Forum Discussion
Screen Readers and Audio Narration
When developing a course in Storyline, how do screen readers handle a slide when there is text on screen, in alt tags, in the Notes tab and when an audio narration track is played in the timeline?
Does the screen reader read the screen at the same time the SL narration play?
The scenario is my slide plays the narration when the page loads. The screen also presents the narrated text for the hearing impaired, those who wish to follow, or those who chose to shut off the audio and read it at their own pace.
Hi Peter,
Thanks for reaching out!
Screen readers will not be able to detect if audio is playing on a course, so the best thing to do is to plan when the audio will start playing. You can check out this discussion to see how members of the community approached this accessibility design requirement:
And you can also check out this article which lists some tips on how to design an accessible course in Storyline 360:
Hi, Peter!
I'm confused... you imply that screen readers will automatically begin reading the course slide, but both this Articulate article and this one say that that they do not do not ever since a February 2020 update. Which is it?
I know that I can test my course with a screen reader and find out, but I'd also really like an official Articulate word on the topic.
Thanks for any information you can provide!
Hi Elizabeth,
I can confirm that screen readers don’t auto-read content. Just to clarify, my last post didn't try to imply that screenreaders did, but rather that screenreaders will read content even when audio tracks are already playing in the slide. For this reason, we recommend adjusting your slide design so that audio tracks don't automatically play.
