Tab Order: Storyline skipping first object on non-base layers?
May 02, 2019
I'm using Storyline 360 v3.26.18601.0 and am having a problem with the tab order.
It appears that when I open a layer from the base layer and hit the tab key, I do not go to the first object listed in my Tab Order panel for that new layer. Instead, Storyline skips the first thing listed in the tab order and goes to the second object in the list. I then have to tab through the entire rest of the page before I am cycled back, finally, to that first object.
Of course, this completely messes up the learner experience since I get to the Next or Continue button before I get to the main content on the page.
Here is a concrete example:
Main Storyline edit screen:
This is a screen from an emergency management course in a module on responding to an earthquake. It consists of a base layer called Drop Cover and Hold On and three feedback layers, one for each of the highlighted regions on the slide. Two are incorrect feedback layers (No: Boxes and No: Bottles) and one is the correct feedback layer (Yes: Good Choice).
The idea is the learner clicks one of the highlighted regions, and in response, a trigger shows the feedback layer associated with that choice. If the learner clicks the correct place to drop, cover, and hold on, then the Yes: Good Choice layer displays:
This layer is set to Prevent the user from clicking on the base layer in its properties panel:
This prevents objects on the base layer from being tabbed to while the learner is on this layer. Also, every object on this layer is hidden from the accessibility tools except for the feedback text box and the Continue button.
Here's my Tab Order panel for this slide:
Here's a Peek video screencast of me trying to navigate through this page using the keyboard only (i.e., navigating with the Tab key and selecting with the Enter key):
Peek video of how this page behaves
The little teeter-totter video clip (meant to suggest the earthquake) at the start of the page in question didn't get captured too well by Peek, but otherwise the video shows the tab behavior quite well. Why does it skip the feedback text box?
Is anyone else experiencing this or am doing something wrong?
Thanks!
-Ray
48 Replies
Hi Michael and Nicole,
Happy to see your excitement about the accessibility improvements we are working on!
For Storyline 3, we are working on accessibility enhancements as well, and promise to share the news here as soon as they’re ready!
In regards to the tab order bug, this is now addressed with the latest release of Storyline 360. This article provides more details on how slide navigation has been updated in Update 36 for Storyline 360: Storyline 360: Slide Content Is More Accessible.
Adding an invisible object to that layer is not the correct solution for this. The tab order will behave correctly but if the user uses the shift+tab, then the invisible object will get highlighted.
Hi everyone!
You'll want to check out the latest version of Storyline 3 that we released today!
In Storyline 3 (Build 3.10.22406.0), you'll see a fix for the bug where the feedback Layer wouldn't follow the Tab Order specified and the first item wasn't highlighted. You'll need to download the latest version of Storyline 3 to see all the accessibility enhancements included in this update.
Here's a complete list of the release notes!
OH MY GOD. THANK YOU!! This was the work-around I needed! The invisible object hack did not work for our 508 team.
This post was removed by the author
Has this bug been fixed in Storyline 360? I'm on the latest version and I found this thread because I was having the exact same issue where the focus order is consistently skipping over the first item on each layer.
Adding a Text input box in the slide layer has resolved the focus issue in my case. May not be a very good solution, but works. The input box takes in focus immediately (and an extra tab too) and the first item on the slide layer is never missed in that way.
Hi John!
The bug where the first object wasn't highlighted by the focus rectangle was released in Update 36 (Build 3.36.21213.0). We are currently on Storyline 360 (Build 3.54.25674.0). Which version of Storyline are you using?
If you have a file that you can share, that would be helpful too! You can attach it to this discussion or upload the .story file privately in a support case.
HI Tanmay!
Thank you so much for sharing a workaround in this discussion! I know that will be helpful for others who are coming across a similar issue.
I am still experiencing this issue, it's really really frustrating and I have wasted many hours on it. I think I've worked out it only happens when you have 'prevent user from clicking on the base layer' which is a function I use all the time.
