Hello. I'm a developer and I am trying to learn more about this 508 Compliance and Accessibility.
I do have a question: If I use the collapsible Menu, does that make my course not compliant? Do I have to choose the sidebar Menu so it is always visible for the users to make it compliant? Thank you!
Thank you for answering my question, Lauren. On another note, is there a setting that I can change so screen reader won't read the Slide title twice? During testing, JAWS screen reader upon landing on a slide reads "Slide colon [SlideTitle] main region", and then reads "Slide colon [SlideTitle]", and then only after that it will read the actual focus order that I set. It was repetitive and there's no way to change the alternative text for the default slide title so I cannot correct wrong pronunciations like the abbreviations or special characters. I can't change the default slide title with the alternative text because we are using the built-in Menu. Please advise.
I'm glad that was helpful! JAWS, and any screen reader, will announce the slide title from the menu and the slide title when the entire slide is selected initially. I've found the slide title is read more on the first slide of the course than the following slides. Are you experiencing this too?
I've logged this with our team so that we can look into why JAWS announces the slide title multiple times. I'll update you in this discussion.
JAWS announces the slide title from the menu and the slide title once it's focus is on the main region and it does that on ALL slides.
I am working on a course that has a lot of abbreviations and numbers. For example below, the title will be read by JAWS as "Title GAK three hundred two dash two six" instead of "Title G Q A C, three oh two twenty six". I am adding the correct pronunciation in the alt text of the slide title textbox and then make it the first item in the Focus order. So now JAWS actually announces the title 3 times on my course.
In my experience on old version of SL360, it only reads all the items in the tab order so I didn't have this issue before.
I hope there's a way to add alt text on the slide title from the Menu so I don't have to add it on the actual textbox.
I understand that JAWS is reading the slide title three times on every slide. Thank you for clarifying. I'll share this with my team.
Additionally, I see how JAWS is announcing the slide title as a word rather than each letter. Have you tried adding hyphens in between the letters and numbers? However, there is a risk of doing this as a screen reader will read the hyphens if the pronunciation setting is set to ALL.
I appreciate you taking the time to share what you're running into with JAWS and Storyline 360. I'll keep you updated in this discussion.
Hi Lauren, hyphens are read as dash and underscores are read as underline so I cannot use those. I can only add spaces between the letters and numbers so it will be read correctly.
I have also found out a LOT of other issues:
Shortcut key to open keyboard shortcut list (shift+?) doesn't work when using JAWS screen reader
Shortcut keys for Next and Previous buttons doesn't work when using JAWS screen reader. Assigning a custom keyboard shortcuts the same as the default shortcut works BUT sometimes it focuses on the end of slide and skips the main region so all my content aren't being read. I had to tab until I reach the "Back to top" button
Alt text doesn't like multiple paragraphs/line breaks. I had to combine all paragraphs into a single paragraph so all content will be read by JAWS. This is a major issue for me because I have a lot of text and bullet points in my course.
Sometimes JAWS begin reading at the middle of the paragraph.
Alt text assigned to a graphic within a group wasn't being read. I had to add the alt text in the grouped object itself.
BOTH Graded Question > Multiple Choice AND Freeform Question > Pick One doesn't work properly. JAWS only reads the first choice. Only workaround is to use Freeform > Pick Many but use radio buttons instead of checkbox.
I hope that these issues will be resolved in the future updates.
Thank you for continuing to work with me in this discussion!
I understand that you've found other issues regarding JAWS and how it behaves with Storyline 360. I appreciate you listing these out for me!
We are making improvements to the first item on your list where the keyboard shortcut to open the list (shift + ?) isn't working properly with JAWS. We aren't seeing the same behavior with the keyboard shortcut for the previous/next buttons not working. I've reported this to my team. Would you mind sharing which browser you're using and which version of JAWS you're testing with? This will help us test these issues in the same environment.
Additionally, I understand that JAWS stops reading in the middle of the alt text. You can change the number of characters JAWS reads before stopping and requiring the user to press the Down arrow to continue reading. Here are the default settings in JAWS. By changing the number of character read by JAWS will eliminate both issues listed where JAWS stops reading Alt Text and JAWS reading in the middle of a paragraph.
