Forum Discussion
Announcing content.
I recently had my first Storyline 360 project audited and one element of the feedback was none of the slides announce content by the screen reader.
What does this mean? Is each slide suppose to auto read some sort of description of what the slide is before they use their arrow keys to navigate the page? And if so how do I force Storyline to auto read a description?
Hi AaronBurgessAU . When a user navigates to a new slide in Storyline, there are certain things announced to the user. This is when a new slide is navigated to though. It does not mean the screen reader should then continue and read the page without the user choosing for that to happen.
You can announce content in Storyline by using layers that are set to prevent access to the base layer. I use this technique sparingly though, where instant feedback is needed. For the most part, it is a case of ensuring you are using semantic mark-up (heading are using a heading level, lists are using list items etc) and that the focus/reading order has been set-up correctly.
When you announce content, you are telling the screen reader to interrupt what it's doing and announce the content or change in state. This is a valuable tool, but is definitely not necessary for every slide in a course. Navigating to a new slide will provide necessary feedback to the screen reader user that they have loaded new content.
I think I'd have to see a a specific issue that they have raised and ensure they provide the following details. Expected behaviour, Observed behaviour, Assistive Tech used, Browser, Operating system and WCAG guideline that the issue impacts.
I could definitely understand raising this issue for some cases. For example, a stopwatch announcing "20 second to go" or "You must make a selection before selecting submit". In these scenarios, failing to announce that information at the time when it is needed and not relying on the user to "discover" that information is essential, but in most cases, discovering the information, by naturally moving through the content from top left to bottom right is normal behaviour.
3 Replies
Are you able to post the exact feedback that you got AaronBurgessAU as "none of the slides announce content" doesn't really make sense, as it would not be expected that an entire slide would announce it's content. The content is made available using the correct semantic HTML, to screen readers. The screen reader user, would use their software to read the slide. It is an interactive task though, and not passive.
Was there a piece of content in particular that the tester expected to be announced? You would announce content in some situations where interrupting the screen reader to show a specific message would make sense, for example, and error occurs or there is a message that needs to be read immediately on it being shown on screen.
This is what they wrote.
"When the user activates the Play button to begin the interactive video presentation, the first slide (Slide 2: “Introduction”) appears visually on screen. However, no content is announced by screen readers. simillarly when user interact with actionable elements in all slides and new slides appers no annoucement occure of screen reader users."
To clarify I have a focus order, some items have Alt-Text and I have tested the project using NVDA and while using the arrow keys I can hear the text being read out and any other important element that the user may need to know about.
Hi AaronBurgessAU . When a user navigates to a new slide in Storyline, there are certain things announced to the user. This is when a new slide is navigated to though. It does not mean the screen reader should then continue and read the page without the user choosing for that to happen.
You can announce content in Storyline by using layers that are set to prevent access to the base layer. I use this technique sparingly though, where instant feedback is needed. For the most part, it is a case of ensuring you are using semantic mark-up (heading are using a heading level, lists are using list items etc) and that the focus/reading order has been set-up correctly.
When you announce content, you are telling the screen reader to interrupt what it's doing and announce the content or change in state. This is a valuable tool, but is definitely not necessary for every slide in a course. Navigating to a new slide will provide necessary feedback to the screen reader user that they have loaded new content.
I think I'd have to see a a specific issue that they have raised and ensure they provide the following details. Expected behaviour, Observed behaviour, Assistive Tech used, Browser, Operating system and WCAG guideline that the issue impacts.
I could definitely understand raising this issue for some cases. For example, a stopwatch announcing "20 second to go" or "You must make a selection before selecting submit". In these scenarios, failing to announce that information at the time when it is needed and not relying on the user to "discover" that information is essential, but in most cases, discovering the information, by naturally moving through the content from top left to bottom right is normal behaviour.