Content in scroll panel read by JAWS

Oct 27, 2023

Garry Motto
By Garry Motto

I am attempting to create a scroll panel with text content in it along with images and buttons for branched out activities. Creating these is not the issue, getting JAWS to read the content inside as you scroll so that you can visit the images and buttons is. Currently if you tab to the scroll panel, JAWS will not pick up the contents inside of it regardless of which key is used and if you down arrow from the start of the page and reach the content it reads it, but you cannot scroll down, when you attempt to do so it stops reading and starts calling out numbers, assuming line count. I am on the news version of Storyline 360. Articulate says scroll panels are supposed to work with screen readers, I would like to know how? 

11 Replies
Garry Motto
6 months ago11/07/23 at 2:45 pm (UTC)

Hello Lauren,

So we have attempted to use the insert/space combination as you suggested, when doing so it does allow for reading of the text via the down arrow key, but the scroll panel does not follow or move while doing this? Would it be possible for a screen recording to be created to show this process. Is the screen reader supposed to read automatically once has focus of the text? Right now when I get into it, it only reads a short segment and requires the down arrow to be pressed again to continue into the next short segment. 

Again any help in the matter would be appreciated!

Leslie McKerchie
6 months ago11/07/23 at 3:31 pm (UTC)

Hi Garry!

I'm glad learning to use Browse Mode with your screen reader worked for you.

The behavior you are now experiencing is expected screen reader behavior and is not specific to Articulate. 

  • The scrolling panel does not follow when the screen reader reads the text.
    • The primary audience for screen readers is people experiencing visual disabilities, so there is no need for the text to be displayed.
  • The screen reader only reads a short segment of text.
    • If your content is broken into paragraphs, this would be an expected pause, or you could run into the character limit for your screen reader. Screen reader users are accustomed to using the down arrow to continue reading based on their settings.

I'm attaching a screenshot of the JAWS settings for reference.

Garry Motto
6 months ago11/13/23 at 4:08 pm (UTC)

Hello all, I appreciate the continued support from the community but I'm not out of the woods yet. So I provided all the suggestions you have provided to our 508 team and they are still unable to get this to read correctly. That said I tried something else, I added a state to the text field to allow it to have focus, which it does and it reads perfectly now, the only problem we are running into now is when it finishes reading it calls it out as a button. 

Is there a way to remove the "button" tag from it when adding a state to a text field. I have checked and the button set is already set to none. 

Thanks

Jose Tansengco
6 months ago11/14/23 at 2:52 pm (UTC)

Hello Garry, 

Happy to look into this for you!

Can you share more details regarding what accessibility issues your team is still experiencing with your slide? It would also be helpful if you could share a copy of the slide which contains your scrolling panel and numerical data-entry field so we can take a look at how they are setup. Once we have more details, we'll re-test the behavior and let you know what we find!

Garry Motto
6 months ago11/14/23 at 3:03 pm (UTC)

There is an example of this I sent earlier in this conversation. The issue is, I was told in order to get a screen reader to move into a scroll panel and read the content you need to use insert/spacebar, this works for NVDA and Microsoft's screen reader, but it does not work on the current version of JAWs which is what is being used in this case. I cannot send in the exact file for security reasons so the example will have to suffice. When they attempt to use insert/spacebar, JAWs just reads out "spacebar" every time it is attempted. I know this used to work with JAWs not sure where/when the change happened, but it no longer works. I am guessing the functionality is still there, just with different hot keys. 

Leslie McKerchie
6 months ago11/14/23 at 8:23 pm (UTC)

Thank you, Garry.

I realized our disconnect in conversation here because you have posted in two places with the same issue.

I found your .story file here.

You're right. JAWS isn't changing modes using that command like it used to. So, the issue seems to be with screen reader navigation.

I had to pull out my survival guide, Desktop Screen Readers Survival Guide, to find that it was the NumPad Plus (+) key. Also, the ESC key seems to work as well. This will allow the screen reader to read the content within your scrolling panel.

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