Storyline 360: Creating and Editing Closed Captions With the Built-in Editor
Create and edit closed captions and subtitles right in Storyline 360 with the built-in editor. Fine-tune imported captions or quickly add new ones with the help of caption placeholders that are already synced with your audio and video content. And as of April 2023, Storyline 360 automatically generates synchronized video transcripts from closed captions. Opening the Closed Captions Editor Exploring the Editor Understanding Caption States Previewing Media and Captions Tabbing Back and Forth Between Caption Placeholders Adding or Editing Text in Caption Placeholders Speeding Up Your Workflow for Adding Closed Captions Formatting Caption Text Using Keyboard Shortcuts Adjusting the Timing and Duration of Caption Placeholders Inserting New Caption Placeholders Deleting Captions Splitting Captions Importing Captions Exporting Captions Translating Captions Closing the Editor and Saving or Discarding Your Changes Showing or Hiding the Closed Captioning Button on the Player Using Triggers to Turn Closed Captions On and Off Opening the Closed Captions Editor Use any of the following methods to open the closed captions editor: Select your media, go to the Options tab on the ribbon, then click Add Captions or Edit Captions. The button will change depending on whether your media clip already has captions. Right-click your media and choose Add Captions or Edit Captions from the context menu. Right-click your media, select Accessibility from the context menu, then click Add Captions or Edit Captions in the window that appears. Follow these steps to open the closed captions editor from the media library. Tip: Caption Placeholders Are Created for You If your media clip doesn’t already have captions, the closed captions editor will automatically analyze the audio track to detect units of speech and add caption placeholders to the timeline that are synchronized with your content. All you need to do is type your captions in the placeholders. Background music can interfere with the auto-generated caption placeholders, so you might need to tweak the timing of captions, add more caption placeholders, or split captions into smaller chunks. Note: The closed captions editor works with all narration and videos, except website videos. Exploring the Editor Explore this image of the closed captions editor and the numbered list below it for an overview of the interface. The sections that follow provide details on each feature. # Feature Description 1 Ribbon Commands Use the ribbon to: Preview your media and captions Jump back and forth between caption placeholders Insert new caption placeholders Delete caption placeholders Split caption placeholders Import captions Export captions Close the editor 2 Video Stage When you’re working with a video, it'll display on the video stage. When you’re working with an audio clip, the video stage disappears and the audio waveform fills the editor. 3 Closed Captions Preview As you type captions into the placeholders at the bottom of the editor, they’ll display on the video stage or audio waveform so you can see how they’ll look in your published output. 4 Timeline and Playhead The timeline shows the duration of your media, and the blue playhead travels along the timeline as you preview your video and audio content. 5 Audio Waveform The audio waveform is a visual representation of the audio track in your media. If there’s no video component for your media, the audio waveform will expand to fill the stage. 6 Caption Placeholders Caption placeholders are where you type and format text. You can also adjust the timing and duration of caption placeholders. If your media clip doesn’t already have captions, the closed captions editor will automatically analyze the audio track to detect units of speech and add caption placeholders to the timeline that are synchronized with your content. All you need to do is type your captions in the placeholders. Caption placeholders have four states, so you know what to expect when creating and editing captions. See the next section to learn about caption states. 7 Time Values The status bar shows you the current position of the playhead on the timeline, the start time of the selected caption placeholder, and the end time of the selected caption placeholder. 8 Zoom Slider Use the zoom slider in the lower right corner to zoom the timeline, audio waveform, and caption placeholders in and out when you need to make precise edits or get a big-picture overview. Understanding Caption States Caption placeholders have four states as described in this table. State Appearance Example Unselected caption placeholder without text Solid light gray Unselected caption placeholder with text Dark gray with white text Selected caption placeholder (with or without text) Blue with white text Caption placeholder in edit mode Dark gray with blue outline, white text, and blinking cursor The closed captions editor may behave differently, depending on the current state of a caption. See the following sections for details. For example, if no captions are in edit mode when you preview, playback will continue to the end of the timeline unless you pause it. However, if a caption is in edit mode when you