Standards
Six specifications, written by four different bodies over thirty years, that between them decide whether a course works in a given system.
Every listing on this site records which of these it supports and where that fact came from — the vendor's own page, a check we did on a stated date, or an entry in an official registry. The pages below explain what each standard actually requires, so the matrix on a listing means something.
We link to the specifications and to the registries other organisations run. We do not operate a conformance programme, and nothing here is a badge of our own.
SCORM 1.2
Published in 2001 and still the most widely supported export format there is. A ZIP, a manifest, and a small flat data model.
SCORM 2004
Completion and success tracked separately, a much larger data model, and sequencing rules the LMS enforces. Four editions, and they differ.
xAPI
Actor, verb, object — recorded anywhere and stored in a Learning Record Store. No packaging, no launch, by design.
cmi5
The xAPI profile that adds what xAPI leaves out: a course structure, a launch contract and nine verbs that decide the outcome.