Using prevent user from clicking on the base layer will mean the objects on the base layer cannot get focus. This is by design
Hi Phil, I understand the purpose of that function but the problem isn't to do with the base layer.
If I have that function turned on my screen reader (NVDA latest version) will skip the first line or item on the layer. For example if I have a heading 2 saying 'That's Right' as the first item, it will skip that line. If I turn the 'Prevent user from clicking on the base layer' function off, it will read the first line on the layer as expected. I want to be able to turn on that function and for NVDA to read all the content on that layer.
There Is a known issue with latest NVDA that sometimes skips items. In the past I have found adding a hotspot with the alt text on first then reads the item out
It appears that when I open a layer from the base layer and hit the tab key, I do not go to the first object listed in my Tab Order panel for that new layer. Instead, Storyline skips the first thing listed in the tab order and goes to the second object in the list. I then have to tab through the entire rest of the page before I am cycled back, finally, to that first object.
This issue is not yet fixed, any suggestions ?
Hello Ashutosh!
I'm happy to help! The Tab key is used to move to interactive objects like buttons, hotspots, text entry fields, etc. You'll use the up/down arrow keys to move to objects like text boxes. If the first item in the Tab Order is a text box then you'll need to use the down arrow first rather than the Tab key. Can you give that a try and let me know if the first object is skipped when using the down arrow key?
I'm having similar issues in using JAWS and hoping someone can help. I am using Storyline 360 and the Modern Feedback layers (Incorrect and Correct) for a quiz. When a user gets the question wrong (or correct) they are taken to the appropriate feedback layer. When the user tries to select TAB to go to the CONTINUE button, the TAB takes them directly to the "Skip Navigation..." link and not the CONTINUE button. I have to select CTRL+TAB to get to the CONTINUE button. I'm assuming the Feedback Layer is not in focus, but I can't seem to correct help. I appreciate any help you can provide.
Hi Kevin,
I'm sorry you're having an issue with feedback layers regarding JAWS! We would love to troubleshoot this for you! Would you be willing to share your file here or with our support engineers privately in a support case?
Thanks for reaching out!
John,
Thank you for your quick reply. Attached is a sample of the issue. Hopefully it is a simple fix.
Hi Kevin,
This is John with Articulate following up on your E-Learning Heroes post. You may have seen the support email I sent. As mentioned, I've created a case to escalate your issue to our support team, so be on the lookout for a reply shortly!
Thanks John. Message received.
Hi Kevin, I just wanted to check in to see if your issue was fixed by John?
I’m using the latest version of Storyline 360 and am finding that the issue originally reported by Ray 4 years ago still exists. Actually, in my Storyline file, NVDA skips over not only the first object on the layer, but the first 2 objects on the layer. These objects are only accessible by pressing the Up arrow on the keyboard. And obviously, accessing the content in reverse order is not conducive to effective learning.
Keen to hear what you and other users are currently experiencing, and if you’ve been able to publish accessible courses using layers?
Hello Kuriko,
I took a look at Kevin's case and saw that he was being affected by a bug where the Slide or feedback layer objects appear to be the first items in the Tab Order. We are still investigating this issue, and we'll be sure to leave a notification here as soon as it gets fixed.
Hi Jose,
I wanted to check and see if this bug has been resolved? I am using Storyline version 3.82.31354.0 and am experiencing the same issue detailed in Ray's initial post, using NVDA (and JAWS), as Kuriko shared. In accessibility testing, I discovered that when advancing through layers, at each new layer the tab order directs the screen reader two items ahead, completely skipping the first two items, forcing the user to tab through everything in reverse order to get to the newly revealed information.
Thanks,
Hannah
Hello Hannah,
Happy to help!
I can confirm that we are still looking into the issue that I mentioned in my previous post. Our apologies for any inconvenience this bug may have caused. If you'd like to share a copy of your project file here or in private by opening a case with our support team here, we'll be glad to check if we have any available workarounds that we could share with you!