PRIMER: "Text styles defined" issue in Accessibility Checker

Have you ever seen this "Text styles defined" warning in the Accessibility Checker?

 

A minimum standard for accessibility is to use styles that indicate content hierarchy. In other words, the checker wants to see at least one text box with the Heading 1 style or another h#-level style. For example, the slides' Titles could be in the Heading 1 style.

Unfortunately, when you create a new Storyline project, the Title placeholders in the Slide Master and Layouts have a Normal Text style.

• Note: I've already submitted a feature request to have the default be Heading 1. Until then, see below... 

 

How to fix the issue?

If you're starting a new project, go to the Slide Master, and give the Title placeholder the Heading 1 style. (You can update the Heading 1 style however you want. See Storyline 360: Using Text Styles) 

• Changing it on the Slide Master automatically switches the Title placeholders on the Layouts to Heading 1. 

 

For existing projects, assign a Heading 1 style to the Slide Master. Unfortunately, that doesn't update the Titles on existing slides. To do that, you will need to manually apply Heading 1 to each title.

 

Another option is to assign any h#-level style (for example, Heading 1 or Heading 2) to other text on the slide that could be considered a heading. That will appease the Accessibility Checker.

 

What about the Blank Layout?

The default Blank Layout doesn't have a Title placeholder. That means the Accessibility Checker will flag blank-layout slides with the "Text styles defined" issue. 

Here's a workaround for the Blank Layout:

• Click the Title checkbox in the Master Layout section of the SLIDE MASTER ribbon. That will automatically insert a Title placeholder.
• Assign a Heading 1 or other h1 style to the placeholder. 
• Move the placeholder off the slide. This lets you provide a heading without interfering with the slide design. (Note that this text will be read by screen readers, so be sure to enter a meaningful title on each blank-layout slide.)

• If you add a Title placeholder to the Blank Layout in an existing project, it won't automatically appear on existing slides with that layout. You will need to reapply the layout to make the placeholder appear.

 

How to create an alternate h1 style?

For some Master Layouts (such as the Question and Blank Layouts), you may want the title to look different than your Heading 1 style. In those cases, create a new style with the h1 designation. 

 

Bonus tip 

The Title placeholder on the slide is connected to the Slide Title field under the slide's image in the Scenes panel.

Storyline builds the Menu using the text in the Slide Title fields. But text in a Title placeholder is easier to enter and edit than text in a Slide Title field. That's why I recommend having a Title placeholder on every Layout.