Drag-and-drop is one of the most flexible features in Storyline. With freeform drag-and-drop, you can use images, text, shapes, and graphics to build almost any interaction you can dream up.
There's one catch, though: drag-and-drops aren't fully keyboard accessible yet. That can leave some learners out when you want everyone to take part.
If your interaction only needs to move in one direction (side to side or up and down), there's another object that works beautifully: the slider.
Sliders for Drag-And-Drop Interactions?
Most of us reach for sliders to compare values, explore data, or add quick microinteractions. But with a little customization, they can power drag-and-drop-style interactions that work with a keyboard and keep movement locked to the X or Y axis.
Aman shows just how well this works in his typography example.
The first time I saw it, I thought, "Wait, how'd he do that?"
The trick is surprisingly simple when you understand how sliders work. Aman swapped the standard slider thumb for a letter graphic.
Now learners can move that letter left and right or up and down, just like they would in a drag interaction. And because sliders are tied to variables, you can make things happen when the values change. That makes sliders a great fit for typography concepts like kerning and leading, where learners need to move an object in only one direction.
With a little customization, a slider can measure distance, set an object's position, or step through a sequence. It can even stand in for drag-and-drop, and that's exactly what this week's challenge is all about!
🏆 Challenge of the Week
This week, your e-learning challenge is to share an example that shows how you can use sliders to build drag-and-drop-style interactions.
Go beyond traditional number scales and use sliders to explore concepts like distance, position, sequence, intensity, or other relationships that benefit from hands-on movement.
🙌 Share Your Work
You put in the effort. Now make sure your work gets seen:
- Personal blog: If you have a blog, write about your example from this week's challenge and share the link with your submission.
- Social media: Share your examples on LinkedIn and mention both David and Articulate using the #ElearningChallenge tag so we can help promote your work.
- Peer feedback: Try leaving helpful feedback on at least three projects this week.
- Community forums: Cross-post in the forums to give your work even more visibility.
🙌 Last Week’s Challenge:
Before you slide into this week's challenge, check out the interactive video examples your fellow community members shared over the past week:
Turning Video Into Learning Experiences #568: Challenge | Recap
👋 New to the E-Learning Challenges?
The weekly e-learning challenges are ongoing opportunities to learn, share, and build your e-learning portfolios. You can jump into any or all of the previous challenges anytime you want. I’ll update the recap posts to include your demos.
Learn more about the challenges in this Q&A post and why and how to participate in this helpful article.
