Articulate Storyline & JAWS tips

Jun 18, 2019

Hi everyone,

I am looking for tips to getting JAWS to work well with Storyline and have a few questions for you all.

First of all, does JAWS in general work?  I found that JAWS read tables quite well (especially since you can customize the order that the cells are read it), but are there any other tips to getting it to read well, besides using tables?

Is there a way to put a JAWS compatible progress bar in there so the user can tell how far they are in the course? Or slide numbers?

Do quiz questions work? I tried to insert a multiple choice question in --and couldn't get JAWS to read or select the options, so are there some tricks here?

I am looking for any tips and info you may have to make Storyline accessible. Thanks!

1 Reply
Bob O'Donnell

I would not use tables if I were you as they need to be customized for JAWS to read them properly inside Storyline. The header/row correlation can get complicated on large tables. Technically for 508, tables should only be used for data and not for formatting text layouts.

For progress, we typically use slide numbers. JAWS reads them fine.

We have not had any issues with questions, other than some very complicated ones that we created. (which the answers were in a table format!) JAWS reads everything fine. If you are unfamiliar with JAWS there are keyboard cheat sheets available and other resources that show how to use it. Our internal testers have never had any issues with questions other than the tab order for the feedback boxes being occasionally incorrect.

Tips:

  • Make sure you set your tab order for the objects on screen in the correct reading order - left to right, top to bottom on the screen and test it.
  • Uncheck the accessibility for any object that is not instructionally relevant.
  • All content related objects need proper "alt tags" to describe them. Keep the details under 10 words if possible. If that is not possible, then you need to include a special link "D link"(text) that describes what is on screen. (like a complex chart)
  • Double check the states of any objects or buttons you create. Storyline doesn't always automatically add the alt text description to the other image states.
  • Watch grouping items. If you accidentally have an accessible object grouped inside another object, JAWS will discover it!
  • Watch copying items, for example if you use "checkmarks" to show completion. Copied items retain the "alt tag" of the original object. Objects need to have unique names for 508.
  • Storyline's hyperlinks are not accessible but you can hide a hot object underneath the hyperlink text so it appears to be keyboard accessible.
  • Storyline's Hotspots are also not accessible. You can simply use shapes instead. Just be careful not to cover any hot object with another object as it will hide it from a mouse click.
  • If you use audio, it needs closed captioning. Its also a good idea to include a transcript.
  • Try not to hide accessible items in your timeline. If its not on screen when the timeline pauses, its not visible to JAWS.
  • if you use popup info, make sure each popup title matches the link it came from.
  • Set up some examples and play with them. Its the best way to learn what works and what doesn't work in Storyline.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Good luck!

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