Illustration referencing accessibility features like closed captions and contrast

Accessibility is about making sure your courses function well for all your learners. We’ve been working hard to bring you new features and enhancements to help you make that happen. Let’s check out the latest batch of accessibility features we’ve rolled out.

1. Modern Player Accessible Contrast

Contrast—or the difference in brightness between two colors—is an important accessibility consideration. Without a strong contrast, some learners might have difficulty reading your content. Now the modern player in Storyline 360 meets and exceeds WCAG Level AA guidelines—automatically!* 

Here’s what it looks like:

Dark Theme Screenshot of the dark version of the modern player showcasing the new contrast
Light Theme Screenshot of the light version of the modern player showcasing the new contrast

 

See what a huge difference contrast makes? The improvements we’ve made in the modern player are not only better for learners with vision impairments—but better for everyone!

Want to learn more about the changes we made? Check out this detailed article: Storyline 360: Modern Player Accessible Contrast.

2. Two-Color Focus Indicator

When learners navigate using a keyboard, there’s an outline—called a focus indicator—that highlights the object they’re currently selecting. Without focus indicators, these learners won’t know where they are on the page—so it’s pretty important. 

In Storyline 360, you can now choose not just one focus color, but two! This helps learners clearly see the focus indicators on both dark and light backgrounds.

Check out the .GIF below to see the two-color focus indicator in action:

To learn more about this super-helpful feature, head over to this article: Storyline 360: Two-Color Focus Indicator.

3. Captions Font Size

Closed captions are another fundamental accessibility feature—but they aren’t very useful to learners if they can’t read them. While you’ve been able to create them in Storyline 360 for a while, now you can also increase the font size of your captions without changing the player font size when you use the modern player. 

To customize the captions font size, simply open the Player Properties window, click on Colors & Effects, and update the percentage in the drop-down menu, as shown below:

Screenshot of the Storyline interface showing the option to adjust the captions font size

Learn how to change the font size for closed captions.

For more details on closed captions, head over here: Choosing a Font for Your Closed Captions.

4. Logo Alt Text

If you’ve ever designed a course to reflect a brand’s identity, then you’ve probably added a company logo to the course player. Now you can make sure learners with vision impairments get the branded experience by adding alt text to that logo.

Just check the Visible to Accessibility Tools box and add alt text for the logo. Easy-peasy!

Screenshot of the Storyline interface showing the option to add alt text to a logo

And if you don’t think the logo alt text adds value you can also hide it from accessibility controls by unchecking the Visible to Accessibility Tools box.

Need more help? Head over here: Adding alt text to your logo.

Wrap-Up

With these new features and enhancements, it’s easier than ever to design great learning experiences for all your learners. Stay tuned to our What’s New page to find out about the latest accessibility features and head over to our Feature Roadmap to see what’s to come.

And if you want to learn more about creating accessible e-learning, check out these great resources:

Want to test out these accessibility features but don’t have Storyline 360? Start a free 30-day trial of Articulate 360, and come back to E-Learning Heroes regularly for more helpful advice on everything related to e-learning. If you have any questions, please share them in the comments.

*Note: If you change the accent color, check the contrast ratio of the accent color against the player colors below:

  • Light: #BABBBA
  • Dark: #585858

You can learn more about contrast ratio requirements in this article: Contrast Considerations for Accessible E-Learning.

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