Tag: fasttrack

E-learning development cost depends on how much work sits behind each finished minute of learning: the length of the course, how interactive it is, the media it uses, how many languages it needs and how many review rounds it takes. Suppliers price that work per module or per finished minute, by day rate, as a fixed-price project or as a monthly subscription. Two quotes can only be compared when they cover the same scope, so agree the scope before you compare the totals.

This guide is for L&D and HR managers collecting quotes. We have left out figures on purpose: a number without a scope tells you very little, so use the checklist below to get every supplier, us included, pricing the same thing.

How long does it take to develop one hour of e-learning?

Time is the biggest ingredient in any quote, so it helps to know how much effort sits behind a finished hour. A widely quoted benchmark is a 2010 survey by the Chapman Alliance of 249 organisations, representing 3,947 learning development professionals. It counted the time of everyone on the development team, including instructional designers, writers, subject matter experts, graphic artists and project managers.

Type of learning	Average development hours per finished hour
Instructor-led training	43
Level 1 e-learning (basic)	79
Level 2 e-learning (interactive)	184
Level 3 e-learning (advanced)	490

Source: Chapman Alliance, How Long Does it Take to Create Learning? (September 2010).

Moving from basic to interactive e-learning more than doubles the effort, and advanced work multiplies it again. The data is from 2010, and in our experience modern authoring tools and AI have shortened parts of the process considerably, so treat the ratios as a guide to the relative effort of each level.

What drives e-learning development cost?

Every quote is an estimate of effort against these factors. The clearer your brief is on each one, the closer the quotes will be to each other and to the final invoice.

• Length. Usually measured in finished minutes: how long a typical learner takes to complete the course. More content means more to write and test. Agree how length will be measured, because one supplier’s 20-minute module can be another’s 30.
• Interactivity. Text and images with knowledge checks sit at one end, click-and-reveal and drag-and-drop activities in the middle, and branching scenarios, simulations and games at the far end. Each step up adds a lot of effort.
• Media. Stock images cost least. Custom illustration, animation, filmed video and professional voiceover all add production time, with animation and filming usually adding the most. Voiceover also affects future updates, because a script change means a re-record.
• Languages. Each language needs translation, a review by a native speaker, adjusted screens and testing. Right-to-left languages such as Arabic need the layout mirrored as well.
• Accessibility. Building to WCAG 2.1 level AA covers captions, colour contrast, keyboard navigation and screen reader support. In our experience it costs far less to plan this from the storyboard than to fix a finished course.
• Review rounds. Each round of feedback takes time to collate and apply. Fixed quotes normally include a set number of rounds, so ask what happens if you need more.
• Subject matter expert time. Your experts answer questions, check accuracy and sign off. The Chapman survey counted their hours as development time, and slow answers stretch the timeline.
• AI features. An in-course AI tutor, AI marking of open-text answers or adaptive AI scenarios all need design, set-up and testing on your content. Ask whether the AI provider’s usage costs are included or billed separately.

How do e-learning suppliers price their work?

You will see four pricing models in proposals. Each one puts the risk in a different place.

Model	How it works	Suits	Watch for
Per module or per finished minute	A set price per module or per minute at an agreed level of interactivity	A programme with a clear list of courses	How length is measured, and which level each module is priced at
Day rate	You pay for the days the team works	Discovery work, or a scope that is still moving	Overruns: ask for an estimate per stage and a cap
Fixed-price project	One price for an agreed scope and timetable	Larger programmes with a firm brief	Change requests, review rounds and what counts as a change
Subscription	A fixed monthly fee covering development and updates	A steady flow of content that changes often	The minimum term and how many modules are included

Per-module and per-minute pricing make a series easy to budget, as long as both sides agree what level of interactivity the price buys. Day rates are honest about effort, but you carry the risk if the project grows. A fixed price moves that risk to the supplier, which is why the scope document and the change process matter so much.

With a subscription, a fixed monthly fee replaces a large build fee at the start, and updates can be included. Our FastTrack service works this way, with no upfront build cost and unlimited updates turned around within 48 hours.

The hidden costs buyers forget

The development quote is rarely the whole cost of a course over its life. Before you sign, ask about these:

• An LMS and support. If you do not have a learning management system, you need one to host the course and track completions, and someone to run it and help learners. LMS pricing is often based on the number of learners, and set-up, branding or single sign-on can be extra.
• Updates when policies change. Regulations, procedures and products change. If every edit needs a new purchase order, small changes get put off and courses drift out of date.
• Translation updates. Every change to the English version has to be made and tested in every other language too.
• Internal review time. L&D, subject matter experts, legal and compliance reviewers all spend hours on storyboards and drafts. Count it when you compare an in-house build with buying in.
• Licences and source files. Check that image, music and font licences last as long as you use the course, and that you receive the source files, so another supplier could update it later.

