Storyline Accessibility (WCAG / Section 508 compliance) Resources For You to Download / Share

Feb 11, 2016

Fiona Macelli
By Fiona Macelli

I've felt that there is a real lack of resources and examples - from Storyline, and online in general - to help designers and developers create accessible e-learning courses. I created the attached guide for the benefit of my City of Calgary colleagues and I would like to share it with you here.

Storyline does have a recently published accessibility e-book. It is a good resource, and I don't claim that my own guide is completely comprehensive either, but I hope that between the two of them, and your own research, you'll be able to get the information you need to design courses that are compliant with WCAG 2.0 and Section 508.

I've also created a YouTube video https://youtu.be/WFgF3mVK694 with an explanation of accessible design and screen recordings of how the JAWS screen reader reads certain Storyline-created course elements.

Both the guide and the video are accurate up to Storyline 2: Update 5, JAWS 16 and Internet Explorer 11. As all of these tools develop and change, they may behave differently than shown in my resources.

11 Replies
Christie Pollick
8 years ago02/12/16 at 3:34 pm (UTC)

Hi, Fiona -- Thanks so much for reaching out! You may want to add "EXAMPLES" or something similar to the beginning of your post's title to quickly distinguish that it is a contribution rather than a question! 

And yes, in addition to the e-book on Accessibility you've shared, I thought I'd also include the following in case they may be of assistance to others, as well:

 General Info on Storyline and Section 508 Accessibility

Articulate Storyline and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)

Accessibility and Storyline

Creating Keyboard Navigation/Shortcuts for Users to Navigate

Fiona Macelli
almost 7 years ago06/29/17 at 10:56 pm (UTC)

I was asked today whether Articulate has fixed the bug I mention in this video https://youtu.be/WFgF3mVK694  and it has not as of Storyline 2 update 12.  I was told by Articulate support over a year ago that it was a high priority fix, because it - in my opinion - prevents a Storyline course from meeting the accessibility requirements they promise as of Storyline 2 update 5. 

The bug prevents a sight-limited user from being able to hear - via their screen reader - whether they have gotten a quiz question right or wrong, until they have made two full rounds of the course player menu.  Basically, you press Submit after responding to a question, and then hear "previous", press tab to advance to the next item and hear "next" > "menu" > Resources (and anything else you have buttons for at the top of the player) > have an opportunity to adjust the volume, previous, next, menu, resources again.. before you get to hear "Correct" and the feedback.  A totally unacceptable experience in my opinion.  Perhaps it has been fixed in Storyline 3, I don't know, but Articulate made a promise of meeting accessibility criteria during version two and I think it's unacceptable to have not fixed this yet.

Fiona Macelli
almost 7 years ago07/11/17 at 3:51 pm (UTC)

Hi Ashley, I have switched employers since the time I reported it and no longer have any emails with the support case number.  Do I need to report it again, or can it be looked into another way?  I would have entered the support case between Oct 2015 and Feb 2016. 

I have fixed the link in the previous post and it should work now. Here it is again: https://youtu.be/WFgF3mVK694 The issue I'm talking about is presented at minute 36.   There are many other improvements that Storyline could make to improve its product for accessible use, and these are discussed in the video, but it could be argued that the author can design around those so therefore they are not bugs.  (I still think it would be helpful for your product team to address those issues though and watching the video would make it easier for them to understand and work on).

The way the player handles questions is a problem that can't be corrected by a designer and it provides an unacceptable experience for an unsighted user.  It has been acknowledged as a bug and needs to be fixed.

Ashley Terwilliger-Pollard
almost 7 years ago07/12/17 at 5:22 pm (UTC)

Thanks Fiona -  I wanted to check and get an update on it and confirm that it was reported. I was able to find it based on that timeframe and it was reported to our team for Storyline 2 and we continue to keep an eye on it to evaluate how many customers are impacted and what impact it has on courses. The number of customers and depth of impact are two of the elements that help us prioritize bugs and fixes. 

I'm really sorry that I can't say if this issue will be fixed but you're in the right place to stay updated on this bug's progress. I'll make a note on your case as well since you no longer have access to that email, so that we could update you here. 

The video is also really helpful and I'll pass that along to the product team! I know that accessibility is something we're looking into further, so this is great info to have.

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