12.7 before applying this patch
- From Adobe Connect 10.x, upgrade to Adobe Connect 12.7 before applying this patch
- From Adobe Connect 11.x, upgrade to Adobe Connect 12.7 before applying this patch
- From Adobe Connect 12.x, upgrade to Adobe Connect 12.7 before applying this patch
Issues resolved in server version 12.8
Issue Tracking Number |
Issue Description |
|---|---|
| 4131307 | Participants can now reply to private messages from hosts and presenters even when the “Allow Participants to Chat Privately” option is disabled. |
| 4136405 | Addressed a request to disable raise hand notifications with the latest update to the raise hand and reactions experience. |
| 4149695, 4152662 | The fit-to-page feature now displays a single page, and 16:9 aspect ratio PDF files can be shared as presentations in the share pod. |
| 4149696 | Addressed audio degradation caused by high CPU usage from noise suppression libraries. |
| 4151745 | Fixed an issue where PDFs in recordings were cropped when using the fit-width or fit-page option. |
| 4152852 | Fixed an issue where file uploads failed for some PPTX files containing math formulas. Some formulas might not render correctly; this will be addressed in a future release. |
| 4153129 | Fixed an issue where Notes pod content was not visible to participants. |
| 4153133 | Fixed an issue where recordings could not be downloaded if the recording name contained special characters. |
| 4153484 | Fixed an issue where creating a new seminar request failed for accounts running a large number of seminars. |
| 4153499 | Fixed an issue where annotations made in PDFs were out of position in recordings. |
| 4153519 | Fixed an issue where a room created from a custom template reverted to the default meeting template. |
| 4153682, 4158233 | Fixed an issue where PPTX files with backslashes in their names failed to load in the share pod. |
| 4153911 | Fixed an issue where an “Operation Failed” error message was shown when scrolling a filtered event participant list in Connect Central. |
| 4153925 | Fixed an issue where the filter was incorrectly cleared when performing an action on the Participant Management screen of Connect Central. |
| 4154024 | Fixed an issue where the chat pod did not auto-scroll to display the latest message. |
| 4154124 | Fixed an issue where the Broadcast Control feature was accessible in rooms using universal voice; it is supported for VOIP audio only. |
| 4154174 | Fixed an issue where images with rounded placeholders in PPTX files displayed a white box around the image. |
| 4154469 | Fixed an issue where the first line of chat from a previous session was not shown when starting a new session. |
| 4154470 | Fixed an issue where text inside shapes in PPTX files was sometimes cut off. |
| 4155305 | Fixed an issue where recordings became inaccessible if users attempted to rename them while still being processed. |
| 4155391 | Fixed an issue where audio preferences inside the room were not shown for shared rooms. |
| 4155437, 4158432 | Fixed an issue preventing recording edits if the recording name contained special characters. |
| 4155439 | Fixed an issue where disconnecting a plug-and-play camera led to an “unknown error while publishing camera” error. |
| 4155831 | Fixed an issue where the poll result format was not remembered and reset when switching layouts. |
| 4155869, 4156555 | Fixed an issue where an error message was shown inside a room when a file uploaded in the Files Pod of the template, from which the room was created, was deleted. |
| 4156531 | Addressed a request to remove the Actions button from the menu bar with the latest update to the raise hand and reactions experience. |
| 4156731 | Fixed an issue where some participants couldn’t enter rooms linked to Adobe Analytics for additional event analytics. |
| 4157692 | Fixed an issue where line breaks in text entered in Connect Central under Compliance Notice were not honored on the login screen. |
| 4158149 | Fixed an issue where the Event Analytics dashboard was unavailable for events created by duplicating an existing event. |
| 4158504 | Fixed an issue where learners were repeatedly kicked out of rooms. |
Client |
Criteria
|
Description |
|---|---|---|
| Web Client, Desktop Applications | 1.1.1 Non-text Content (Level A) |
Fixed an issue where decorative icons in the breakout bar were announced by screen readers. |
| Web Client, Desktop Applications | 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A) | Fixed an issue where the groupings for Quiz pod answer options were not announced correctly by screen readers. |
| Web Client, Desktop Applications | 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A) | Sub-menus (second and third level) will now be announced by screen readers. |
| Web Client, Desktop Applications | 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A) |
The “Name Display,” “Sort By,” and “Order By” labels in Display Name Preferences are now associated with their respective list menus. |
| Web Client, Desktop Applications | 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A) | The “View my answers” button in Quiz Pod will now only be visible when it is available for use. |
| Web Client, Desktop Applications | 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A) |
Visual headings in the “Select document to share” dialog are now marked as headings. |
| Web Client, Desktop Applications | 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence (Level A) |
The information provided by various icons next to an attendee’s name in the Attendees pod will be read by screen readers when the row receives focus. For example: “John Doe, In Browser, Mic off, Has raised hand.” |
| Web Client, Desktop Applications | 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence (Level A) | When the Record Session dialog is launched, the first focus will be on the dialog itself, followed by the Recording name. Previously, the focus was on the Start Recording button. |
| Web Client, Desktop Applications | 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence (Level A) |
When the Record Session modal is activated, the screen reader focus will be on the dialog instead of the Start recording button. |
| Web Client, Desktop Applications | 1.3.3 Sensory Characteristics (Level A) |
Optimized the empty state strings of various pods to reduce ambiguity. |
| Web Client, Desktop Applications | 1.4.11 Non-text Contrast (Level AA) |
Updated the icon to edit answers for short answer poll questions to exceed a 3:1 contrast ratio. |
| Web Client, Desktop Applications | 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (Level AA) | Updated the colors for check and cross icons used to indicate correct and incorrect answers in the Quiz pod to ensure a contrast ratio greater than 4.5:1. |
| Web Client, Desktop Applications | 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (Level AA) |
Updated the color code for pointer and draw icons in pod title bars to ensure at least a 4.5:1 contrast ratio. |
| Web Client, Desktop Applications | 2.1.1 Keyboard (Level A) |
Fixed an issue where the Attendee Pod keyboard shortcuts (n/p/up/down) did not work with VoiceOver on Mac OS. |
| Web Client, Desktop Applications | 2.1.1 Keyboard (Level A) |
The virtual background dialog is now keyboard accessible. |
| Web Client, Desktop Applications | 2.4.3 Focus Order (Level A) | The focus will move to the next question text upon selecting the Next button in the Quiz Pod. |
| Web Client, Desktop Applications | 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (Level AA) |
The add and remove row buttons in Display Name Preferences will now be announced. |
| Web Client, Desktop Applications | 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A) |
Fixed an issue where menu items were incorrectly announced as checkbox options. |
| Web Client, Desktop Applications | 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A) |
The expanded/collapsed state and any state change of the Host, Presenter, and Participant accordions inside Attendees Pod will now be announced. |
| Web Client, Desktop Applications | 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A) |
The form field labels inside the “Add new web links” dialog have been updated to be more informative. |
| Web Client, Desktop Applications | 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A) |
The selected/unselected state of speaker and microphone devices in speaker and microphone menus will now be announced. |
| Web Client, Desktop Applications, Connect Central | 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) (Level A) |
Added an input field to specify the aria-label/alt-text for the customizable brand logo on the Customization page in Connect Central. This will be used as the aria-label for the selectable brand logo, which links to a customizable external website. |
| Web Recording Player | 2.1.1 Keyboard (Level A) |
Fixed an issue where the recording player seekbar was not keyboard accessible when using JAWS. |
| Connect Central | 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A) |
The form labels on the Content > Edit Information screen in Connect Central are now associated with their respective form fields. |