Storyline 360 supports alternative text (alt text) for slide objects so your courses are accessible to learners with screen readers and other assistive technologies. In this user guide, you'll learn best practices for writing alt text and three ways to add alt text in Storyline 360.

Best Practices for Writing Alt Text

  • Make alt text meaningful. It must describe the purpose of the media. The same content could have different purposes in different contexts, so be sure to use alt text to tell the learner why it’s there.
  • Be concise. Use no more than 150 characters to describe an object.

    Screen reader users can’t pause and resume alt text or listen to it word-by-word or letter-by-letter like they can with standard text. If alt text is lengthy, learners must listen to it without stopping. If they miss any part of it, they must listen to it all again.
  • Don’t include “image” or “graphic” in alt text. Screen readers automatically announce “graphic” for you.

Using the Media Library

The media library makes it super easy to add alt text to all the images, characters, and videos in your project.

  1. Open the media library by going to the View tab on the Storyline ribbon and clicking Media Library.
  2. Select an image, character pose, or video in the asset grid on the left side of the window.
  3. Enter alt text in the details pane on the right.

Learn more about managing alt text in the media library.

Using the Focus Order Window

The Focus Order window lets you customize the order in which slide objects are navigated with a keyboard and read by a screen reader. You can also use the Focus Order window to manage alt text for all your slide objects. Here’s how:

  1. Open the slide you want to customize in Slide View.
  2. Go to the Home tab on the Storyline ribbon and click Focus Order.
  3. When the Focus Order window opens, enter text in the Alternative Text column.
  4. Click Save when you’re finished.

Here are some tips for working with alt text on the Focus Order window:

  • All objects for the slide will appear in the Focus Order window, including objects from layers and slide masters.
  • Although slide master objects appear in the focus order window, you'll need to switch to Slide Master View (press F4) to set their alt text. Right-click each object on the slide master, click each object on the slide master and choose Accessibility.
  • If an object doesn’t have alt text, screen readers will read the name of that object as it appears in the timeline.
  • If you don’t want an object to be read by screen readers, select it in the list, then click the Remove button in the lower left corner of the window. (This doesn’t delete the object; it just hides it from screen readers.)
  • If you’re using the modern player, you can add alt text to your course logo in your player settings.

Learn more about using the Focus Order window.

Using the Size and Position Window

The Size and Position window lets you control an object’s height, width, rotation, scale, crop, and location. You can also use the Size and Position window to add alt text to the selected object.

  1. Right-click the object you want to edit, then choose Size and Position.
  2. When the Size and Position window opens, select the Accessibility tab on the left side.
  3. Mark the box called Object is visible to accessibility tools.
  4. Enter text in the Alternative text field.
  5. Click Close.

Here are some tips for working with alt text on the Size and Position window:

  • If the visibility box is checked but there isn’t any alt text, screen readers will read the name of the object as it appears in the timeline.
  • If you’d prefer to hide the selected object from screen readers altogether, uncheck the visibility box.
  • If you’re using the modern player, you can add alt text to your course logo in your player settings.

Learn more about using the Size and Position window.