When grouping an object, it turns into one object so JAWS will read the Alt Text set for the entire group. Additionally, if it's a graphic that is purely decorational then it shouldn't be added to the Focus Order or have alt text assigned to the element.
Lastly, the standard way to navigate through a quiz question that has radio button or check boxes is to use the down/up arrow to navigate through the answer choices and then select an option using the SPACE bar. Here's a quick demo of this interaction: Link
Thank you so much for the details you've provided! I'll keep you updated when the feedback from my team on the keyboard shortcuts issue as well a the slide title.
Thank you for your further assistance! Below are some additional input about my issues.
Would you mind sharing which browser you're using and which version of JAWS you're testing with? This will help us test these issues in the same environment.
I am using Legacy Edge and IE11 for testing. And the latest version of JAWS. I also have yet test on the latest Edge and see if there are any issues. I will comment here if I found out anything.
Additionally, I understand that JAWS stops reading in the middle of the alt text. You can change the number of characters JAWS reads before stopping and requiring the user to press the Down arrow to continue reading.
I am aware of this and how to change the settings of max characters. The issue that I experience is when it is my first time accessing the page but instead of it starting from the top, it starts at the middle of the paragraph. This only happens on IE11 and not on Edge.
When grouping an object, it turns into one object so JAWS will read the Alt Text set for the entire group.
The image that I have is not decorative so I have to add alt-text. But yeah, I added the alt text on the entire group because it's not read by JAWS if it's on the image when it is grouped with other objects.
Lastly, the standard way to navigate through a quiz question that has radio button or check boxes is to use the down/up arrow to navigate through the answer choices and then select an option using the SPACE bar. Here's a quick demo of this interaction: Link
Thank you for this very detailed video. I know that you have to tab through the choices and press Space bar to activate the button. Again, the issue happens when I'm using JAWS on Edge or IE11. Alt text aren't being read so I have to figure out a workaround which I've mentioned above.
Maybe the whole thing is a browser issue and it's compatibility with JAWS.
I'm so appreciative that you took the time to share these details with me! I've looked at the JAWS website for preferred browsers, and in their FAQ, it states: JAWS works with Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Internet Explorer. Support for Microsoft Edge is continuing to improve as well.
I'm interested to know if the same experience happens with an updated version of Microsoft Edge.
14 Replies
Hello Joyce!
Good question! You can use the collapsible Menu and still meet 508 Compliance. Screen readers will announce whether the Menu is open or closed.
Here are a few resources about designing accessible courses:
Accessibility Article Series
How to Design an Accessible Course
Storyline 360 Voluntary Product Accessibility Template®
Thank you for answering my question, Lauren. On another note, is there a setting that I can change so screen reader won't read the Slide title twice? During testing, JAWS screen reader upon landing on a slide reads "Slide colon [SlideTitle] main region", and then reads "Slide colon [SlideTitle]", and then only after that it will read the actual focus order that I set. It was repetitive and there's no way to change the alternative text for the default slide title so I cannot correct wrong pronunciations like the abbreviations or special characters. I can't change the default slide title with the alternative text because we are using the built-in Menu. Please advise.
Hello Joyce!
I'm glad that was helpful! JAWS, and any screen reader, will announce the slide title from the menu and the slide title when the entire slide is selected initially. I've found the slide title is read more on the first slide of the course than the following slides. Are you experiencing this too?
I've logged this with our team so that we can look into why JAWS announces the slide title multiple times. I'll update you in this discussion.
HI Lauren, thanks for looking into this.
JAWS announces the slide title from the menu and the slide title once it's focus is on the main region and it does that on ALL slides.
I am working on a course that has a lot of abbreviations and numbers. For example below, the title will be read by JAWS as "Title GAK three hundred two dash two six" instead of "Title G Q A C, three oh two twenty six". I am adding the correct pronunciation in the alt text of the slide title textbox and then make it the first item in the Focus order. So now JAWS actually announces the title 3 times on my course.
