Forum Discussion
JAWS screen reader- reading slide titles twice in storyline
In my course, the title of each slide is at the top of the slide. I have a voiceover that reads the slide then I need to add alt text to the buttons and images. When I go to test the product with the JAWS screen reader, the reader reads the title of each slide 2 or 3 times and talks over the course audio. How can I fix this?
All help is appreciated
Hi Kayla, and welcome to the E-Learning Heroes Community! Glad you're here! 🥳
Thanks so much for reaching out. I'm happy to help!
I have a few questions in order to better assist you:
- It sounds like JAWS is reading the answers twice, even though they're only listed once in the Focus Order. Can you confirm that you are not seeing multiples in the focus order?
- Are you using keyboard navigation to move through the slide? By default, if you don't move through the slide using keyboard navigation, a screen reader will continue reading through the page.
I'd love to try and replicate this behavior on my end. Feel free to attach your project file to this thread or privately in a support case so we can take a closer look at your setup.
Looking forward to hearing from you! ✨
I can confirm that I am not seeing multiples in the focus order and am using the keyboard navigation to move through the slides. I have attached my project file.
Hi Kayla,
Thanks for confirming the information Luciana requested! For us to be able to troubleshoot the issue you would have to attach the Story file. There's not much we can do with the published output.
Here it is. Sorry about that
Hi Kayla!
Thank you for sharing your .story file!
It sounds like you were experiencing some issue where the JAWS screen reader is repeating the title of your slides multiple times, and talking over the audio you've inserted into your course. I'd be happy to help with that!
Testing your course out on my end (with JAWS 2023) I was unable to reproduce the same behavior. I recorded a quick Peek to share my results. In my example, "Course Content" is only being read once when I tab to the title of that particular slide.
I just had some follow-up questions to get a better idea of what you're encountering on your end:
- Are you experiencing the JAWS title repetition across all of the slides in your course or just one in particular?
- Which version of JAWS are you currently running?
Our team is actively tracking a bug that affects JAWS 2020 and causes the screen reader to dictate certain slide titles multiple times. If you are running an older version, I would suggest updating your JAWS software to the 2023 release and testing it with your course again.
To your question about the screen reader speaking over the audio playing from your course, I wanted to share this article that provides some helpful tips for making audio/video content more accessible while authoring.
Hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any more questions!
Thank you, Steven. I was using an old version of the screen reader, updated it, and is working fine. I am changing the autoplay of the audio. This was really helpful!
Hi Kayla!
You're welcome! Thank you for following up and sharing the solution that worked for you! So glad to hear updating your JAWS screen reader to the current version solved your issue!
Have a great rest of your week and happy authoring!
Steven,
We seem to have the same problem. JAWS reads the title of the course, then the back-end title of the slide with some slashes (the one that is only visible to developers) and then the h1 or h2 heading which, in most cases, will repeat the back-end title. I have just confirmed that our JAWS tester has JAWS 2023. Where do you think is the snag? How do I make the JAWS not read the back-end title of the slide?
Hi Darya,
Thanks for reaching out and I'm sorry to hear that you're experiencing this issue! It was a great first step checking which version of JAWS you're currently using. If you're comfortable sharing your .story file, I'd like to take a closer look at what's going on. You can upload it here or share it privately in a support case. We'll delete it from our systems once troubleshooting is complete.
JAWS version 2023.2302.15. Here's the file.
The first thing what JAWS reads is the back-end title of the slide.
The second thing our JAWS users noted is that they don't know how to exit the menu once they enter it.
Hi Darya!
Thanks for following up and providing the feedback!
I'd be happy to take a closer look at your course and test the behavior on my end, however, it looks like you've attached the published zip package. In order to have access to your course we would need just the .story file by itself. Would you mind re-attaching that instead?
Also, I shared some insight regarding your second question in this related thread you posted.
Please let me know if you have any more questions!
Hi, Darya!
I don't see a .story file attached to your last reply. You can attach it here by selecting Add Attachment and choosing the file. Also, a quick note that replying via email includes your signature here so you are welcome to edit the post and remove that information if you wish!
Here you go! I hope it works this time.
My main problem here is that JAWS will read the back-end slide title (see yellow highlight below - "Did You Know?"). I feel this should be completely removed from Storyline functionality for JAWS reader.
Hi Darya,
Thanks so much for sharing your .story file! I was able to download it just fine on my end.
I want to confirm that what you are experiencing is expected behavior. JAWS will read what launches on the screen for the learner. The slide title indicates where on the slide/in the course the learner is so that they have context for what they cannot obtain visually. Page changes are always indicated as well.
Hope that you have a great afternoon and happy developing! ☀️
Luciana,
I think you have misunderstood me. There is no reason for the learner to be informed about the back-end title of the slide. Learners who are able to see the slides do not know what the back-end title of the slide may be, and there is no reason to make that known to the JAWS user. For the JAWS users there is a repetition going on: each time they load a slide, they are informed about the title of the course, then the visible title of the slide, then the invisible back-end title. Why? Or am I missing something?
Hi Darya,
Happy to help!
Just to clarify, this behavior is not specific to JAWS as other screen readers such as also read slide titles this way. I understand what you mean by not wanting screen readers to read the slide titles out loud, especially for courses with the menu hidden/disabled. Unfortunately, there isn't an option to turn this behavior off - screen readers will announce the slide title and then wait for learners to explore the rest of the content. You can check out the following articles to know more about how screen readers interact with Storyline 360 courses:
- 4 Things To Know About Storyline 360 Courses and Screen Readers
- Storyline 360: How to Design an Accessible Course
We'd like to hear more about your opinion on this behavior, and one way you can share it is by opening a feature request here.
