In October 2024, Bryan appeared on episode 168 of the HiTech podcast to explain
and showcase HAX. We've edited that podcast down into a series of segments that allow
you to build your understanding just as Josh and Will did. If you prefer, you can
What is the problem?
Josh sets the stage by noting that authoring content for the web is not straightforward or easy, and the experience also varies by platform and device. He introduces the idea that "headless" authoring presents a hopeful direction.
(55 seconds)
Drupal as a Solution and a Community
Bryan relates how he was able to meet the needs of our course design unit using
the Drupal CMS, which he used to build our learning management system (ELMS). As
other units adopted ELMS, a true user community was formed.
(4 minutes 22 seconds)
Searching for a Better Solution
After ten years, it became
apparent that ELMS had hit its ceiling. The team envisioned a superior authoring experience,
but couldn't find a sustainable technical solution to enable it. Bryan experienced a "Eureka
moment" upon seeing the web component standard in action.
(4 minutes 46 seconds)
The Web Component Standard Explained
This standard allows
any developer to author custom HTML tags that browsers will interpret in a standards-driven
way. Sound absurd? The browser looks for an associated javascript file that
defines every attribute of, for example, our video player, enabling it to look and
function identically everywhere.
(4 minutes 19 seconds)
The Power of Components Nested within Components
“It allows this Russian nesting dolls approach that HTML has always afforded us, except that we are no longer putting a paragraph in a div in a table, we are putting highly-semantic, gigantic, interpreted pieces together.”
(2 minutes 1 second)
HAX Realizes Goal of Open Authoring
By 2019, browser support for WCS is complete and stable. Today, HAX
includes 515 components (and counting) that empower anyone to create rich content
for the web, even those with zero ability to program.
(3 minutes 6 seconds)
HAX is the "File Format" for a Ubiquitous Web
In the end, HAX simply writes HTML file output. Nothing proprietary. All content
and entire sites produced with it may be freely downloaded, shared, and remixed.
The HAX authoring toolset itself can be downloaded. Bryan: "...[HAX] is an OER remixing
powerhouse, absolutely."
(5 minutes 33 seconds)
A Must-See HAX Demo!
- instant theme change
- rapid authoring
- inline media
search
- interactive components
- outline designer
- build a site from a Word doc!
-
and more
Will: “I have never seen web development move quicker."
(12 minutes 57 seconds)
Stop Inhibiting Creativity
Bryan: "This is the point of the academy, to push industry when it is stuck.” Around
the 3:30 mark, Bryan answers the question of how to gain access to HAX.
(5 minutes 09 seconds)
Josh's Analysis
“Looking at what Bryan is doing, the joy that I think comes across all our faces
when Bryan is literally just live building a course, like nothing. He is inputting
information into a form and things are just happening. Imagine that experience with
a subject matter expert, or an instructor that you are working with..."
(56 seconds)
Will's Analysis
“Headless authoring says, ‘Let me make a website, and then I will put it anywhere I want’; Squarespace says, 'Use my specific tools to make a website on my platform. If you want that website to take it somewhere else, it is probably not going to work.'"
(56 seconds)