Photo realistic characters representing differently abled people?

Feb 09, 2024

Hello Articulate and community!

I searched on this subject and could not find what I needed, so I apologize in advance if this is already covered elsewhere (please point me to it?).

I am curious if Articulate offers photo realistic characters featuring those who are differently abled? For example: amputees, character in wheelchair, autistic, etc.  I am trying to build very diverse courses and appreciate the diversity in nationality, age, and body type, but as someone in the medical device field, I would love to represent those who are differently abled as well.

Thank you in advance for any information or direction you may provide.

Cheers!

2 Replies
Judy Nollet

Articulate provides a limited set of photo characters. You can view all of the options when you go to Insert > Characters. 

The more specific one's request is for certain character traits, the more likely it is that filling the request will require licensing characters from a company that focuses on that service, buying images from a stock photo agency, or even paying for a custom photo shoot. 

Here are two sites that provide cut-out characters:

Note: Cut-out characters from other sources are put into Storyline via Insert > Picture (not Insert > Character).

Bianca Woods

Hi Lisa and welcome to the community!

Thanks for letting us know you'd like to see more disability representation in our photographic character sets. We're regularly adding to this library, so community feedback is always helpful for letting us know what characters to add to our collection in the future.

In the meantime, though, Judy's suggestions are great sources for additional characters.

Also, if you're okay with using resources other than cut-out characters, here are some other free sources for images with positive disability representation:

  • Disability:In - Disability Inclusive Stock Photography: This photo set features many of the same models across multiple images, so you could use these resources for character-based storytelling. The photos are released under a Creative Commons license, so be sure to check out the guidelines before using them in a project.
  • Disabled And Here Collection: This collection features both photos and illustrations. It's also released under a Creative Commons license but with slightly different guidelines than the previous resource. So be sure to check their usage guidelines before using any of their images.
  • Storyline: Customizable Characters With Disabilities: This free ELH community download is fully editable, so you can adjust the characters as needed.

We also have a number of free character image downloads that may work for your purposes. These character sets are all AI-generated. So you may need to consult your company's guidelines about AI-generated content before using these images.