Screen reader (JAWS) not reading Prev and Next buttons

Feb 01, 2018

Hi all,

I'm creating an HTML5 course in Storyline 360, using the inbuilt player to provide Prev and Next buttons on each screen. When published, the tab key is cycling focus through all slide objects, then onto the player buttons/features as designed.

The problem is that the screen reader (JAWS) is not reading any kind of Alt Text for the Prev/Next buttons on the player, so even though they have focus, they are essentially invisible to a non-sighted user.

Has anyone else experienced this? I would love any suggestions for solutions please, as my poor client is getting seriously discouraged at the accessibility hurdles we are encountering as a result of Storyline "features".

(I would love to not have to manually rebuild the Prev/Next buttons on each screen if possible, as they have triggers attached - and besides, if the Storyline 360 output is touted as being accessible then I assume there is some way for these buttons to be read by screen readers.)

Thank you!

41 Replies
Bob O'Donnell

Leslie, This happened just recently in one of the updates. The buttons were being read fine up until point. If I had to guess, it was 3 updates back. Our review folks reported it to us.

Not sure if this helps, but our tester issue was that Skip Nav wasn't identifying anything. Suddenly that got fixed but in turn, all the navigation buttons got pointed to the same ID.

Bob O'Donnell

Sherri, I know I've seen past threads about people rolling back to an earlier program version. Maybe that's an option for you that the team could provide. I'm crossing my fingers on a fix release.

We're in the same boat with you. We blindly published 5 courses after the new update(s) came out and our delivery deadline is this week. We're hoping the client will allow it to go through with the understanding that an update is coming. Not sure about the rest of you folks, but our projects are for the Federal Government and they tend to get a little "testy" over issues like this, up to the point of delaying payment because we failed to deliver what was in the contract.

Trinity Ryan

I second that, Sherri.

My client is now failing to comply with WCAG requirements in being forced by timelines to deploy a course that is not fully accessible. In addition to their budget for the deployment approximately doubling due to the need to repeatedly test and re-test unstable accessibility functionality, they will have to circle back and spend further budget on republishing and redeploying once this bug is addressed (if this bug is addressed?).

If we cannot rely on core functionality to remain accessible from one version to the next, it definitely calls into question our choice of Storyline 360 as our preferred development tool.

Alyssa Gomez

Hi Sherri and Trinity,

I'm really sorry this bug is causing such a headache for you. We are heads down working on a fix for this bug as we speak, and we're committed to keeping you posted with the latest information on that fix.

We understand that accessibility requirements are hugely important, and we're happy to provide you with a previous update of Storyline 360 until the fix is released. 

Sherri, I see that you've already made that request, and my colleague Vic is going to reach out to you shortly. 

Trinity, we are happy to do the same for you. You can request a previous update by clicking here, and we'll get that taken care of for you. 

Trinity Ryan

Thank you Alyssa, but recent previous versions had a bug whereby the Tab focus was causing some (random) items to be triggered (rather than needing to press Enter to trigger these items) in the HTML5 output. Neither option is ideal, frankly, but at this stage we will stay with the current version as it is at least leaving the non-sighted learner on the page they expect to be on.

Sherri Dosher

Alyssa, I did receive an email from Robert de la Cuesta with a little more explanation of what is being done to resolve this issue followed by an email from Vic with directions on how to roll back to a previous version. While this was appreciated, both of these emails came 3 days after I reported the issue and within 1 day of the 2nd 508 review on my course - too late to be of any benefit. I was already implementing and finalizing work-arounds - at added time and cost - for this issue. If this is the priority given to 508 compliance by Articulate, we will also have to seriously reconsider it as our preferred choice for authoring.

Landon Salsberry

Hi, We are having similar issues and have submitted a case. Our case number is #01240347. Could we please be provided with a link to a previous version of Storyline 360 without these problems as well? We are on a timeline crunch with a Government client and need to be able to publish our courses in 508 compliance. I requested this from our support person but have not received instructions yet. 

Crystal Horn

Hey everybody. I'm excited to let you know that we just released update 13 for Storyline 360! It includes new features and fixes - check them all out here.

One of the fixes addresses an issue where JAWS was not reading the previous and next buttons, and the spacebar wasn't activating those buttons in HTML5 output.

Here’s how you can update Storyline 360 to take advantage of everything the latest release has to offer. Let me know how you make out!

Loic Benard

Hi, I have the same problem. The JAWS screen reader will not read the Next button when tabbed to it when there is not text label like. Did you find a solution?

I use Storyline 3, version 3.5.16548.0, IE11 and JAWS 2019.1810.64 - October 2018.

In attachment, the capture screen of the configuration.

Thank You

 

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