preview, playback will stop at the end of the caption placeholder. And if you resume playback while the caption is still in edit mode, it'll start from the beginning of the current caption placeholder and stop again at the end. This helps you create captions one at a time, letting you hear a clip as many times as you need while typing. Previewing Media and Captions To preview the entire video or audio track, move the playhead to the beginning of the timeline—before the first caption placeholder—then click the Play button on the ribbon or press Enter on your keyboard. Drag the seekbar on the ribbon or the playhead on the timeline to scrub back and forth through the video or audio track. To preview just one caption, click inside the placeholder so it’s in edit mode. Playback will start as soon as you click inside it and stop when it reaches the end of the caption. To pause the preview, click the Pause button on the ribbon or press Enter. Caption placeholders that have text will display on the video stage or audio waveform during preview. (The size of a caption box and the point at which text wraps could change, depending on the size of the closed captions editor window.) Tabbing Back and Forth Between Caption Placeholders Press the Tab key on your keyboard to jump to the beginning of the next caption, and press Shift+Tab to jump to the beginning of the previous caption. Or, click the left and right arrows on the ribbon to move back and forth between captions. If no captions are in edit mode when you navigate between them, the playhead will simply move to the previous or next caption, but the media won’t start playing until you tell it to. If a caption placeholder is in edit mode when you jump to another caption, the new caption placeholder will also switch to edit mode so you can immediately start typing. Tip: By using the Tab key to move through caption placeholders in edit mode and pressing Enter to play/pause media, you never have to take your hands off the keyboard while typing captions, speeding up your workflow. Adding or Editing Text in Caption Placeholders To add or edit caption text, simply click inside a caption placeholder and begin typing. You can also paste text from external sources, such as text files or Word documents. When you click inside a caption placeholder, it switches to edit mode and your media automatically begins playing. If you need to pause it, just press Enter. To resume playback, press Enter again. If you need to add a line break to a caption, press Shift+Enter. Speeding Up Your Workflow for Adding Closed Captions By using keyboard shortcuts, you can quickly add closed captions to a video or audio track in Storyline 360. Here’s how: When you open the closed captions editor, the playhead will be positioned at the beginning of the first caption placeholder, and it'll be in edit mode. Press Enter to start playing your video or audio track, then begin typing text for the first caption based on what you hear. Playback will stop at the end of the placeholder so you have time to finish typing the caption. If you need to hear it again, just press Enter and it'll start over from the beginning of the placeholder. You can also use Enter to pause playback. Press Tab to move to the next caption placeholder. It'll switch to edit mode, and your media will being playing. Simply type what you hear. Playback will stop at the end of the placeholder so you have time to finish typing the caption. If you need to hear it again, just press Enter and it'll start over from the beginning of the placeholder. You can also use Enter to pause playback. Repeat step 2 to add captions, one placeholder at a time, until you reach the end of the timeline. Formatting Caption Text Bold, Italic, and Underline: Closed captions in Storyline 360 can have bold, italic, and underline formatting. Just select the text you want to format, then use the floating toolbar to make your selections. Or, use these keyboard shortcuts: Ctrl+B = Bold Ctrl+I = Italicize Ctrl+U = Underline Colors, Font, Font Size, and Position: You can choose the foreground and background colors, font, size, and position of your captions in the player properties. Learn more. Voice Tags: The closed captions editor doesn’t support voice tags, but you can identify speakers by typing their names with colons before their statements. (Press Shift+Enter to add a line break between speakers.) For example: Adam: E-learning is powerful. Lucy: And it’s transforming lives every day. If you import a caption file that has voice tags, the tags will be converted to the speakers’ names followed by colons, as shown above. Using Keyboard Shortcuts Work faster in the closed captions editor with these keyboard shortcuts. Key(s) Function Enter Play and pause media Shift+Enter Add a line break when typing text into a caption placeholder Tab Jump to the beginning of the next caption placeholder Shift+Tab Jump to the beginning of the previous caption placeholder Esc Exit edit mode for the current caption placeholder and switch to a blue selected state Ctrl+A Select all the text in a caption placeholder Ctrl+B Bold Ctrl+C Copy Ctrl+I Italicize Ctrl+U Underline Ctrl+V Paste Ctrl+X Cut Ctrl+Y Redo Ctrl+Z Undo Left Arrow If the playhead is at the beginning or end of a caption