Forum Discussion
Storyline 360 - Is there a way to make all answers to questions tab-able?
Hi there! I had a question about accessibility and selecting an answer for a Pick One activity.
I've found articles that say that Articulate very consciously designed the functionality of tabbing to the answers but then requiring users to then use arrows to go between the answers. As of right now, users that only use tab can only get to the first available answer but then cannot tab to the rest of the answers.
Is there a way to make all available answers tab-able? We have a client who is insistent that all the answers be available to select only using the tab key and the enter/space bar to select.
I'm open to doing a work-around too, if there's not a straight-forward way to make all answers available to tab to.
Thank you so much for your thoughts/responses!
The reason it works this way is because they are part of a Button Set, which is basically a group of selectable objects where only one object can be selected at a time. Once they get into that group, navigating with up/down arrows would be the user's expected behavior.
You could select all of the answers on your slide, right click on them, and remove them from their automatically assigned "Pick One" button set. However, this removes the functionality that allows the user to only select one object at a time, via mouse or keyboard. They could select one, then select another, and they'd both be selected (as opposed to button set behavior, which would automatically deselect Item 1 when they selected Item 2). They would have to go back and deselect the first item they selected. But, this would let them use the Tab key between each answer option. From a learner perspective, I'm not sure that's better. You'd also want to test how they would go about de-selecting an item via keyboard!
Hello AAndres_RGR!
I'm glad that Elizabeth was able to help you here with reasoning and a possible solution.
I wanted to share some additional information that may help your client.
Radio Buttons:
Radio button questions like True/False, Multiple Choice, and Pick One include a button set that only allows one selection within the group.
- Screen readers indicate to users that a radio button is part of a set, such as "radio button one of four."
- So, it's a tab stop to the interaction, then navigate using arrow keys through the answer choices.
Note: Empty radio buttons occur on page load but will auto-select as you move through the buttons, or the space bar will select.
Checkboxes:
Checkbox questions like Multiple Response and Pick Many allow multiple selections and the independent choice of one or more options.
- Screen readers announce each checkbox individually and in its state.
- Think about selecting all of your interests from a list, which could include anything from gaming to napping. These interests could be totally unrelated.
- So, each checkbox is focused and tabbed individually.
Note: The space bar toggles a checkbox between checked and unchecked states.
This is not a decision we made, but it is the standard, and screen reader users expect this behavior.
Check out these examples:
I would echo Leslie this is expected behaviour on a website for radio vs checkboxes I would not change it