In my experience on old version of SL360, it only reads all the items in the tab order so I didn't have this issue before.
I hope there's a way to add alt text on the slide title from the Menu so I don't have to add it on the actual textbox.
Thanks,
Hi Joyce!
I understand that JAWS is reading the slide title three times on every slide. Thank you for clarifying. I'll share this with my team.
Additionally, I see how JAWS is announcing the slide title as a word rather than each letter. Have you tried adding hyphens in between the letters and numbers? However, there is a risk of doing this as a screen reader will read the hyphens if the pronunciation setting is set to ALL.
I appreciate you taking the time to share what you're running into with JAWS and Storyline 360. I'll keep you updated in this discussion.
Hi Lauren, hyphens are read as dash and underscores are read as underline so I cannot use those. I can only add spaces between the letters and numbers so it will be read correctly.
I have also found out a LOT of other issues:
I hope that these issues will be resolved in the future updates.
Thank you,
Hi joyce!
Thank you for continuing to work with me in this discussion!
I understand that you've found other issues regarding JAWS and how it behaves with Storyline 360. I appreciate you listing these out for me!
We are making improvements to the first item on your list where the keyboard shortcut to open the list (shift + ?) isn't working properly with JAWS. We aren't seeing the same behavior with the keyboard shortcut for the previous/next buttons not working. I've reported this to my team. Would you mind sharing which browser you're using and which version of JAWS you're testing with? This will help us test these issues in the same environment.
Additionally, I understand that JAWS stops reading in the middle of the alt text. You can change the number of characters JAWS reads before stopping and requiring the user to press the Down arrow to continue reading. Here are the default settings in JAWS. By changing the number of character read by JAWS will eliminate both issues listed where JAWS stops reading Alt Text and JAWS reading in the middle of a paragraph.
When grouping an object, it turns into one object so JAWS will read the Alt Text set for the entire group. Additionally, if it's a graphic that is purely decorational then it shouldn't be added to the Focus Order or have alt text assigned to the element.
Lastly, the standard way to navigate through a quiz question that has radio button or check boxes is to use the down/up arrow to navigate through the answer choices and then select an option using the SPACE bar. Here's a quick demo of this interaction: Link
Thank you so much for the details you've provided! I'll keep you updated when the feedback from my team on the keyboard shortcuts issue as well a the slide title.
Additionally, I understand that JAWS stops reading in the middle of the alt text. You can change the number of characters JAWS reads before stopping and requiring the user to press the Down arrow to continue reading.
When grouping an object, it turns into one object so JAWS will read the Alt Text set for the entire group.
Lastly, the standard way to navigate through a quiz question that has radio button or check boxes is to use the down/up arrow to navigate through the answer choices and then select an option using the SPACE bar. Here's a quick demo of this interaction: Link
Maybe the whole thing is a browser issue and it's compatibility with JAWS.
Hi joyce!
I'm so appreciative that you took the time to share these details with me! I've looked at the JAWS website for preferred browsers, and in their FAQ, it states: JAWS works with Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Internet Explorer. Support for Microsoft Edge is continuing to improve as well.
I'm interested to know if the same experience happens with an updated version of Microsoft Edge.
I'm looking forward to your comments!
Some of the issues happen even on the latest version Edge.
Thank you, Lauren. Appreciate your help on this from the start. :)
Hi Joyce,
Great news! We just released another update for Articulate 360 and included a few important fixes you'll see in the release notes.
The item you'll be interested in is:
Fixed: Screen readers sometimes announced slide titles more than once.
Just launch the Articulate 360 desktop app on your computer and click the Update button for Storyline 360. Details here.
Please let us know if you have any questions, either here or by reaching out to our Support Engineers directly.
Hi Team,
The issue has reopened and I am facing the same in the latest version.
Screen readers every time announced slide titles more than once.
Request you to have a look into it.
Regards,
Ashutosh
Hello Ashutosh!
Thanks so much for reaching out. I'm so sorry to hear you are experiencing this with your screen reader.
I have opened a support case on your behalf. You will be hearing from our talented Support Engineer Staff shortly via email.
Hope you have a great start to your week! ✨