When you’re building an accessible e-learning course, one requirement is that your content work on screen readers. (If you’re not familiar with screen readers, check out this article before c...
Published 7 years ago
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Apologies for my bluntness, but why bother mentioning NVDA in this article? This implies that Storyline supports NVDA, when it certainly does not (https://articulate.com/support/article/Articulate-Storyline-and-Section-508-Accessibility). This lack of support is a serious problem because, despite JAWS being the "industry standard" screen reader, the reality is that most learners with vision problems probably use a free or low cost screen reader like NVDA.
Because of the continual 508-related problems we have with Storyline, whether coupled with NVDA or not, we are unable to legally claim that we produce 508-compliant courses that meet the requirements of our contractual obligations. I know that I am not the only Storyline user who has complained about this. Articulate really needs to stop pretending that they offer features in Storyline that can help course authors produce 508-compliant courses, when nothing could be further from the truth. We have absolutely zero control over what screen readers our learners use, and therefore, Storyline needs to support as many of them as possible, not just the most expensive industry standard.
Because of the continual 508-related problems we have with Storyline, whether coupled with NVDA or not, we are unable to legally claim that we produce 508-compliant courses that meet the requirements of our contractual obligations. I know that I am not the only Storyline user who has complained about this. Articulate really needs to stop pretending that they offer features in Storyline that can help course authors produce 508-compliant courses, when nothing could be further from the truth. We have absolutely zero control over what screen readers our learners use, and therefore, Storyline needs to support as many of them as possible, not just the most expensive industry standard.
Hi Lisa! Thank you for your comment; we always welcome feedback from our customers.
Accessibility is something that has been, and will continue to be something we take seriously. This article is the first in a series on accessibility that I'll be writing because it's such an important topic. We have made some tangible improvements to Storyline over the past year or so with the introduction of closed captions, tables, the improved player experience, and other specific fixes.
We’re continuously evaluating what features to tackle next and support for a broader range of screen readers is definitely on the discussion list.
Rest assured that accessibility is something we take seriously as we continue to work to meet the needs of all learners.
Accessibility is something that has been, and will continue to be something we take seriously. This article is the first in a series on accessibility that I'll be writing because it's such an important topic. We have made some tangible improvements to Storyline over the past year or so with the introduction of closed captions, tables, the improved player experience, and other specific fixes.
We’re continuously evaluating what features to tackle next and support for a broader range of screen readers is definitely on the discussion list.
Rest assured that accessibility is something we take seriously as we continue to work to meet the needs of all learners.
- Thank you, Nicole. We appreciate that Articulate is looking at ways to improve accessibility, and we hope that you guys will resolve these issues soon.
Unfortunately, because the issues we're encountering on my team impact screen reader users and keyboard navigation users, we have decided that we can only work toward 508 compliance in our Storyline-developed courses for other disability groups, like learners who are hearing impaired, have cognitive disabilities, have low vision but use screen enlargers (not screen readers), and limited motor skills and use an adaptive mouse (not keyboards). We will need to be sure we have other 508-compliant deliverables in place for learners who use screen readers or navigate only with a keyboard until Articulate resolves these issues or until we find another course authoring tool that is better equipped to handle all aspects of 508 compliance.
Thanks,
Lisa- Lisa, we are in the same boat. I would be interested in knowing how you are handling the courseware for those users needing 508 and WCAG compliance for whom the Articulate products do not work.
- Our department is fortunate in that we offer many different types of deliverables, not just online courses. We are taking an approach of making our deliverables as a collection (not individually) compliant for 508/accessibility ("there's something for everyone"). In our view, it would be very difficult or impossible to make each of our deliverables accessible for every possible type of disability, especially our online courses and webinars. Therefore, we are striving to make our online courses compliant for hearing impaired and people with color blindness or low vision who do NOT use screen readers or rely on keyboard navigation (i.e. compliant color contrast, closed captions, transcripts). Those learners who use screen readers and keyboard navigation--who can't take our courses because of Storyline's issues--can get the same content in the other deliverables produced by others in my department, namely online help and PDF-based quick reference guides. If we encounter a situation where none of our deliverables will work for a particular user (as identified through our call center), we can customize special training (e.g. one-on-one, in-person training) for that individual. This "something for everyone" approach is the only way we can be sure that we are compliant, and we are working on documenting all of this as we implement accessibility, in the event we are ever audited. I hope this answers your question.
