This is a great conversation to have. We also want all learners to interact as fully as possible with any course created in Articulate and while I don't have experience with VoiceOver, I'd love to share these related resources with you:
Your new community is full of folks who have experience with all sorts of platforms. Someone might be using VoiceOver and can hopefully share their insight!
If there's anything else I can answer, I'll be here!
Actually, we have been using Articulate Storyline since 2013, so not at all new to the family. We've been struggling for a few years with trying to support our Macintosh-based blind students. JAWS is to only screen reader that works with Storyline and JAWS is not available for Mac.
We have tried a few "work around" solutions to support our Mac-based blind students.
We first tried to export our courses to Word, but the files generated are graphic (screen shots) of the courses, which do not work with screen reader software. The next thing we tried was to use the Translate feature to export the text of the Storyline files. This does give the text only of the course file and we then go through a very time consuming process of stripping out all of the system tags, adding in links and Style heading levels and the other Universal Design principles as recommended in the resources you've provided -- applied to a Word document, since we can't give our blind students the benefit of it directly online.
One benefit of the Universally Designed Word versions of the courses is that they can be used beyond accessibility. They can also be used in locations (like prisons) that do not have computer access to the courses. But maintaining multiple version of the courses through all of our revisions and updates add an unsustainable work load for our developers and specialists, some of whom are threatening to quit because of the extra work involved to maintain 50 courses.
We have been hoping Articulate would have a better solution for the blind who cannot access JAWS, For our Macintosh-based learners, it is not reasonable to ask them to purchase a PC in order to use Articulate to take the certification courses.
Any word on whether there ever will be a better solution to this?
Rita, thank you for that context. It really helps us understand the need. I've documented your request for support for Mac-compatible screen readers, and we'll be able to share with you here if we make any changes.
hi! do you have any tips for a dyslexic Mac user accessing our Storyline content? She says she is using the built in screen reader and it will not read any of the content because she is unable to highlight the text with her mouse. We don't have access to a screen reader so we haven't been able to test it ourselves.
thanks Phil - we are getting confused though - some of our slides allow us to tab through the text boxes, but many of them will only allow us to tab through interactive elements like buttons. How can we make the text detectable?
I have just re-exported a new version of our course to Review - and now none of the text boxes are tabbable - the only objects that can be highlighted are the interactive elements.
thanks Phil! I have managed to get hold of a Mac so I can now test this myself - it does work (but I now realise I need to turn off the accessibility for all the hidden elements of my course as it sounds awful!) Thanks so much for your help
Unfortunately I don't have install rights on my work PC so the quickest way is using the Mac.... If I can get it to sound ok on VoiceOver, is it likely that it will work with other screenreaders or do I need to test it on a PC?
Hi again..... I am looking through the course, and I have a bit of an issue with how the screenreader naviagates. I have a 'next' button in the bottom right of each screen, and after I have moved through all the elements of a screen and selected the next button, when the subsequent screen appears, the screenreader stays focussed on the next button and I have to go backwards through all the elements to get to the start of the screen. How do I stop it doing this?
To access a previous element, you'll want to add SHIFT plus the keystroke. For example, if you're using the TAB key to move through the interactive elements in your course then use SHIFT + TAB to return to the previous element. This works with headings and lists.
19 Replies
Hello, Rita. Welcome to the Articulate family! ♥︎
This is a great conversation to have. We also want all learners to interact as fully as possible with any course created in Articulate and while I don't have experience with VoiceOver, I'd love to share these related resources with you:
Your new community is full of folks who have experience with all sorts of platforms. Someone might be using VoiceOver and can hopefully share their insight!
If there's anything else I can answer, I'll be here!
Hi Katie,
Thanks for getting back to me.
Actually, we have been using Articulate Storyline since 2013, so not at all new to the family. We've been struggling for a few years with trying to support our Macintosh-based blind students. JAWS is to only screen reader that works with Storyline and JAWS is not available for Mac.
We have tried a few "work around" solutions to support our Mac-based blind students.
We first tried to export our courses to Word, but the files generated are graphic (screen shots) of the courses, which do not work with screen reader software. The next thing we tried was to use the Translate feature to export the text of the Storyline files. This does give the text only of the course file and we then go through a very time consuming process of stripping out all of the system tags, adding in links and Style heading levels and the other Universal Design principles as recommended in the resources you've provided -- applied to a Word document, since we can't give our blind students the benefit of it directly online.
One benefit of the Universally Designed Word versions of the courses is that they can be used beyond accessibility. They can also be used in locations (like prisons) that do not have computer access to the courses. But maintaining multiple version of the courses through all of our revisions and updates add an unsustainable work load for our developers and specialists, some of whom are threatening to quit because of the extra work involved to maintain 50 courses.
We have been hoping Articulate would have a better solution for the blind who cannot access JAWS, For our Macintosh-based learners, it is not reasonable to ask them to purchase a PC in order to use Articulate to take the certification courses.
Any word on whether there ever will be a better solution to this?
Rita, thank you for that context. It really helps us understand the need. I've documented your request for support for Mac-compatible screen readers, and we'll be able to share with you here if we make any changes.
Thank you for being such a dedicated customer!
Thank you for your prompt reply Crystal. We appreciate the consideration.
Hi Rita,
Thanks Ren,
We'll test it out and let you know how it works out!
hi! do you have any tips for a dyslexic Mac user accessing our Storyline content? She says she is using the built in screen reader and it will not read any of the content because she is unable to highlight the text with her mouse. We don't have access to a screen reader so we haven't been able to test it ourselves.
is she using tab or the down arrows?
i believ she is clicking....
For voice over to work she should be using the up and down arrows and the tab for interactive items.
thanks Phil - we are getting confused though - some of our slides allow us to tab through the text boxes, but many of them will only allow us to tab through interactive elements like buttons. How can we make the text detectable?
I have just re-exported a new version of our course to Review - and now none of the text boxes are tabbable - the only objects that can be highlighted are the interactive elements.
It should be the up and down arrow for text elements and the tab for interactive elements
Sent from my iPhone
thanks Phil! I have managed to get hold of a Mac so I can now test this myself - it does work (but I now realise I need to turn off the accessibility for all the hidden elements of my course as it sounds awful!) Thanks so much for your help
Yep sounds awful! To get the same experience on a PC install NVDA let's you test the accessibility and it is free.
Unfortunately I don't have install rights on my work PC so the quickest way is using the Mac.... If I can get it to sound ok on VoiceOver, is it likely that it will work with other screenreaders or do I need to test it on a PC?
I would still test on PC as well, it should work OK just better to test
Hi again..... I am looking through the course, and I have a bit of an issue with how the screenreader naviagates. I have a 'next' button in the bottom right of each screen, and after I have moved through all the elements of a screen and selected the next button, when the subsequent screen appears, the screenreader stays focussed on the next button and I have to go backwards through all the elements to get to the start of the screen. How do I stop it doing this?
Hi Rebecca!
To access a previous element, you'll want to add SHIFT plus the keystroke. For example, if you're using the TAB key to move through the interactive elements in your course then use SHIFT + TAB to return to the previous element. This works with headings and lists.
Let me know if you run into any snags!
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