placeholder and the placeholder is in a selected state, the left arrow key moves the placeholder .25 seconds to the left on the timeline (or less than that if it bumps up against the previous caption placeholder). Otherwise, the left arrow key moves only the playhead .25 seconds to the left on the timeline. Right Arrow If the playhead is at the beginning or end of a caption placeholder and the placeholder is in a selected state, the right arrow key moves the placeholder .25 seconds to the right on the timeline (or less than that if it bumps up against the next caption placeholder). Otherwise, the right arrow key moves only the playhead .25 seconds to the left on the timeline. Shift+Left Arrow If the playhead is at the beginning or end of a caption placeholder and the placeholder is in a selected state, this shortcut moves the placeholder .5 seconds to the left on the timeline (or less than that if it bumps up against the previous caption placeholder). Otherwise, this shortcut moves only the playhead .5 seconds to the left on the timeline. Shift+Right Arrow If the playhead is at the beginning or end of a caption placeholder and the placeholder is in a selected state, this shortcut moves the placeholder .5 seconds to the right on the timeline (or less than that if it bumps up against the next caption placeholder). Otherwise, this shortcut moves only the playhead .5 seconds to the right on the timeline. Alt+Left Arrow When a caption placeholder is selected, shorten its duration by .25 seconds. Alt+Right Arrow When a caption placeholder is selected, lengthen its duration by .25 seconds (or less than that if it bumps up against the next caption placeholder). Shift+Alt+Left Arrow When a caption placeholder is selected, shorten its duration by .5 seconds. Shift+Alt+Right Arrow When a caption placeholder is selected, lengthen its duration by .5 seconds (or less than that if it bumps up against the next caption placeholder). Ctrl+Left Arrow This shortcut moves the playhead to the beginning of the current caption placeholder or the end of the previous placeholder, whichever is closest. This shortcut doesn’t work when a caption placeholder is in edit mode. Ctrl+Right Arrow This shortcut moves the playhead to the end of the current caption placeholder or the beginning of the next placeholder, whichever is closest. This shortcut doesn’t work when a caption placeholder is in edit mode. Ctrl+Mouse Wheel Zoom the timeline in and out Adjusting the Timing and Duration of Caption Placeholders To adjust the timing of a caption, simply drag the placeholder left or right along the timeline. To change the duration of a caption, drag either end of the placeholder along the timeline to shorten or lengthen it. You can also use several arrow keyboard shortcuts in the table above to tweak the timing and duration of caption placeholders. Inserting New Caption Placeholders Although the closed captions editor does its best to create caption placeholders for you that are already synced with your content, there may be times when you need to manually add a caption placeholder to the timeline. Click any space on the timeline that isn’t already occupied by a caption placeholder. The blue playhead will move to that position on the timeline. Then click Insert Caption on the ribbon. New captions are four seconds long by default—unless there isn’t enough space to fit a four-second placeholder, in which case it'll fill the available space. You need at least half a second of empty space on the timeline to insert a new caption placeholder. If there isn’t enough space, the Insert Caption button will be grayed out. Deleting Captions There are three ways to delete a specific caption: Select the caption placeholder and press Delete on your keyboard. Select the placeholder and click Delete Caption on the ribbon. Right-click the placeholder and choose Delete from the context menu. To delete all captions at once, click Delete Captions on the ribbon, then click Yes on the confirmation message. Splitting Captions You can split a caption into two placeholders when you need more control over timing and duration. Just select the placeholder and click Split Caption on the ribbon. Or, right-click the placeholder and choose Split Caption from the context menu. The original placeholder will split evenly in half. And if it has text, the text will split where the cursor is located—everything before the cursor will move to the first placeholder; everything after the cursor will move to the second placeholder. Exception: If the playhead is at the beginning of the caption and the placeholder is in a blue selected state, all the text will move to the first placeholder after being split. Importing Captions If you already have captions typed in a document, you can import them via the closed captions editor. Note that this replaces all the existing captions for your video or audio track. Click Import Captions on the ribbon. Click Yes when asked to confirm that you want to replace the existing captions. Browse to the SRT, SBV, SUB, or VTT file you want to import and click Open. You can also import caption files without opening the closed captions editor. See this user guide for details. Exporting Captions Export closed captions when you need to use them