Adobe announced in 2017 that they will be ending support for the Adobe Flash Player on December 31, 2020. In addition, Microsoft has announced that they will remove support of Flash from all Microsoft browsers. You can see all the details from Adobe here, and the details from Microsoft here.
With the Flash Player "End-of-life" (EOL) deadline quickly approaching, make sure to review the exams below that will be impacted. If your Certiport Authorized Testing Center (CATC) is currently delivering any of the following exams, review all the information in the FAQ section below to see how this may affect you.
Exams utilizing the Flash Player will be removed from Certiport’s Exams from Home delivery model on December 31, 2020 when support for Flash is discontinued. CATCs will be able to continue to use the exams for on-premise delivery but will need to perform extra work to prepare for their delivery. See the FAQ section below for more details. Certiport recommends switching to newer versions of these exams that do not use Flash. Exams utilizing the Flash Player will be retired for on-premise delivery next year on the dates specified below.
Frequently Asked Flash Player Questions
Q: Can we still deliver these exams in our CATC?
A: Yes, but only up to the retirement date. Also, many environments have anti-virus or other software that may quarantine and/or remove Flash Player files after the December 31st EOL date, which would make the exams unable to be delivered. You will need to confer with your IT Department, review the information on this page, and make the appropriate arrangements if you wish to continue to deliver these exams after Adobe's EOL date.
Q: What will happen if the Flash Player is removed from our computers?
A: Compass will detect that Flash Player is not installed, display messaging indicating that it is not installed, and the exam will not launch. Please note that Adobe will no longer have the Flash Player available for download after the EOL date.
Q: Are there exams that will replace the Flash-based exams?
A: We will not be updating any of the exams in the table below except for the QuickBooks exam (see note below). For the Adobe exams in the table, we have newer exams that use the current version of the Adobe software that do not utilize the Flash Player. For IC3 exams in the table, our GS5 exams and our recently launched GS6 exams also do not utilize the Flash Player. We recommend moving to those newer exams as soon as possible to avoid any disruption in testing.
Flash-based Exam Retirement Schedule
ACA
- Visual Design using Adobe Photoshop CC 2015: June 2021
- Graphic Design & Illustration using Adobe Illustrator CC 2015: June 2021
- Print & Digital Publication using Adobe InDesign CC 2015: June 2021
- Digital Video using Premiere Pro CC 2015: June 2021
- Rich Animated Media using Adobe Animate CC 2015: June 2021
- Web Authoring using Adobe Dreamweaver CC 2015: June 2021
IC3
- IC3 Spark – Computing Fundamentals: June 2021
- IC3 Spark – Key Applications: June 2021
- IC3 Spark – Living Online: June 2021
- IC3 GS4 – Computing Fundamentals: June 2021
- IC3 GS4 – Key Applications: June 2021
- IC3 GS4 – Living Online: June 2021
- IC3 GS4 Database Fundamentals: June 2021
- IC3 GS4 Fast Track: June 2021
- IC3 GS4 Spark: June 2021
QBCU
- QuickBooks Desktop Certified User*
- *Note: The QuickBooks Desktop Certified User exam currently uses Flash-based technology and will also be affected by the retirement of the Flash Player after the EOL date. However, Certiport will be updating the QuickBooks Desktop exam to remove the Flash-based elements from the exam so that it can continue to be available to our CATCs. Look for these changes to come in Q1 2021, but until that time you must follow the procedures outlined above.
Have additional questions about the Adobe Flash Player retirement? See all the details
here.