How to compare e-learning quotes like for like

In our experience, quotes that look far apart have usually priced different things. Send every supplier the same written brief, then check each quote against these points:

1. The number of modules, the finished length of each and how length is measured.
2. The level of interactivity, ideally shown with a sample screen or demo.
3. Media: illustration, animation, video and voiceover, and whether the voice is a professional or synthetic one.
4. The number of review rounds, and the cost of a change after sign-off.
5. The accessibility standard, for example WCAG 2.1 AA, and how it will be tested.
6. The output your LMS needs (SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004 or xAPI) and who tests it in your LMS.
7. Languages, and how later changes to translated versions are charged.
8. Updates after launch: included, charged per change or not offered.
9. Who owns the finished course and the source files.
10. The timescale, and what you must supply to keep to it.
11. Whether the figures include VAT.

Ask to click through a finished course at the level you are being quoted for. Our guide on how to choose an e-learning developer in the UK covers the questions to ask beyond price.

How to reduce e-learning cost without hurting quality

• Cut to what people need to do. List the decisions and actions the course must change, and drop content that does not support them. Shorter modules cost less to build and to keep up to date.
• Match interactivity to risk. Save branching scenarios and animation for decisions where mistakes are costly. A policy update may only need clear screens and a short quiz.
• Start from what you already have. PowerPoint decks, PDFs and manuals are a good starting point. Our guide to turning PowerPoint and PDF training into SCORM e-learning explains how.
• Buy generic topics off the shelf. Subjects that are the same in every organisation rarely need a bespoke build. Our course library has more than 9,000 ready-made courses.
• Name one decision maker. Collect every reviewer’s comments into one list per round, signed off by one person. Conflicting feedback is a common cause of extra rounds.
• Book your experts early. Agree when subject matter experts will review storyboards and drafts before the project starts.

How Capytech prices custom e-learning

We offer three tiers of custom e-learning development. Pricing depends on the tier, the length of each module and the cost drivers above. All three tiers are delivered as SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004 or xAPI and built to WCAG 2.1 AA.

• FastTrack turns your documents into clean, mobile-friendly interactive modules, typically in 4 to 5 working days. It runs on a fixed monthly fee with no upfront build cost, unlimited 48-hour updates and a branded LMS included.
• Gold adds rich media, professional narration and activities such as click-and-reveal, timelines and knowledge checks. It typically takes 3 to 5 weeks from a signed-off storyboard.
• Platinum is for flagship programmes, with fully custom interfaces, bespoke animation, branching scenarios, gamification and embedded AI tools. It typically takes 6 to 10 weeks.

Gold and Platinum modules are quoted for each project. AI features (AI Tutor, AI Feedback and AI Scenarios) are available on both.

The quickest way to judge which tier you need is to see one built from your own material. Send us one document and we will build a free demo module from it.

Frequently asked questions

You can turn a PowerPoint deck or a PDF manual into SCORM e-learning in three ways: export it with a conversion tool, rebuild it yourself in an authoring tool, or have a developer redesign it. A straight export is quick but usually gives you slides with a Next button. The courses that change what people do are rebuilt around the decisions staff have to make, with practice and a short assessment, then packaged as SCORM so your LMS records completions and scores.

This guide covers what SCORM does, the pros and cons of each route, what a good conversion should include and how to test the finished package before it reaches your staff.

What SCORM does and why your LMS needs it

SCORM is a set of technical standards for e-learning, created by the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative, part of the US Department of Defense. A SCORM course is a zip file with a manifest that tells your learning management system how to launch it and what to record. Once it is uploaded, the LMS can track who started the course, who finished it, their score and whether they passed.

There are three formats you will come across:

• SCORM 1.2 is the older version and still the most widely supported. If you are not sure what your LMS needs, this is the safe choice.
• SCORM 2004 records completion and pass or fail separately, which is useful when someone can finish a course without passing it.
• xAPI (also called Tin Can) can track learning outside the LMS, such as on a mobile app or in a simulation, but needs a Learning Record Store to receive the data.

Check your LMS documentation before you build anything. Almost every corporate LMS accepts SCORM 1.2, and most accept 2004.