in another project, edit them with a different app, or save a backup copy. Click Export Captions on the ribbon, choose a location where you want to save the caption file, then click Save. When you export captions from the closed captions editor, it generates a VTT file. Translating Captions Export the captions file for each video or audio track in your course, translate it, then import it back into Storyline. Here’s how: If the closed captions editor is open, click Export Captions on the ribbon and save the file to your computer. You can also export captions without opening the closed captions editor. Just select the video or audio track, go to the Options tab on the Storyline ribbon, and click Export. Open the captions file in a text editor or a translation program, replace the captions with translated text, and save the file with your changes. In Storyline, select the video or audio track again, go to the Options tab on the ribbon, and click Import to bring the translated captions back into your course. Closed captions aren’t included when you export text strings from your course for translation. Closing the Editor and Saving or Discarding Your Changes To save your changes, click Save & Close on the ribbon. To discard your changes, click the X in the upper right corner or go to the File tab on the ribbon and click Exit. Showing or Hiding the Closed Captioning Button on the Player The closed captioning button on the course player is enabled by default, but you can disable it if you plan to build your own custom controls. Click here for details. Using Triggers to Turn Closed Captions On and Off If the closed captioning button is enabled on your course player (see above), learners can toggle captions on and off whenever they want. However, you can also control captions via triggers. Click here for details.Storyline 360: Importing Closed Captions for Narration and Videos
Make your Storyline 360 courses more accessible for learners who are deaf or hard of hearing by importing closed captions and subtitles for narration and videos. Just insert standard SRT, VTT, SBV, or SUB files. Don’t have caption files to import? No problem. Create closed captions and subtitles from scratch with the built-in editor. Preparing Your Caption Files Importing Captions Deleting Captions Exporting Captions Customizing Your Closed Captions Showing or Hiding the Closed Captioning Button on the Player Using Triggers to Turn Closed Captions On and Off Preparing Your Caption Files Storyline 360 supports SRT, VTT, SBV, and SUB files generated by third-party captioning services such as YouTube, Amara, and 3PlayMedia. Here are some tips to ensure your caption files are properly formatted for Storyline 360: Storyline 360 supports bold, italic, and underline formatting in caption files as well as voice tags to indicate which person is speaking. All other formatting tags, such as font and font color, will be ignored. (Use the closed caption settings in the player properties to format your captions.) A caption will automatically wrap if it’s too long to fit on a single line. However, if you need a caption to break at a specific point, add one line break in your caption file in the appropriate place. On the other hand, if you need to split a caption into two separate caption boxes that display simultaneously, add two line breaks in your caption file. You might do this when two people are speaking and you want each speaker’s dialogue to display in its own caption box. If some letters or characters in your captions are unexpectedly replaced by symbols in Storyline 360, make sure your caption files are encoded for UTF-8. Importing Captions Closed captions are supported for audio tracks and videos. You can import captions simultaneously with your media, or you can import captions separately. We describe both options in the table below. Import Captions Simultaneously with Media If your caption files have the same names as your media files and are stored in the same folder with the media, they’ll automatically import into Storyline 360 when you import your media. For example, if I have a video called MyVideo.mp4 and the corresponding caption file is named MyVideo.srt and is located in the same folder, I only need to import the video into my Storyline 360 project, and the captions will automatically import and sync with the video. To learn how to import audio and video files into Storyline 360, see these user guides: Importing Audio Files Importing Video Files Import Captions After Adding Media To import captions after adding media to your Storyline 360 project: Select the audio track or video that you want to caption. Go to the Options tab on the ribbon and click Import. Browse to the caption file you want to import, then click Open. Another way to import captions is to right-click the video placeholder or the speaker icon that represents your audio track, choose Accessibility, then click the Import icon. (View this user guide to learn more about the Size and Position window.) Note about captions in markers: When you right-click an interactive marker and choose Accessibility, you’ll see closed caption features for audio and video since a marker can have both types of media at the same time. Pro Tips: You can import closed captions