Forum Discussion
Accessibility and Marker Animations
Hi All on this thread. I found it very helpful. At the end of the month I am doing a demo at DevLearn at the Articulate User Conference. One of my demos uses markers (I like the pulse) and David Anderson alerted me to expect some questions on accessibility. I had not considered the issues with the swirl and pulse. If you have any other considerations I should be ready for, could you share them? I am not setting myself up as an accessibility expert, but I want to at least be able to address some pros and cons of using this great feature. Thanks for posting your comments.
Hi Jodi,
I'm not sure if this information will help you or others, but the information in the table below is from our accessibility checklist for Storyline.
Best regards,
Lisa
Markers
Marker icon is simple and intuitive, such as an arrow, “i”, or numbers (for numbered steps only).
Animate is set to None.
The popup box sized to fit all of the text without displaying scroll bars.
Each marker and its popup box are positioned so they do not cover or pop up behind any other markers, on-screen text, or other relevant areas of the screenshot or slide.
Text in the popup is at least 16 pt.
Explanation: WCAG criterion 2.2.2 requires that “any moving, blinking or scrolling information that (1) starts automatically, (2) lasts more than five seconds, and (3) is presented in parallel with other content” include a mechanism for the user to pause, stop, or hide it. Storyline’s pulse and swirl animations on markers do not provide such a mechanism, so we should not use them.
Show All on Hover is NOT selected.
Explanations: JAWS always adds instructive verbiage like “To activate, press Enter or spacebar” to the announcement of the marker button, even when the popup is already expanded. This is potentially confusing if the marker is expanded by default: “Search field button, collapsed. To activate, press Enter. Expanded.” Per our accessibility advisor, having Show All on Hover turned off so that only the “title” pops up on hover or focus and having the user click or press Enter or spacebar to display more should be intuitive for most users.
Alt text is assigned to the marker and includes the marker icon’s text (if meaningful), and the title in the popup (required).
Note:
· Text in the marker icon needs to be included in the alt text only if it is meaningful and uniquely distinguishes the marker from other markers on the slide, such as step numbers or unique letters.
· The letter “i” for “information” is not meaningful text and should be excluded from alt text.
Audio is absent from the marker.
Explanation: Audio in the marker that reads the text aloud would be useful for users who have vision issues but do not use a screen reader. However, per our accessibility consultant, audio in markers should be kept off by default and activated only with an “audio assistance” checkbox or button on the slide or at the beginning of the course with a variable and trigger. Storyline does not provide this capability yet, but it has been requested.
Super helpful! In my demo I show 3 different ways to use markers--with the auto-open/collapse (which I don't like that much anyway)...and it looks like I violate the pulsing. Thank you for responding.
You're welcome! Happy to share info when I can!
