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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Hi Grace! I just have a question, as I have been testing Storyline thoroughly these past several weeks, and I'm not having any of the issues you're describing.
When you try to read a slide of content with a screen reader, what keys on the keyboard are you using? I ask because if you're trying to use the Tab key instead of the arrow keys, you won't be able to read the written content or alt text on the screen.
I didn't learn this until very recently, but screen readers like NVDA have two modes: NVDA calls them focus mode and browse (reading) mode. (I'm not sure what JAWS calls them, but they're the same functionality and use the same keyboard keys.)
Focus mode involves the Tab key and jumps only to interactive elements, such as buttons, hyperlinks, and objects with interactive triggers programmed to them.
Browse mode involves the arrow keys alone and in various combinations, and it's what screen reader users use to read non-interactive content like written text, images with alt text, and so on.
Try this: Launch my little test here: https://360.articulate.com/review/content/35ad2ac1-1fd3-449c-b28a-f370c77a38b7/review
Then turn on your screen reader. Skip navigation to the slide. Then press the down arrow; it reads the title. Press it again; it reads the paragraph. Press it a third time, and it reads the alt text.
Note that the focus indicator does NOT have to be visible in browse/reading mode; only in focus mode. In browse/reading mode, the focus is considered to be "virtual" focus. (I learned all of this information from a third-party accessibility advisor we have access to.)
If you use NVDA, this list of keyboard shortcuts is useful: https://dequeuniversity.com/screenreaders/nvda-keyboard-shortcuts
I hope this helps you! :)
Lisa
When you try to read a slide of content with a screen reader, what keys on the keyboard are you using? I ask because if you're trying to use the Tab key instead of the arrow keys, you won't be able to read the written content or alt text on the screen.
I didn't learn this until very recently, but screen readers like NVDA have two modes: NVDA calls them focus mode and browse (reading) mode. (I'm not sure what JAWS calls them, but they're the same functionality and use the same keyboard keys.)
Focus mode involves the Tab key and jumps only to interactive elements, such as buttons, hyperlinks, and objects with interactive triggers programmed to them.
Browse mode involves the arrow keys alone and in various combinations, and it's what screen reader users use to read non-interactive content like written text, images with alt text, and so on.
Try this: Launch my little test here: https://360.articulate.com/review/content/35ad2ac1-1fd3-449c-b28a-f370c77a38b7/review
Then turn on your screen reader. Skip navigation to the slide. Then press the down arrow; it reads the title. Press it again; it reads the paragraph. Press it a third time, and it reads the alt text.
Note that the focus indicator does NOT have to be visible in browse/reading mode; only in focus mode. In browse/reading mode, the focus is considered to be "virtual" focus. (I learned all of this information from a third-party accessibility advisor we have access to.)
If you use NVDA, this list of keyboard shortcuts is useful: https://dequeuniversity.com/screenreaders/nvda-keyboard-shortcuts
I hope this helps you! :)
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
Thank you so much for all this information. I think this may take more review and study of screen readers for me to fully follow. Storyline support would likely benefit from this information as well as I could have used this info during the weeks and weeks I went back and forth communicating with them :)
I'm still getting all kinds of things read by my screen reader that aren't in my focus order and having to arrow and tab through what appear to be non-existent elements.
Thank you so much for all this information. I think this may take more review and study of screen readers for me to fully follow. Storyline support would likely benefit from this information as well as I could have used this info during the weeks and weeks I went back and forth communicating with them :)
I'm still getting all kinds of things read by my screen reader that aren't in my focus order and having to arrow and tab through what appear to be non-existent elements.
- Hm, that's strange.... These things being read but should not be are on the content slide?
Keep in mind that screen readers read all sorts of other things programmed into the content on the web browser window, and it uses terminology that might sound unfamiliar, such as "landmark" and "clickable frame." These are things that might sound extraneous to us, but a screen reader user should be familiar with, and they might rely on that information to orient them on the screen, etc.
I didn't learn any of this or become comfortable with screen readers until I started testing our LMS for accessibility.
I agree, some folks in Storyline support don't seem to be as well-versed with screen reader technology or accessibility as they should be.
This WebAIM article on NVDA bells and whistles might help, although I would stick with defaults and avoid customizing the tool, since you can't predict whether users customize their own NVDA tools, or how. The references to the "NVDA" key is, I think, Insert, by default. (At least, that works for me.) https://webaim.org/articles/nvda/
Finally, to get an idea of how the screen reader is supposed to work (vs. how it works with Storyline output), I recommend playing around with using the screen reader with website that you know are probably set up properly for accessibility, such as WebAIM or https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/quickref/.
This is good information, thank you Lisa!