Storyline 360 - Tab order resets when a slide layer is shown or hidden.

Thanks for the update! I'm experiencing this issue in SL3 as well so I will keep an eye on this thread for the resolution! 

Interestingly enough, now I am seeing the behavior whereby closing a layer is sending the user to end of the tab order. 

Hi Jason!

A user would be sent the end of the tab order if a button or link is the only interactive element on the slide. 

Is this similar to what you're noticing? Would you mind sharing a quick screen recording of what you're seeing with the tab order?

Hi,

I'm using the most recent version of SL360 and experiencing similar screen reader behavior as Jason describes: after using a Hide Layer button (i.e., a button with a hide layer, this layer, when user clicks trigger), my screen reader focus skips past all the other content in the slide/Tab Order and ends up (in one course) at the end of the tab order or (in another course) at the very end of the player controls.

Oddly, I do have one course that is working how I'd expect -- i.e., after using a Hide Layer button, screen reader focus goes to whatever element comes after the Hide Layer button in the tab order -- and the only difference between it and the other courses I've tested is that it was built in earlier versions of Storyline and imported into 360.

Hi Douglas,

I'm happy to help and appreciate you sharing a sample file for testing!

To start, I published the slides to Web using Storyline 360 Update 40:

• Here's the output
• Here's a look into what I see in Chrome 83/JAWS version 2020.2004.66

I'm unable to recreate any oddities in the course. Could you help me confirm a few more details?

• What browser(s) are you using to test the output?
• Are you using JAWS, NVDA, or both? Also, what versions are they running?
• It looks like the video is unavailable — can you reshare it or create a Peek 360 screen recording of the behavior? 

To follow up on my last post:

My NVDA was a 2019 version, so I updated it to 2020.1; however, I'm still encountering the same behavior in Chrome (83) as described previously, and now NVDA won't read anything in FF.

I have two versions of JAWS: 2018.1811.30 and 2020.2004.66. The 2018 version produced the same results as both versions of NVDA in Chrome and didn't work in FF. The 2020 version is now working in FF and producing identical results in Chrome and FF, but those results differ slightly from what I described in my original post: the screen reader reading order (using the arrow keys) is still deviating from the Tab Order when I hide a layer or fire any sort of "change state of this object to Hidden when user clicks to this object" type trigger, but now my screen reader focus is going to the slide start instead of the slide end.

And with both versions of NVDA and both versions of JAWS, I'm often experiencing slightly different behavior when re-opening or re-closing a layer: i.e., my screen reader focus will land in a different spot on subsequent opens/closes.

Thanks,

Doug

Hi Douglas!

I appreciate you sharing these extra details!

I've tested the file on my end, and I'm noticing the Back to Top button appears on the Statement layer; right before I can close the layer. I've checked with our team, and this is a bug that we are investigating.

However, you can still use SHIFT + TAB to jump to a previous item. This is a workaround to ensure the user can still close the layer.

I've recorded a Peek to show you this workaround. Here's the link!

Hi Lauren,

Thank you for helping investigate this.

I get the same tab navigation behavior you show. Oddly though, I don't get that behavior on the other slide that uses pictures instead of buttons.

Were you able to investigate or replicate any of the arrow key-based screen reader behavior I described and demonstrated in my video? I'm even more concerned by that and our (or maybe just my)  potential inability to reliably predict and program screen reader reading order; I fear that could be a make or break issue for screen reader users.

Here's another video demonstrating more unexpected screen reader behavior, including not just unexpected screen reader reading order but also NVDA misreading content after hiding a layer:

Thanks!

Hi Douglas!

Thanks for providing these detailed videos! I pulled in extra help from our Engineering team to understand exactly what you're seeing on your end. With their expertise, they confirmed this is a bug as the reading order when using a screen reader should match the order in the tab order dialog. I'm so sorry this is affecting your project.

I've created a bug report with your file and videos attached. This will give our Engineering team a file to test as well as visuals of the bug. I really appreciate you taking the time to create these videos!

Once I hear more information, I'll update you in this discussion! 

Hi Lauren,

Great to hear they'll be following up with this. Thank you!

I took the opportunity to record a bit more inconsistent behavior we've been encountering; hopefully they can investigate it at the same time. You'll see that in the video included here.

Another thing we've experienced that I haven't captured yet in a video and would love the team to look into is behavior differing if you open/close a layer more than once during the same visit and behavior differing if you read backwards versus forwards. For instance, I've had a pop-up layer read normally, according to the defined Tab Order, the first time I open it, but then I re-open it (during the same slide visit; i.e., I haven't gone to a different slide and come back to this one), and my screen reader focus lands at an unpredictable spot in the tab order or player controls.