Forum Discussion
Screen Reader Not Reading Button States
Hey everyone, I noticed that after the last couple of Storyline 360 updates, my screen reader (JAWS and NVDA) no longer reads the alt text for button states. For example, I added "visited" for the alt text under the button's Visited state. This used to work fine but now the screen reader does not read the "visited" alt text and just reads the alt text for the normal state. My screen readers are up-to-date. Has anyone else experienced this?
Hi, all!
I have some great news to share! We just released a new version of Storyline 360 (Update 103), which included a fix for the issue where screen readers didn't always announce the visited state of buttons or shapes.
To take advantage of this update, simply launch the Articulate 360 desktop app on your computer and click the Update button next to Storyline 360. You'll find step-by-step instructions here.
Please let us know if you have any questions by posting here or reaching out to our Support Engineers directly. We'll be happy to help!
21 Replies
Hello Kenny,
Sorry to hear that you ran into this snag.
We are currently tracking a known issue where the visited state of buttons or shapes is announced/read intermittently by JAWS or NVDA. I've added this ELH post to the bug report so we can notify you as soon as any new updates are shared. Just to confirm if you are being affected by this bug, would you mind replacing the button in your course with an image file that has similar states and 'alt text' and let me know if your screen readers will now read the states correctly?
Hey Jose,
Thanks for confirming this issue. I did import an image file and the JAWS screen reader did state "visited" on the Visited state whereas the button does not.
Hi Kenny,
Thanks for sharing what you see on your end! Unfortunately, this confirms that you're also experiencing the reported bug. We'll let you know when this is fixed and the button's Visited state is read as expected.
In the meantime, I'm sharing this information on how we tackle bugs.
Thank you, Kenny!
Creating a custom visited state and adding a trigger to change buttons to this state when clicked seemed to work for me.
Hello,
Just checking in to see if this bug has been resolved? I seem to be experiencing the same issue with a few slides in one of my files. Or does anyone know of any work arounds?
Thanks!
Hello Hannah,
Thanks for checking in. I don't have any updates regarding this bug yet. Have you tried Mzwandile's workaround above to see if it will also work for you?
You can also connect with us in a case and share your Storyline project privately so that our Customer Support Engineers can provide targeted help.
Hello was this ever resolved? I'm having this problem for the first time today.
Hi Vic,
Thanks for reaching out!
I'm sorry to hear you're experiencing this issue. Currently, I don't have an update on this bug. MzwandileMas281 shared a workaround which was to create a custom visited state and add a trigger to change buttons to the state when clicked.
Please let me know if that helps! I've added you to the bug report so we'll update you as soon as we have news of a fix.
I tried a custom visited state and it did not work - same problem. :(
For this interaction I am also not able to use images for the buttons for various reasons.
Any updates on this? Does this behavior only apply to buttons?
Hi RebeccaSiahaan-!
Sorry to hear you've also run into this setback!
This Storyline bug affects the visited States of buttons, as well as shapes. Causing intermittent dictation by the JAWS and NVDA screen readers. I don't have any updates to share at the moment, but I've included your voice in the bug report. We'll be sure to notify you as soon as a fix is in place.
Thank you for your patience. I'm sorry if this has been slowing you down!
Ok. Thank you! I'm trying to pinpoint guidance for my team as to when we can leverage states to signify something to screen reader users and when we won't be able to. For instance, does this impact inserted images (.png, .jpg, etc.)? I could swear I recently heard NVDA read states - maybe it was just an intermittent thing.
Hello,
It looks like I've also run into this same issue. Do we know if this has been fixed? Or any proven workarounds? I did try adding a custom visited state with a trigger to change button states when clicked, but it didn't work.
Hi MarissaB,
Sorry to hear that you ran into this issue.
We don't have anything new to share about the status of this bug, but I've added your voice to the report so we can notify you as soon as a fix is released. As a workaround, you can try using images as replacements for your buttons, and the interaction should work as expected. The only downside is you'll lose the press animation that's only available to buttons.
Hi, all!
I have some great news to share! We just released a new version of Storyline 360 (Update 103), which included a fix for the issue where screen readers didn't always announce the visited state of buttons or shapes.
To take advantage of this update, simply launch the Articulate 360 desktop app on your computer and click the Update button next to Storyline 360. You'll find step-by-step instructions here.
Please let us know if you have any questions by posting here or reaching out to our Support Engineers directly. We'll be happy to help!
This is wonderful news! Just wondering - does this apply to the "selected" state? Or just the "visited" state?
Hi MelanieSobie-14,
Great question! This update specifically applies to the Visited state. We haven’t received any related reports about the Selected state at this time. Are you currently running into issues with it?
If so, it would be super helpful if you could share a quick screen recording so we can take a closer look: How to send us a screen recording of your issue. You can share the recording here or privately in a support case.
Thanks for checking in, and we’ll be glad to help further.
Hi there,
This is great new. I wanted to ask, do we still need to add the word "visited" to the alt-text in order for the button to read as visited?
I just tested it without putting "visited" in the alt-text and the screen reader did not announce it as visited.Hello LydiaMans-3120b,
Thanks for testing that out! The button only needs to have the Visited state in order for the screen reader to announce it as visited.
If it’s still not working on your end, would you be willing to share your Storyline file with us so we can take a closer look at your setup? You can also share it privately in a support case, and we’ll delete it as soon as we’re done testing.
