Useful Tools and Resources
Hi everyone, I'd like to share some accessibility (a11y) resources. I hope these will be helpful in making your content more inclusive and accessible to everyone. Whether you're new to accessibility or looking to deepen your understanding, these resources provide valuable insights, and best practices to ensure your work is accessible to all users, regardless of their abilities. Thanks. Understood: Understood is the leading nonprofit empowering the 70 million people with learning and thinking differences in the United States. https://www.understood.org/ Funkify: A disability simulator that helps you experience the web and interfaces through the eyes of extreme users. https://www.funkify.org/ Accessible Numbers: Presenting numbers and data clearly. https://accessiblenumbers.com/ Neurodiversity Design System: A set of standards and principles that combine neurodiversity and UX design for Learning Management Systems. https://neurodiversity.design/ WhoCanUse: A tool that brings attention and understanding to how colour contrast can affect people with different visual impairments. https://www.whocanuse.com/ Viz Palette: Colors in action. https://projects.susielu.com/viz-paletteStoryline 360: Improving Experiences With the Accessibility Checker
Whether you're an accessibility novice or expert, the new accessibility checker built into Storyline 360 will help you create more inclusive e-learning. Evaluate your content against key Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) in one click and get a thorough report that identifies barriers and offers step-by-step guidance on how to move forward. Finding and fixing accessibility issues has never been easier. Note: While the accessibility checker offers a practical starting point, no automated tool can guarantee full compliance and conformance with accessibility guidelines. For the most complete results, pair the accessibility checker with manual testing. Open the Accessibility Checker Get started with the accessibility checker using either of the following methods: Go to the View tab on the ribbon and select Accessibility Checker. Or, go to the status bar at the bottom of the app and select Accessibility Issues. The Accessibility Checker pane opens and offers two main views: The Summary has interactive tiles to review according to WCAG criteria and complexity. The All Issues option lists the scanned results, accessibility impact summaries, links to the corresponding WCAG criteria, and resolution recommendations. Navigate the Results Click the arrow icon next to each issue's description to expand or collapse its content. All the instances display in the expanded field. You can: Click a line item to display more information about the issue and how to fix it on the right side of the pane. Use the hyperlink in the right pane to jump to the issue's exact location within your course. Filter, Sort, and Manage Issues Choose from any of the following options to refine the information: Click Filter to view the applied filters or to edit the filter criteria. Click Sort to select how you'd like to organize the list—by status, level, issue name, or number of instances—and choose ascending or descending order. Click Skip all instances to skip all instances of an issue. Mark the Show skipped box to display skipped issues on the list. Understand Issue Complexity Each issue is labeled by how it can be fixed: Fix in one click: Applies to simple updates, like the playback speed control, that the accessibility checker can resolve automatically. Just click Fix it for me to apply the change. Fix with AI: Offers the option to use AI Assistant, if it's included in your subscription. For example, you can use AI Assistant to generate suggestions for alt text and captions, then review and edit the result before saving. Note: The Generate alt text and Generate captions buttons appear for all users, but they only work if your Articulate 360 subscription includes AI Assistant. If not, clicking the button will prompt you to learn more about enabling AI features. However, even if you don’t have AI Assistant, you can still fix these issues manually by entering your own alt text or captions. Manual Fix: Requires your input to resolve. The accessibility checker provides clear instructions and links to the relevant WCAG guidelines to help you make the best decisions. Scan Automatically The accessibility checker supports up to 15 key WCAG criteria with various conformance levels that cover 24 different violations. It automatically scans your course when you open or edit it in Storyline 360, so the report is always current. You can also click Refresh to scan your content again. The scan results only show issues relevant to your content. For example, a "missing captions" violation won't display in courses without audio or videos. Choose a Docking Option Click the Redock icon to move the floating pane below your timeline. Use the Pin icon to keep the scanned results visible. Click the Undock button to use the floating pane, which you can move to another monitor to have more room to work. Publish When you publish your course, we'll remind you about any unresolved accessibility issues. You can click Review to open the accessibility checker floating pane. Skipped items won't be included, so use the Show skipped option in the accessibility checker to review anything you chose to skip earlier. Understand Compatibility The accessibility checker is exclusive to the May 2025 update and later for Storyline 360. Project files with hidden accessibility issues won't open in earlier versions of Storyline 360. To restore compatibility, click the "Restore" or "Restore all instances" option to reveal all skipped accessibility issues.New Matching lay-out