from the ribbon or the Size and Position window, as described above. Even better, you can use the media library to import and manage closed captions for all audio clips and videos in your project. You can add captions to all audio clips and videos, except website videos. Storyline 360 automatically generates synchronized video transcripts from closed captions. Media content with closed captions displays a CC label in their media icons on the timeline and slide stage for quick identification. Deleting Captions To delete captions you previously added: Select the audio track or video that has captions you want to remove. Go to the Options tab on the ribbon and click Delete. (It will be grayed-out if there aren’t any captions to delete.) Exporting Captions Need to export captions from Storyline 360 so you can edit them or use them in another project? Here’s how: Select the audio track or video that has captions you want to export. Go to the Options tab on the ribbon and click Export. (It'll be grayed-out if there aren’t any captions to export.) Choose a location where you want to save your caption file, then click Save. Exported captions always generate a VTT file. Customizing Your Closed Captions Choose the foreground and background colors, font, size, and position of your captions. In the player properties window, click Colors & Effects on the ribbon, then use the Closed Captions formatting options. Then, click OK to save and close the player settings. If you’re using the classic player, you can choose the captions font. You can also set the font size for all player elements and captions as a single unit by adjusting the Player font size percentage. Showing or Hiding the Closed Captioning Button on the Player The closed captioning button on the course player is enabled by default, but you can disable it if you plan to build your own custom controls or use accessible video controls. Go to the Home tab on the ribbon and click Player. When the player properties open, mark the Captions box to show the closed captioning button or uncheck it to hide the closed captioning button. Click OK to save and close the player settings. Tips for interacting with the closed captioning button: The closed captioning button may not always be visible throughout your course. It’s only visible when captions are available on the current slide or layer. It’ll disappear for slides and layers that don’t have captions. This gives learners a visual clue when captions are available. When a learner clicks the closed captioning button to turn on captions, the button will remain turned on throughout the course until the learner clicks it again to turn it off. Using Triggers to Turn Captions On and Off If the closed captioning button is enabled on your course player (see above), learners can toggle captions on and off whenever they want. However, you can also control captions via triggers. Just adjust the built-in Player.DisplayCaptions variable to either True (on) or False (off). Here are a couple scenarios where you might control captions via triggers and how to set them up. Turn Captions On by Default Captions are turned off by default, but if most of your learners need captions, you might want to turn them on automatically when the course starts. Just add a trigger to the first slide in your course with these trigger wizard parameters: Action: Adjust variable Operator: = Set Variable: Player.DisplayCaptions Value: Value = True When: Timeline starts Object: Select the first slide in your course from the drop-down list. Build Your Own Custom Navigation Buttons If you disable the built-in player features and build your own custom navigation buttons, you can use triggers to show and hide captions. Just add a trigger to a button with these trigger wizard parameters to create a toggle: Action: Adjust Variable Operator: Toggle Variable: Player.DisplayCaptions When: User clicks Object: Select your custom button from the drop-down list.All About Accessibility
General What Is Accessible E-Learning? Accessibility for E-Learning: Webinar Series 2023 4 Reasons Accessibility Is Important in E-Learning 6 Easy Ways to Make Your E-Learning More Accessible How To Write Alt Text for the 4 Most Common Types of Images in E-Learning All About Assistive Technologies Accessible E-Learning & Screen Readers: What You Need to Know How To Test Your E-Learning Course with a Screen Reader A Checklist for QA Testing Courses with a Screen Reader 9 Basic Screen Reader Commands to Know When Testing Your E-Learning Courses 5 Formatting Tips for Creating Dyslexia-Friendly E-Learning What Is 508 Compliance for E-Learning and How Can You Achieve It? Understanding WCAG: A Quickstart Guide for E-Learning Developers Contrast Considerations for Accessible E-Learning 5 Ways to Convince Stakeholders to Create Accessible Courses Why I’m Prioritizing E-Learning Accessibility—and You Should Too Elevate Your E-Learning by Prioritizing Accessibility and Usability Accessibility Index What is WCAG? A Quick Guide to Web Accessibility Conformance What Is Section 508? A Quick Guide to Section 508 Compliance Storyline 360 17 Storyline 360 Features That’ll Help You Design Accessible E-Learning 4 Things To Know About Storyline 360 Courses and Screen Readers 5 Common Questions