Three ways to convert PowerPoint to e-learning

Route	Speed	Effort from your team	What learners get
Conversion tool or add-in	Minutes to hours	Low	Your slides, with navigation and tracking
Rebuild in an authoring tool	Weeks	High, and needs design skills	Depends on your team’s experience
Redesign by a developer	Days to weeks	Low: you review and sign off	Interactive modules built around the job

1. Export with a conversion tool

PowerPoint add-ins and authoring tools can import your slides and publish them as a SCORM package. It is the fastest route and fine for content people only need to read once, such as a short update or an announcement.

The catch is that the output is still a slide deck. Text-heavy slides become text-heavy screens, and the only interaction is clicking Next. Completion goes up on the report, but very little changes on the job.

2. Rebuild it yourself in an authoring tool

If you have the licences and someone with instructional design experience, you can rebuild the content properly in a dedicated authoring tool. You keep full control and can update it whenever you like.

The cost is time. Turning a 40-slide deck into a well-designed module means rewriting, building interactions, sourcing images, testing and getting sign-off. In most L&D teams that work competes with everything else on the list, and the backlog grows.

3. Have it redesigned and built for you

A developer takes your deck or manual, works out what people actually need to do with it, and builds an interactive module around that. You review drafts and approve the final version. This is the route that gives the best learner experience without tying up your own team, and it is the one we take with FastTrack.

Why straight conversions disappoint

PowerPoint decks and PDFs are written for a different job. A deck supports a trainer who adds the real knowledge out loud, and that knowledge usually sits in the speaker notes or in the trainer’s head. A PDF manual is built for reference, so it covers everything with equal weight.

Convert either one directly and you get a course that tells people everything and asks them to do nothing. Learners skim to the end, the LMS records a completion, and the same mistakes keep happening. If your current policy training works like this, our post on moving policy training beyond PDFs covers the warning signs.

What a good conversion changes

When we rebuild a deck or manual as e-learning, these are the changes that make the difference:

• Start from the job. List the decisions and actions people get wrong today, then keep only the content that supports them.
• Split it up. Long decks become short modules of 10 to 20 minutes, so people can finish one in a sitting.
• Add practice. Scenarios, branching decisions and short knowledge checks give people a chance to apply the rule before they need it for real.
• Assess properly. A final assessment with a sensible pass mark shows who understood it. Our guide to setting an e-learning quiz pass mark explains how to choose one.
• Make it accessible. Captions, readable contrast, keyboard navigation and screen reader support, built to WCAG 2.2 level AA. UK public sector bodies must meet these accessibility requirements, and they are good practice for everyone else.
• Work on any device. Responsive design, so staff on the shop floor or on the road can complete it on a phone.
• Look like your organisation. Your branding, your terminology and real examples from your workplace.

How to prepare your PowerPoint or PDF before conversion

A little preparation saves a lot of rework, whichever route you choose:

1. Confirm you have the latest approved version of the content, and who owns it.
2. Mark the content that is mandatory, for example anything a regulator or auditor will ask about.
3. Collect the speaker notes and any trainer guides. This is often where the useful detail lives.
4. Write down the three to five mistakes you most want the training to prevent.
5. Describe the audience: their roles, how much they already know, and where and on what device they will take the course.
6. Ask your LMS administrator which SCORM version to publish, and whether there is a test area.
7. Agree who signs off the final module, and how quickly.

Test the SCORM package before launch

Never send a new package straight to every member of staff. Test it first:

• Upload it to a test area of your LMS, or to a free trial of SCORM Cloud, which shows exactly what the course reports.
• Check that completion, score and pass or fail are recorded the way you expect.
• Close the course halfway through and reopen it, to confirm learners return to where they left off.
• Try it on a phone, a tablet and a laptop, and with a screen reader.
• Ask two or three people from the target audience to take it and tell you where they got stuck.

Keeping it up to date

Policies, procedures and products change, so plan for updates from the start. Keep the source files somewhere your team can find them, record which version is live, and decide who is responsible for spotting when a change is needed. When you replace a SCORM package, check with your LMS administrator whether existing completions carry over or whether staff need to retake it.

This is where many organisations fall behind. A course that was accurate at launch quietly goes out of date, and nobody has the time to rebuild it.

How Capytech does it

Our FastTrack service turns your PowerPoint decks, PDFs, manuals and policies into interactive e-learning in days, not months. Each module is redesigned around what your people need to do, built to WCAG standards, and published as SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004 or xAPI for your LMS. If you do not have an LMS, a branded one is included.

FastTrack runs on a fixed monthly fee with no upfront build cost, and content updates are unlimited, turned around within 48 hours. If you want a fully bespoke programme with scenarios, animation or AI tutors, see our custom e-learning development service.

The easiest way to judge the quality is to see your own content converted. Send us one document and we will build a free demo module from it.

Frequently asked questions