Last week we received the updated lay-out of the matching knowledge check. The moment I discovered it was a bit unlucky (during a presentation, got me a bit confused) but today I had some time to look into it. The changelog as following on the articulate website: Enhanced: Matching knowledge check blocks have been upgraded with intuitive navigation, full keyboard support, and comprehensive screen reader integration. Now, I think it's great that Articulate is improving it's software's accessibility, however, I don't see anything intuitive about the new design. A lot of new things have been added which for me only make the assignment more confusing. On the left side the hamburger icon and number suggest some sort of clickability, which is not there. The drop downs on the right give the assignment a new layer of intractability which only wouldn't want for the student. Overall the lay-out is a lot less clean and drains focus away from the content towards the design. Maybe a simple solution would be to add a slider which let's us choose between this lay-out and the previous one (or this one without the rings and bells). That's just my opinion, I was wondering what other think of the new lay-out!Dark mode for Storyline 360
Hi there Just wondering if there is a way now (or will be...) in SL360 settings to have the build tool adjustable to a dark grey background and tool bars like in the MS Office suite and Adobe CC programs. I jump from those with a nice dark grey to Storyline 360 and it's bright white window is a bit of a jolt on the eyes... Cheers SimonNEW: Accessibility Checker in Storyline
Hey folks, just wanted to make sure you saw Storyline's latest update this week. Included is a feature that's sure to change how you build accessible courses forever. Built into Storyline is now an accessibility checker. With one click, the accessibility checker scans your course and generates a detailed report listing accessibility issues and shows you step-by-step how to fix them. Key features: Real-time scanning: One click, and it instantly finds potential accessibility issues. Guided fixes: It doesn’t just find problems, it shows you exactly how to fix them and includes one-click fixes. Learn by doing: You organically pick up accessibility best practices as you build your course. Documentation: Storyline 360: Improving Experiences With the Accessibility Checker
Rise: Matching Knowledge Check Block update from Jan 7, 2025
This is regarding the update now including numbered dropdowns to match the answers. My team often uses them for process steps so the duplication of numbers is not a good experience. We have existing content that will now lose the old aesthetic if we make any updates and republish. Please tell me there are plans to offer turning off the numbered feature. At a minimum, we should be able to choose if it's numeric or alpha, but the fields are locked.Introduction
Welcome to our Accessibility Group! We're excited to have you join this collaborative space, where you can find inspiration and connect with like-minded individuals. We're all human and learning on this accessibility journey. Use this group to ask questions, share ideas, support each other, and learn about the latest guidelines and laws. Together, we'll grow in accessibility maturity and create a supportive community through this safe and inclusive space.Creating alt text for complex images easier
Hey folks, I'm really glad to see this new accessibility Group on E-Learning heroes. Right now in my own line of work, I'm pushing for really accessible courses and it's quite crazy how trainers are missing fundamental things such as alternative text on images. Which I would end up having to do to ensure a project gets done in time. Anyway, I made a video tutorial very recently on how you can speed up creating alternative text for graphics using Microsoft Copilot. It can also be done with other tools such as ChatGPT. I hope it helps and more importantly, gets more people to make sure that all their graphics have alternative descriptions. Enhancing Accessibility in Instructional Design with Microsoft CopilotRevised Matching KC Interface
Accessibility is at the forefront of our development at Articulate. That's why we were thrilled this past January to finally give our users a version of the matching knowledge check block that was keyboard accessible and screen reader compatible. And while the interface was definitely different, we were even more confident in our design decisions once we got a 100% Fable score, indicating that users with disabilities found it highly accessible. However, over the past few months, we've heard from you, our users, that while improved accessibility is important, the new interface negatively impacted the clean design that Rise 360 is known for. In addition, the selection drop-down menus were confusing for some learners. Our challenge, however, was that there wasn't a way to deliver that clean interface and maintain accessibility without rebuilding the entire matching knowledge check block. So that's exactly what we did. The newly updated matching knowledge check block better reflects the design of the original block. Except now, it provides the keyboard accessibility and screen reader compatibility necessary for modern training. The block works in a way that feels natural. When you select a choice or match using your keyboard, it locks in place, jumping to the opposite column where you select your pair option. In addition to the visual changes and revised navigation, the screen reader provides more intuitive selection options, clearly indicating whether you currently have a choice or match selected. We're also giving you a new settings option to freeze the choices or matches column when a pair is selected. We think this updated matching knowledge check is a win/win and hope you do as well. Please let us know in the comments below what you think.Checklist for 508 Compliance Testing in Storyline
I just heard about this 508 compliance testing tool/checklist created by the Social Security Administration. https://www.ssa.gov/accessibility/testmethod.html?tab=2 Even if you are a 508 compliance expert (I thought I was, turns out there is more to learn) this can be a helpful tool when testing your eLearning for compliance.
