We’re really excited to share this new update to Storyline 360: the accessible player.
With the new accessible player, learners can use a broader range of screen readers, web browsers, and devices—and take advantage of more screen reader features. Plus, learners can use the improved playback controls and menus to navigate the player more easily.
The update back in January (I THINK it was Update "36") changed how you navigate course slide content. Before you would tab through the elements on the slide such as your title, main text box, images, buttons, what have you; now, much of the slide content is automatically read as a single group, rather than having your user tab through everything individually.
If you read up on this thread from Page 1, you will find arguments for either approach. I don't know if you're experience is related to 508 compliance or something else, but tab selection does not appear to work as it did before this update.
Some of us who work in 508 compliance have chosen to revert to the Storyline 360 version build before the 36 release to retain how our clients and users are accustomed to navigating their courses. I guess that's a choice for each developer based on needs and understandings/expectations from their clients.
Thanks, that was helpful. I've been using Articulate products since before Storyline 1 but I haven't needed to develop accessible learning before. I'm working on courses that were developed originally developed by someone else they seem to be overly complicated. I may end up having to rebuild some modules.
One more question. Would the update have changed how layers act. Now, I'm getting audio from the base layer playing at the same time as the audio of the active layer. I've selected the pause base layer option on the slide layer properties.
To help us explore further, do you also have the Prevent the user from clicking on the base layer option selected in Slide Layer Properties? Related Reading 📓
In the meantime, I mocked up a sample slide right here and recorded my testing over here. Let me know how it works for you, and if your settings are different!
Hi Katie, It 's funny because I did the same thing, I built a test version and it worked fine. But then trying to implement the changes to these courses has not always worked as I thought they should. I think part of problem I'm running into is that the courses are designed in manner I'm not used to which is causing me headaches. I've figured out some of the issues. Thank goodness for the ability to turn on/off triggers, on some slides I've turned off over 40 triggers trying to trouble shoot the problems.
I've turned on the prevent clicking on the base layer but I was still running into problem. Some of the updates have definitely broken the courses but that is probably for the better as then I can improve the course design. I think it is most of the problem is that the original design was somewhat backward and didn't take in the built-in strengths of Storyline..
Thanks for reaching out and letting me know what you're running into. I tried to replicate the issue myself in publishing a course for the web using your settings. I hosted it in AWS, and tested the file in Chrome and Internet Explorer 11 using NVDA.
The focus scaled appropriately as I resized the browser. A few questions to dig deeper:
How are you publishing/hosting your file?
What browser(s) are you using?
Are you testing using keyboard only/or using a screenreader?
Hopefully we can nail down what's causing this to occur!
Thanks for reaching out and letting me know what you're running into. I tried to replicate the issue myself in publishing a course for the web using your settings. I hosted it in AWS, and tested the file in Chrome and Internet Explorer 11 using NVDA.
The focus scaled appropriately as I resized the browser. A few questions to dig deeper:
How are you publishing/hosting your file?
What browser(s) are you using?
Are you testing using keyboard only/or using a screenreader?
Hopefully we can nail down what's causing this to occur!
Hello Ren!
Thanks for looking into it!
Noticed in Chrome and IE 11, hosted on our web server, using keyboard only.
Published as Web (screencast below is for web) and LMS
Thanks for the follow-up, as well as the screencast! It was super helpful to see how you were testing the focus. I was able to replicate what you're experiencing in Chrome.
It seems the focus box doesn't recognize the browser scaling until you tab again or use the arrows. After re-tabbing, the focus behavior was sizing correctly as expected. Here's what I encountered.
Sorry for the delayed response - work. Your response was helpful! We are seeing exactly what you are seeing. The focus rectangle is sizing correctly once you re-tab.
We have not been able to see the focus rectangle re-size dynamically.
I appreciate you looking at it! I suppose we are fine with this behavior for now, it would be nice if the focus rectangle did dynamically resize.
Thanks so much for posting the video. I am new to using a screen reader to test a new course so I was not familiar with the older version. But I found it really helpful to help my understanding of how articulate and screen readers work so thank so much. I still have a lot to learn! Thank you Sue
These enhancements are great, and well on the way to making courses more interactive. We are having some users report that, on a Mac, they need to use the LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys (as opposed to UP and DOWN) to move through non-interactive slide content with a screen reader. Additionally, does anything built into the player itself instruct screen reader users to use these keys to navigate the content? Or is it up to the author to make this known? This is all in reference to Storyline 360, latest version.
Thanks for your feedback and for popping in to share your experience.
I have not experienced the left/right arrow issue and I work on a Mac as well. With your permission, I'd like you to share your project file with our support engineers to investigate what's happening. You can share it privately by uploading it here. It will be deleted when troubleshooting is complete.
As far as instruction, the author could add this if needed. We optimized the slide navigation to make it more familiar to screen reader users.
Thanks for the offer, Leslie! I just uploaded the file under case # 02505477. Looking forward to any insights you and/or the support engineers may have on this.
46 Replies
I had to update some courses and now it seems they no longer work as expected. Could this update have broken them?
The update back in January (I THINK it was Update "36") changed how you navigate course slide content. Before you would tab through the elements on the slide such as your title, main text box, images, buttons, what have you; now, much of the slide content is automatically read as a single group, rather than having your user tab through everything individually.
If you read up on this thread from Page 1, you will find arguments for either approach. I don't know if you're experience is related to 508 compliance or something else, but tab selection does not appear to work as it did before this update.
