JAWs Reader is not reading ALT Text

I see the same thing when my image is used like a button. If no trigger is associated with the image, Jaws reads the alt text. When a trigger has been added to show a layer when the user clicks on the image, the filename of the image is being read by Jaws.

I was having a similar problem, though not sure how similar my situation is: I was using images as buttons, giving them multiple states and applying triggers to them. NVDA was reading my image file names instead of the alt tags I'd given the images. I was able to resolve the issue by applying the alt tag not only to the image, but also, specifically, to the instance of the image within its Normal state. Also noticing that if I have separate alt tags on the image and the image's normal state, the normal state's alt tag is what gets read.

Hi Ashley, are there any plans to support the NVDA reader? Thanks!

Hi Janet,

The answer from Articulate will likely be 'No'. But the good news is that you don't have to worry about whether or not NVDA is supported by Articulate because from my experience any Storyline bugs that have occurred in NVDA have also occurred in JAWS. So I don't accept 'We don't support NVDA' as an answer. I will always ask them to actually test the issue in JAWS and to confirm if the same behaviour occurs. In my experience, it always does. 

In relation to Douglas' post, I can confirm that this issue definitely occurs in Storyline 2, whether you're using NVDA or JAWS. The Articulate team have no intention at present to fix this bug in Storyline 2. Instead they want you to pay to upgrade to Storyline 3 in order to fix the bug. This is quite odd, as most software companies fix bugs in their software as free updates. 

I haven't tested Storyline 3, so I can't confirm whether it has fixed the bug and whether this is the case in both NVDA and JAWS. Personally I don't have the time to bother testing it in the free trial myself... Since this bug has been around for 4 years, I'm now very accustomed to using the dodgy workarounds that we had to devise to overcome the issue (such as the nifty one that Douglas mentioned). But if you do have time to test Storyline 3, let me know how you go with NVDA. 

Hi Sandy and welcome to Heroes! 

It sounds like you've had things set up correctly in terms of selecting that the object is visible to accessibility tools, and including text within the Alt text box below:

If you'd like us to take a look at your .story file, please share it here. 

Hi Kit, I think this may be the case ... thanks for the feedback. This has been very helpful.

Hi Sandy, this is due to the Storyline bug which I have described here. The video in my post demonstrates why this is happening and shows you a workaround for it. Essentially, you'll have to create all your buttons again from scratch! This is a ridiculous and tedious workaround (especially if you have many buttons that you wish to duplicate) which is why I am still hoping that the Articulate team will address this bug in an update someday. Hope this helps, and it would be great if you could submit this as a new support case, as that *may* prompt the team to address this bug as a priority. Thanks!

Hi. I have the same issue. JAWS is not reading my texts right. Let's say I have 3 text boxes. It reads all three text boxes the same way (usually the text from the first text box). For example, if the first text box reads: "This is a dog", the next two text boxes will read "This is a dog."

With the issue on  the data entry button, I followed Kuriko's suggestion above but it still did not work for me.

What is going on? I've spent the whole morning building just one activity and until now, the accessibility features I built are not working. I am pressed for time. Help!

Hi Tina, how did you go with this? Was Mat able to identify the issue? Let me know if I can help.  

Hi Douglas,

What version of Storyline are you using? Although many aspects of the course may work with the NVDA reader it's not officially supported at this time. 

If you're using Storyline 360 our supported option are listed here.