About How Storyline 360 Courses Work with Screen Readers Storyline 360: Adding Alternative Text for Screen Readers Storyline 360: Importing Closed Captions for Narration and Videos Storyline 360: Creating and Editing Closed Captions With the Built-in Editor Storyline 360: Customizing the Focus Order of Slide Objects Storyline 360: Our Accessibility Journey Storyline 360: How to Design an Accessible Course Identifying the Course Language for Screen Readers Storyline 360: How to Use the Skip Navigation Shortcut Storyline 360: Choosing Player Colors, Fonts, and Button Styles Storyline 360: Adding Tables Identifying the Course Language for Screen Readers Storyline 360: Adjustable Accessibility Settings Storyline 360: Upgrade Project Text Storyline 360: Accessible Text Storyline 360: The Accessible Player Makes Navigation Easier Storyline 360: Modern Player Accessible Contrast Storyline 360: How to Navigate Multiple Choice Questions with a Screen Reader or Keyboard Storyline 360: Slide Content Is More Accessible Storyline 360: Dialog Layers Storyline 360: Closed Captions Colors Storyline 360: Two-Color Focus Indicator Storyline 360: Video Transcripts Storyline 360: Closed Captions Placement Storyline 360: Player Tooltips Storyline 360: Full-Screen Toggle Storyline 360: Modern Player Zoom Makes Courses More Accessible Storyline 360: Accessible Video Controls Storyline 360: Accessible Quiz Results Storyline 360: Accessible Semantic Formatting Storyline 360: Text Autofit Improvements Rise 360 3 Insights About How Rise 360 Courses Work with Screen Readers Rise 360: Our Accessibility Journey Rise 360: How to Design an Accessible Course Rise 360 Supports Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Rise 360: Choosing Accessible Components to Create Online Learning Articulate 360: How to Add Alternative Text to Images Rise 360: How to Add Closed Captioning to a Video Rise 360: How to Add Tables to Your Course Rise 360: How to Customize Text Labels Rise 360: Keyboard-Accessible Navigation Webinars What is Accessible E-Learning? Unlock the Secrets of Accessible E-Learning My Course Isn’t Accessible! Now What? How to Write Alt Text for E-Learning How to Create an Accessible Drag-and-Drop Interaction in Storyline 360 How to Create Accessible Courses with Articulate 360 Beginner’s Guide to NVDA and Storyline for Accessibility Testing Accessibility in Online Workplace Learning 5 Things You Need to Know About AccessibilityEngineering Journal: Storyline Accessibility Survey Summary
Hello everyone, I'm Ronnie Pilman, Senior QA Engineer II and Accessibility Lead for Storyline at Articulate. Our Storyline team wanted to learn more about your accessibility needs, so we conducted a survey in April 2024. We really wanted to know the accessibility areas that you think require our attention and what we could do better to help you and your learners. We received 139 insightful and helpful responses! Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. Many respondents shared positive experiences and noted the significant improvements that have been made over the years. The introduction of accessible styles and other enhancements has been well-received, and users appreciate our ongoing commitment to accessibility. Your detailed feedback is invaluable, and I'm excited to share the findings and our next steps. Survey Results Accessible Course Creation Our survey revealed that over 96% of respondents are required to create accessible courses, either due to legal requirements or personal commitment to inclusive design. This underscores the critical importance of accessibility in e-learning. 101 (73%) respondents answered yes 33 (23.9%) respondents answered, “Not really, but I care about creating accessibility courses.” 4 (2.9%) respondents answered no We were curious to find out what accessibility guidelines you use to validate your courses, and we learned that: 117 (86.7%) are using the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 61 (45.2%) are using Section 508 21 (15.6%) answered with other options 13 (9.6%) are using the European Standard for Digital Accessibility (EN 301 549) We also asked where you go to find help or information about creating accessible courses: 80 (60.2%) go to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) 70 (58.6%) come to our E-Learning Heroes Community 60 (45.1%) check out our Support Knowledge Base 53 (39.8%) responded with other options 40 (30.1%) watch webinars from our Articulate 360 Training team 25 (18.8%) get help from Deque We asked if you work with third-party accessibility vendors to certify that your courses comply with accessibility standards: 109 (79%) responded no 19 (13.8%) respondents said yes 10 (7.2%) use internal resources or other options Storyline and Accessibility Our first set of questions were designed to help us better understand how you create accessible courses. Next, we turned our focus to Storyline and your thoughts on using it to create accessible courses. When asked how you would describe the accessibility features in Storyline: 100 (73.5%) respondents answered “Average” 21 (15.4%) respondents answered “Excellent” 11 (8.1%) respondents answered “Unacceptable” 4 (2.9%) respondents answered “Other,” with most replies saying they rank it