Some of us who work in 508 compliance have chosen to revert to the Storyline 360 version build before the 36 release to retain how our clients and users are accustomed to navigating their courses. I guess that's a choice for each developer based on needs and understandings/expectations from their clients.
Here's a video summary of some of the big differences between the older and newer approach.
https://elearninguncovered.com/2020/03/changes-to-accessibility-in-articulate-storyline-360/
Thanks, that was helpful. I've been using Articulate products since before Storyline 1 but I haven't needed to develop accessible learning before. I'm working on courses that were developed originally developed by someone else they seem to be overly complicated. I may end up having to rebuild some modules.
One more question. Would the update have changed how layers act. Now, I'm getting audio from the base layer playing at the same time as the audio of the active layer. I've selected the pause base layer option on the slide layer properties.
Hey Cary. Happy to help with your latest question!
I'm not seeing anything in the accessible player from Update 36 that would cause that behavior. Here are the latest improvements:
To help us explore further, do you also have the Prevent the user from clicking on the base layer option selected in Slide Layer Properties? Related Reading 📓
In the meantime, I mocked up a sample slide right here and recorded my testing over here. Let me know how it works for you, and if your settings are different!
Hi Katie, It 's funny because I did the same thing, I built a test version and it worked fine. But then trying to implement the changes to these courses has not always worked as I thought they should. I think part of problem I'm running into is that the courses are designed in manner I'm not used to which is causing me headaches. I've figured out some of the issues. Thank goodness for the ability to turn on/off triggers, on some slides I've turned off over 40 triggers trying to trouble shoot the problems.
I've turned on the prevent clicking on the base layer but I was still running into problem. Some of the updates have definitely broken the courses but that is probably for the better as then I can improve the course design. I think it is most of the problem is that the original design was somewhat backward and didn't take in the built-in strengths of Storyline..
Accessibility Focus Rectangles are acting strangely (with classic player, scale to fill browser, and latest update)
They do not appear to be scaling if you change the scale of the browser.
Anyone else notice this? I wonder if it is intentional with the new approach.
Hi Jason,
Thanks for reaching out and letting me know what you're running into. I tried to replicate the issue myself in publishing a course for the web using your settings. I hosted it in AWS, and tested the file in Chrome and Internet Explorer 11 using NVDA.
The focus scaled appropriately as I resized the browser. A few questions to dig deeper:
Hopefully we can nail down what's causing this to occur!
Hi Ren,
Are there documentations now for navigating quizzes? I am also noticing quirkiness using the screen reader and with the keyboard.
Hi Rubina,
We've made some updates to this article below to clarify the differences between navigating a screenreader and a keyboard.
And we do have this article on a multiple-choice example that gives you a better idea for each type of navigation.
Take a look and let us know if you run into any further questions!
Hello Ren!
Thanks for looking into it!
Noticed in Chrome and IE 11, hosted on our web server, using keyboard only.
Example screencast
Hi Jason,
Thanks for the follow-up, as well as the screencast! It was super helpful to see how you were testing the focus. I was able to replicate what you're experiencing in Chrome.
It seems the focus box doesn't recognize the browser scaling until you tab again or use the arrows. After re-tabbing, the focus behavior was sizing correctly as expected. Here's what I encountered.
Out of curiosity, have you seen the focus box scale with the browser window dynamically?
Ren,
Sorry for the delayed response - work. Your response was helpful! We are seeing exactly what you are seeing. The focus rectangle is sizing correctly once you re-tab.
We have not been able to see the focus rectangle re-size dynamically.
I appreciate you looking at it! I suppose we are fine with this behavior for now, it would be nice if the focus rectangle did dynamically resize.
Hi Diane
Thanks so much for posting the video. I am new to using a screen reader to test a new course so I was not familiar with the older version. But I found it really helpful to help my understanding of how articulate and screen readers work so thank so much. I still have a lot to learn! Thank you Sue
Glad you found it helpful, Sue!
Any update on this issue? or shall we forget using the classic player for courses intented for iPads?
Many thanks
Hello Oscar!
I see several topics discussed in this thread. Would you mind sharing what you're seeing with the Classic Player in an iPad environment?
The Classic Player has a responsive design, so you should run into any snag when viewing a course on an iPad. You can see the comparison between the different players in different environments here!
If it's easier to share a file with us, feel free to attach the .story file by using the Add Attachment button in this discussion.
These enhancements are great, and well on the way to making courses more interactive. We are having some users report that, on a Mac, they need to use the LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys (as opposed to UP and DOWN) to move through non-interactive slide content with a screen reader. Additionally, does anything built into the player itself instruct screen reader users to use these keys to navigate the content? Or is it up to the author to make this known? This is all in reference to Storyline 360, latest version.
Hi Mark,
Thanks for your feedback and for popping in to share your experience.
I have not experienced the left/right arrow issue and I work on a Mac as well. With your permission, I'd like you to share your project file with our support engineers to investigate what's happening. You can share it privately by uploading it here. It will be deleted when troubleshooting is complete.
As far as instruction, the author could add this if needed. We optimized the slide navigation to make it more familiar to screen reader users.
Thanks for the offer, Leslie! I just uploaded the file under case # 02505477. Looking forward to any insights you and/or the support engineers may have on this.
Be well,
-Mark
This discussion is closed. You can start a new discussion or contact Articulate Support.