Rise Accessibility
Jul 10, 2019
Hi all,
I am looking for some general advice. I am trying to create courses in Rise that are fully accessible to learners who are using screenreaders (like JAWS). By being selective with what boxes I include, I can create something that I find is technically accessible, but leaves something to be desired in terms of usability.
A quick example might illustrate my situation: my test learner has no issue tabbing across different text boxes, but arrowing (using the up and down keys) doesn't work as well, particularly in situations where a multiple choice question is introduced by a body of text (like a scenario). This is important because tabbing will read through the entire body of the text, whereas arrowing gives the option of going line-by-line. This makes her experience worse than someone else who isn't using JAWS, because she can't jump to the relevant portions of text, but has to experience the entire piece again.
I am wondering if anyone has brushed against similar situations and, if so, what have been some solutions. Thank you in advance!
7 Replies
Hi Jay! Thanks for starting this conversation. I'll leave it for the community to talk about their design solutions.
I'll note that Rise 360 isn't fully accessible yet. Our ultimate goal is to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Here's our information about keyboard navigation. And we’re currently working on full screen reader support!
Thanks for the note, Crystal! Yes, I see that Rise has been continually improving in this area, and I look forward to seeing what's next.
Hi!
We are running into trouble with the quizzes. The checkbox and radio buttons do not work properly. The style sheet is setting the checkbox and radio button input to display:none. This means that the screen reader can’t access the input.
Also there are no instructions on how to drag and drop (matching) using keyboard only. The only way users can get past the question is to use the mouse, which is not an option for some users. Because of this I feel I can't use the draggable components.
We are having to create workarounds, but would much prefer a fix from your end. Any thoughts on timing?
Hi there, Leslie. Thanks for checking in. I'm sorry that I don't have the timing details for accessibility features right now. Our target timeframe for WCAG 2.1 compliance is by the end of 2020, but of course, we'll let you know if we reach our goal sooner than that.
Just following up on this - do you know how these improvements will roll out? Specifically, I'm wondering will it be possible to adjust modules we've already designed or will content have to be rebuilt?
Thanks!
Hi, Suzanne. I don't have specific details on how we'll roll out enhancements. But, if you've exported content, you will likely need to export your content again to take advantage of new improvements.
Hello everyone! I’m happy to share our Rise 360 Accessibility Collection, which includes the VPAT to describe how Rise 360 conforms to WCAG 2.1 Level AA criteria.
We also updated our roadmap to include Rise 360 features we’re continuing to develop to better support WCAG.
Let me know your questions and experiences building accessible courses for all!