between “Excellent” and “Average” On a scale of 5 being very easy and 0 being very difficult, we asked you to rate your experience using Storyline to create accessible courses: With 5 being above average and 0 being below average, we asked how Storyline's commitment to accessibility compared to that of other e-learning products: Diving a bit deeper, we asked if Storyline’s ability to create accessible courses met your expectations: 74 (54.4%) said no 62 (45.6%) said yes While we found that many of you appreciate the accessibility features currently available in Storyline, we did see a strong call for further improvements and simplifications. You expressed the need for a more streamlined process for creating accessible content and for additional educational resources to better understand the available settings and their impact. What You Asked For Here are the most commonly asked for features and improvements: Accessibility Checker: Authors emphasized the importance of having a built-in tool that identifies missing alt text, captions, and other common accessibility issues. This tool should also provide suggestions for improvements and ensure compliance with WCAG standards and help authors ensure their content meets accessibility standards before publishing. Color Contrast Tools: A built-in color contrast checker that evaluates color combinations to meet accessibility guidelines was frequently requested. Inaccessible Interactions: Interactions such as drag-and-drop and Likert scale questions were frequently mentioned as problematic. Authors want these features to be inherently accessible or to have accessible alternatives available. Focus Order Management: The current focus order tool is seen as cumbersome, especially for complex designs. Improvements in this area would significantly enhance the user experience, making it easier to create accessible content efficiently. Authors want an improved interface that allows for easier reordering and customization of the focus sequence. Suggestions included making the focus order panel resizable and allowing for batch editing. Automated Features: Automatic generation of subtitles, alt text, and audio descriptions for videos were highly requested. Authors also want better tools for managing captions and transcripts, including the ability to place captions at the top or bottom of a slide on a slide-by-slide basis. Updates Since April In Update 90, we released Screen Reader Support for Tables. Tables now have built-in screen reader support, so learners with visual disabilities can easily explore them and know exactly where they are. We’ve added a new Accessibility group in our E-Learning Heroes community where e-learning professionals can discuss all things accessibility. Check out the Storyline 360 Version History for more accessibility fixes and enhancements. What’s Next We’ve already started work on an Accessibility Checker for Storyline, check out the Articulate 360 Roadmap! We are committed to continuous improvement and making Storyline a more accessible and user-friendly tool for all. Your feedback is crucial in guiding our efforts, and we are dedicated to addressing the areas highlighted in this survey. And make sure to join us in our E-Learning Heroes Accessibility group as we continue this conversation!6 Best Practices for Designing Accessible E-Learning
If you’re struggling with creating e-learning that meets the highest standards of accessibility, we’ve got the e-book for you. In this free guide, we’ll walk you through the many choices you’ll need to make to design courses that meet popular accessibility standards, such as Section 508 and WCAG. You’ll learn: What accessibility means in the e-learning setting How to make sure your course can be navigated with keyboards What needs to be included in your alt text How to order images and text on screen for clarity The best way to create highly-usable course navigation What to consider when you’re including audio and video in your course Great ways to make sure your screencasts are totally accessible And you’ll get a handy list of do’s and don’ts you can can refer to any time.Before-After: Accessibility Makeovers in E-Learning #466
E-Learning Accessibility Makeovers #466: Challenge | Recap Pop quiz: What do you think is the most asked question by course designers in our weekly trainings? Okay, other than "Is this session being recorded?" If you guessed anything about accessibility, you're correct. Anytime we show a feature, demo, or example, one of the first questions is usually about how it meets accessibility guidelines. Ideally, accessibility should be considered right from the start of the course design process. However, many courses, examples, and demos were initially built with more focus on design and interaction than accessibility. That's okay because you can always return and ensure those older projects meet accessibility guidelines. And that's what this week's challenge is all about. 