508 compliance question

My course tester is blind, and he would also prefer the player buttons be in a different order. So for example, the first player button should be "Next," Then "Prev," then "Volume." 

I don't know of any way to change the tab order of player elements. However, I would recommend against captivate for accessibility reasons. Captivate does not allow the same kind of control over tab order of interactive slide objects, and reads things on the slide 'from left to right and slightly up' which results in a lot of funkiness.

Was the course published in a recent update? The SL updates from the first half of 2020 made a lot of accessibility improvements, including a better 'skip to main content' link when tabbing. If your course was published in an older SL version, the first thing I would do is republish from an updated version and see what the client thinks about that.

Thanks Sally, I appreciate the heads up on Cap and accessibility. No course built yet, just a quick prototype last week and that was made with the most recent version of SL.

They just aren't happy with the tabbing on navigation controls 'reading' from right to left. They expect it to go from left to right instead. Personally, I think the way it works now makes sense since the next button is the first in the cycle.

:)

Is the tester an end user with the disability concerned (vision loss and/or fine motor control)? If not, I'd probably make the argument that how it is with the next button being the first option is best, because it eliminates excess tabbing by having the most frequent use button first. (ETA: If they are an end user with access needs, then I'd defer to them what is best).

Another option would be to remove the navigational controls from the player, and build in navigation buttons in your slides, which you could then set in the slide tab order.

There is a specialist on their side. Decided to push back on this client request at next week's meeting. Will advocate for keeping template/prototype as is, using modern player. Thanks for brainstorming with me Sally, I appreciate it :)

I have searched high and low for the secret to changing the Focus Order of the Navigation and Player Controls in the Modern Player.  I saw in Player Properties>Other>Text that I can change the text reading order of the Player Controls "bar." This doesn't work and has no impact on "text reading order." No matter which direction I pick, the Play control always receives Focus first and the NEXT button last. If this worked, the controls wouldn't move, only the Focus would change from starting with the far-left Control or the far-right Control. And I would be an incredibly happy ID.

Purpose: I want the NEXT button to be first in line to receive focus when the user leaves the canvas. I am using the latest version of Storyline. When the learner sees, reads, or hears "Select NEXT to continue," the tab sequence should land on the NEXT button--not the far left of the Player Controls. Then, force them to tab through each Control until reaching the NEXT button.  About 5 years ago (or more) I could do this in the Player Properties>Player Tabs window. Select the NEXT button and move it to the top of the list in front of PREV. (Back then, PREV received Focus before NEXT by default.) It was an action item on my QA a11y check list. Or was that a dream??? 

And yes, I put the NEXT button on my slide as the work around. And added another set of Triggers to an already packed Triggers pane. I would prefer to use the built-in controls on the Player.

Any suggestions or secret Java recipes that would accomplish what I want? Thanks in advance. Cheers! Denise