Accessibility question - using tab to navigate

I've run into similar, if I'm understanding you correctly. Sometimes it has been with placing character avatars with multiple states, sometimes it's buttons with multiple states. I have not found a pattern or a cause and effect relationship. So far it just seems random. Likely, it's my build technique!

The first was discovered while trying to correct a character with multiple states on it. Basically, if a user clicked one of four answer options, each answer would trigger the character to show one of four states. Some positive, some negative, etc. The problem I had included a few issues:

• One was that the yellow tab highlight box just would not show up when viewing the interaction through Preview or through Review 360.
• Add to that, that my JAWS screen reader would completely ignore that character even though I had alt text on it and had it checked to be recognized by readers.
• Another issue is that I could not select the character element from my working slide stage. I could select any other button, the other character, text boxes, etc., but not the one giving me grief.

I had similar effects with a few custom buttons with multiple states.

I haven't found a pattern but I have found two odd work-arounds. When troubleshooting the first character example, I clicked to edit the states. I assumed that I might as well just reinsert the character images into each state. I clicked the character to Edit States. Within the Normal state I just inserted a new character image intending to delete the old one. My assumption was to just replace each state. I can't say it was logical! By that point I was just screwing around to see what effects any change had, if any. Anyway, after inserting a new image into the Normal state, suddenly everything just sorted itself. Even after deleting the newer image from Normal, leaving the old one as it was, things still worked. I could then select the character element in my working space. I could also tab (and see the yellow box highlight!) the object in Review 360.

Please note that that "fix" was chaos. I have no idea why or how it worked. Just that it did. I also have not tried to reproduce it.

The other fix, sadly, was to rebuild my button sets. I found that trying to update individual states was too time consuming and created additional risks. Instead, I chose to start clean by inserting the custom graphic used as the foundation of my button onto my working stage. I then clicked to Edit States and added the additional states needed for my interaction. In this case, it was 4 total states: the two defaults of Normal and Hover, and two additional custom states. Adding new states using my first Normal state as the one to duplicate made sure that all my graphics were instances of the original Normal state. I figured this might clean out whatever garbage I might have created having made individual custom states the first time.

Once I had all 4 states in play and named correctly, I then worked to insert additional custom images into the different states. This might be check marks, X marks, symbols, whatever. The point is, each state was slightly modified. I even went so far as to change the transparency of the base button graphic for the different states to test.

Rebuilding fixed my issue, even going as far as I did with additional state graphic layers and transparency changes. I could at least copy/paste the trigger scripts from my old buttons to the new ones. So that helped some with downtime. I was also lucky in that the slide had maybe 8 buttons with the same issue. I was able to copy the first one and paste the 7 other replacements, making sure to change their names in my timeline, changing the ALT text so that each had a unique call out with screen readers, and re-associating triggers.

Hi Noel,

Thanks for taking the time to reply and it's good to hear it's not just me going through these strange issues!

It seems you're right in that it is very random?? I have a lot of custom objects/images and they have absolutely no issue whatsoever - i.e. they have similar animations on yet present the yellow border whilst others won't.

I've found another "work-around" this issue. I duplicate the normal state of the object with the bug and place a trigger on whatever object is before it indicating that when a user presses Tab on that object it switches the problematic object's state to the duplicate normal. Hey presto = yellow border back!