CDC and 508 Accessibility

I have posted on this topic in the past, but was hoping for any updates you might have on this topic.

That's my understanding as well, but obviously the CDC hasn't gotten that message. The message explicitly says "Articulate should not be used to develop e-learning courses". 

We've been using Storyline for many years now, but if the funder says it won't work for them...I'm left with little choice. Just trying to find if Articulate is a company has tried to address with somebody at the CDC. It seems like they would want to be on the approved list if they feel their software meets all of the 508 needs.

The software doesn't automatically make something 508 compliant. You have to do some, if not a lot, of extra work to accommodate for 508. As a VA employee, I'm well aware of this so I try to use 508 tools such as JAWS and object inspect to ensure everything can be accessed both by mouse and keyboard.

My understanding is that the 508 Guidelines (about 3 pages with 40 or so requirements) can not be fully implemented within Articulate of Captivate. I think the number is about 65% adherence. Most people develop their courses in a very heavy text format with minimal if any interactions. You may want to look at courseavenue.com.

At the same time I started this thread, I also sent a message to the "508 compliance" contact at the CDC. I pointed them to Articulate's article on 508. This is the response that I got 2 minutes ago.

"Hopefully your projects are at a point where the switch to Lectora can be made with minimal impact.  Due to potential 508 compliance issues, CDC has made the decision that Articulate products should not be used. 

Among the concerns is that Storyline courses work OK with Jaws but not with other assistive technologies.  Also Flash is used, which is not 508 compliant."

Again, I'm hoping an Articulate staff member might be able to chime in here and tell me if they think the argument is worth being made. Otherwise, I guess we'll be going with another authoring tool.

Thank you for flagging this, Matt. We are also experiencing the same issue, so we're eager to hear Articulate's response. 

Interesting they say Flash is not 508 compliant...from my understanding VA is just as strict if not stricter and I have gotten multiple Captivate Flash output courses through 508.

I'm guessing the same. I'm sure there are plenty of hoops to jump through to get on their "list". That's why I posted here in hopes that a staff member might know if this is something Articulate is looking into. 

Hey everybody,

Just wanted to post an update...someone from Articulate's staff contacted me and said they are following up with the CDC about this. Understandably, they can't guarantee any sort of timeline for the CDC's response, or if they will be added to the list. But I'm happy they are on the case and making the effort. Fingers crossed...

Hi all,

I have contacted the CDC to understand how they reached that conclusion and to hopefully get them to reconsider. I will update this thread with any information I receive.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention!

Thanks Brian! Really appreciate you looking into this.

I think we need some clarification on "Section 508". There is a composite that contains approximately 45 "guidelines" for 508 adherence (not necessarily compliance). Some federal agencies require total compliance/adherence to all of the guidelines while others are willing to accept what is called "Primary 508" which is about 15 of the guidelines. I believe that there are about 27 people across the federal agencies who act as the 508 watchdog team - they are the ones who may be more strict than say the training designers/developers who review all of our courses. So there are various reasons why one agency accepts a course while the same course may not be accepted in another agency. In terms of Captivate and Articulate tools, neither one adheres to the full 508 guidelines but does adhere to the "primary" guidelines. I offer this opinion so that we know the correct answers to ask federal agencies and to understand what their possible forthcoming answers will really mean. Some attachments.

Hi Brian.

I'm following up on this thread to see if you've made any progress with the CDC about getting Storyline on their approved list of authoring tools. We are currently responding to an RFP for 5 courses. We had to purchase Lectora for the previous project, but would love to go back to Storyline. Any updates on this?

Thanks,

Matt

Hi Brian, was there any movement here or an update? 

Hey Matt, did you end up hearing anything about this? 

Hello Moriah!

I'm happy to work with you to ensure you have the information you need. Are you looking to create accessible content in Storyline 360?

If so, we do have resources that will help!

All About Accessibility Series

Storyline 360 VPAT

Please let me know if you have additional questions about accessibility and 508 compliance.