How to choose an LMS for Arabic-language training in the Gulf

What is an LMS?

A learning management system (LMS) is software for running training: you put courses in it, assign them to people, and it records who started, finished, passed and earned a certificate. For a company or a training centre, it is also where the proof lives when a manager, a client or a regulator asks what training actually happened.

This guide is for buyers in Saudi Arabia and the wider Gulf who train in Arabic, often alongside English. It does not rank products. It gives you checks you can run yourself in a trial or a demo, and questions to put to any vendor, including us.

Do you need an LMS or an LXP?

Most training teams need an LMS first. An LMS handles assigned, tracked training: due dates, completions, tests and certificates. A learning experience platform (LXP) focuses on what learners choose for themselves: a catalog, recommendations and self-directed paths. If you must prove that people finished required training, judge the LMS side first and treat the LXP side as a bonus.

Many products now offer both, and marketing uses the labels loosely. Ignore the label and list your jobs instead: compulsory courses with deadlines, onboarding, training for client companies, an open catalog. Then ask the vendor to show each job live, with real records, rather than on a slide.

How do you test Arabic support properly?

Don’t accept “supports Arabic” on a feature list. Switch the interface to Arabic and work through it as a learner, an author and an administrator. Right-to-left layout has to hold everywhere: the course player, the admin screens, emails, certificates and exported reports. A translated menu on a left-to-right page is not Arabic support.

The web has clear rules for this. The W3C advises setting the base direction of the whole document to right-to-left when its content is mainly Arabic, so the Unicode bidirectional algorithm can place words and punctuation correctly. For fields where people type, it advises letting the browser detect the direction from the text. It also warns that detection is not foolproof, because it looks only at the first strong character, for example text that begins with a Latin-script word or acronym.

Numerals need a decision, not just a test. The W3C’s Arabic layout notes say Arabic-Indic digits (٠–٩) are used in eastern Arabic-speaking countries such as Saudi Arabia, while European digits (0–9) are used in countries such as Algeria and Morocco. Decide which your certificates, reports and scores should use, then check that the system follows that choice everywhere. In a trial, run these checks:

• Open a lesson, a test and a certificate in Arabic, and check that the layout, arrows and progress bars are mirrored
• Type a course title that mixes Arabic with an English product name, a number and a percentage, then check it in the catalog, on the certificate and in an exported report
• Check an Arabic learner name on the certificate, and an Arabic name next to an English email address in the admin list
• Check dates, training hours and scores against your choice of numerals
• Search the catalog for an Arabic word written with and without hamza on the alef (أ and ا), and ending in ة or ه, and see whether the results match
• Open an exported CSV file in Excel and check that the Arabic is readable, not scrambled characters
• Read the system emails and notifications in Arabic, not only the screens

Which standards should an LMS support?

Ask about three: SCORM, xAPI and LTI. SCORM lets the LMS play course packages made in authoring tools. xAPI sends detailed learning records to a separate record store. LTI connects the LMS to other learning tools without separate logins. For each one, ask which version is supported and in which direction: import or export, sending or receiving.

SCORM and xAPI both come from the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative. A SCORM course is a package with a manifest file, imsmanifest.xml, at its root, and the content talks to the LMS through a JavaScript interface to report progress and scores. The two versions you will meet are 1.2 and 2004, and ADL’s own tools handle both. Test with one of your existing packages, ideally an Arabic one, rather than the vendor’s sample.

xAPI records learning as statements of the form “I did this”: an actor, a verb and an activity, kept in a Learning Record Store (LRS). IEEE published it as standard 9274.1.1 in 2023. If you train in Saudi Arabia, read our FutureX guide too, because NELC requires providers of online learning to integrate technically with its national platform.

LTI is maintained by 1EdTech. It connects a learning platform to outside tools so people don’t log in to each one separately. The current version, LTI 1.3, uses OAuth 2 and JSON Web Tokens. Its Advantage services add deep linking to pick content from a tool, grade passback through Assignment and Grade Services, and access to names and roles. Ask whether the LMS can act as the platform, the tool, or both.

What should you ask about personal data under Saudi PDPL?

Start by settling roles. Under Saudi Arabia’s Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL), a vendor that processes learner data for you and on your behalf is a processor, and your organisation usually stays the controller. Article 8 says a controller may choose only processors that give the necessary guarantees, and must monitor their compliance.

The law was issued in 2021 and its text is published by the Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA), whose National Data Governance Platform handles registration, breach notices and complaints. It covers processing in the Kingdom and processing of residents’ data from outside it (Article 2). The law and its Implementing Regulation set duties that touch your LMS directly. Ask each vendor how their product helps with these:

• Learner rights: people may ask to be informed, to access their data, to get it in a readable format, to correct it, and to have it destroyed when it is no longer needed (Article 4). Can you find and export one learner’s full record quickly?
• Response time: requests must be acted on within 30 days, extendable by up to 30 more if the learner is told in advance with reasons (Implementing Regulation, Article 3)
• Breaches: the controller notifies the authority within 72 hours of becoming aware of a breach that may cause harm (Implementing Regulation, Article 24). Ask how, and how fast, the vendor will tell you
• Security: the controller must take organisational, administrative and technical measures to protect data, including when it is transferred (Article 19). Ask about roles, access logs and encryption
• Transfers abroad: data may leave the Kingdom only for set purposes and under conditions, including an adequate level of protection and only the minimum data needed (Article 29). Ask where the data is hosted and which sub-processors can see it
• Impact assessment: Article 22 asks the controller to assess the impact of processing for its products and services. Ask the vendor for the details you need to write yours

What records will regulators and funders expect?

If you deliver training in Saudi Arabia, the LMS must keep the records your regulators and funders ask for, not just completions. NELC’s eLearning Regulation applies to every government, private and non-profit body running eLearning or training in the Kingdom. It requires licences for online courses and programs, and technical integration with the national platform, FutureX.

We cover the details in separate guides on the NELC eLearning licence, FutureX integration and HRDF training support. Use them to list the records you must produce, such as dated course versions, attendance, results and certificates with hours. Then ask each vendor to show where every record lives and how you export it.

What should you check in a demo?

Bring your own material and ask the vendor to work with it. A useful demo uses one of your courses, an Arabic SCORM package, your real roles and one awkward case, such as a certificate that expires next month. Watch it work live, and note every answer that starts with “that’s on the roadmap”. Use the same script with every vendor:

• Build or import one Arabic course and publish it
• Enrol a group with a due date and see the reminders, in Arabic
• Complete the course on a phone as a learner, then check the certificate
• Run a completion report and export it
• Show what an administrator, an instructor and a learner can each see
• Show single sign-on and user provisioning with your identity provider
• Find one learner’s full record, as you would for a PDPL access request
• Show what happens to learners who already finished when a course is updated
• Explain where the data is hosted and who can access it
• Explain how you get all your records and content out if you leave

Who wrote this guide, and where does Classbase fit?

Classbase publishes this guide, and Classbase is one of the products you might consider, so read it with that in mind. We have kept the checks neutral and haven’t ranked anyone. Run the same tests on every system on your shortlist, including ours.

Classbase is an LMS and LXP for companies and training providers. Its interface is complete in English, Arabic (fully right to left) and Turkish. It imports and plays SCORM 1.2 and 2004 packages, exports courses as SCORM 1.2, works with LTI 1.3 in both directions, sends xAPI statements to your record store, and supports single sign-on with OIDC or SAML and SCIM provisioning. It is designed to support your PDPL duties, but no software makes you compliant on its own. We go through hosting with you in the demo.