🏆 Challenge of the Week This week, your challenge is to share a before-after example that reworks a short project to make it more accessible. If you’re just getting started with accessibility, start with something simple like making text accessible with alt text or ensuring a color contrast ratio of 4.5:1. You can work on a single slide or multiple slides. If you don't have your own projects, you can use slides from the Content Library or our downloads hub. The goal is to practice making courses more accessible. Inspiration Check out last year's accessibility makeover challenge for examples: Accessibility Makeovers #417: Challenge | Recap 🧰 Resources Looking for more information on designing accessible e-learning? The following resources are chock full of practical tips for getting started with the accessible features in Storyline 360 and Rise 360. Webinars What is Accessible E-Learning? 5 Things You Need to Know About Accessibility How to Create Accessible Courses with Articulate 360 Articles For even more on accessibility in e-learning, you can find all our best content in this series: All About Accessibility User Guides Articulate 360 FAQs: Accessibility How to Test Storyline 360 Content with a Screenreader Storyline 360: How to Design an Accessible Course 🙌 Last Week’s Challenge: Before you get started on your accessibility makeovers, check out the creative ways your fellow course designers reworked classroom activities for e-learning: Converting Classroom Activities to E-Learning #465: Challenge | Recap 👋 New to the E-Learning Challenges? The weekly e-learning challenges are ongoing opportunities to learn, share, and build your e-learning portfolios. You can jump into any or all of the previous challenges anytime you want. I’ll update the recap posts to include your demos. Learn more about the challenges in this Q&A post and why and how to participate in this helpful article. 📆 Upcoming Challenges Challenge #467 (06.28): Using 360° images. See challenge #337 for examples. Challenge #468 (07.05): Drag-and-drop interactions. This will be a general drag-drop challenge, so you can share anything you like.13 Examples of Accessibility Makeovers in E-Learning #466
E-Learning Accessibility Makeovers RECAP #466: Challenge | Recap This week’s challenge asked course designers to show how they update e-learning projects to meet accessibility guidelines. Jonathan Hill Example | Jonathan Hill | Website | @DevByPowerPoint Jodi M. Sansone Example | Download | Jodi M. Sansone | Website | @jodimsansone Thierry EMMANUEL Example | Thierry EMMANUEL | Website Jesse Wu Example | Jesse Wu | Website Samuel Apata Example | Samuel Apata | Website | @afrostem Jared Speight Example | Jared Speight Jayashree Ravi Example | Jayashree Ravi | LinkedIn Angela Thomas Example | Angela Thomas Ron Katz Examples: Before and After | Ron Katz | Website Ashi (Neha) Tandon Examples: Before and After | Ashi (Neha) Tandon | Website | @ashi_tandon Chloe Okura Examples: Before and After | Chloe Okura | LinkedIn Kate Golomshtok Examples: Before and After | Kate Golomshtok | Website Ange CM Example | Ange CM New to the E-Learning Challenges? The weekly challenges are ongoing opportunities to learn, share, and build your e-learning portfolios. You can jump into any or all of the previous challenges anytime you want. I'll update the recap posts to include your demos. If you have a blog, please write about your challenge example. I'll add links to your blog post so your examples get even more exposure. And for those who share your demos on Twitter or LinkedIn, please include #ELHChallenge so your network (and Articulate!) can track your e-learning coolness. Share Your Accessibility Makeover E-Learning Examples! The 2024 accessibility makeover challenge is still open! If you have one or more ideas you'd like to share, please jump over to the original challenge and post your links in the comments section. I'll update this recap page to include your examples.Get More Insight Into How Articulate 360 Apps Meet Accessibility Standards
When you want to ensure your e-learning works well for every learner, accessibility standards give you benchmarks to aim for. That said, it’s not always easy to know how these general guidelines map to actual app features and settings. That’s where the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) comes in. Companies use this document to share how their apps meet specific accessibility standards. And the practical insights in VPATs can help you explore the capabilities of the apps you use now and those you’re considering using in the future. VPATs have been available for Storyline 360, Rise 360, and Reach 360 for some time. Our recent updates, though, have made these documents even more useful for you! Here’s a peek at what’s new: EU guidelines: We originally developed our VPATs with US accessibility standards in mind. But to meet the needs of more customers outside the US, we’ve expanded these reports so they also align with EN 301 549 guidelines—the European standard for digital accessibility. WCAG AAA criteria: This is the highest level of accessibility conformance in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). In a previous update, we added the AAA criteria to the Storyline 360 VPAT. And we’re now delighted to include this information in the Rise 360 and Reach 360 VPATs too. WCAG 2.2 criteria: A recent update to the WCAG standards added exciting new success criteria. As a result, we've updated our Rise 360, Storyline 360, and Reach 360 VPATs with this information as well. That way, it's easier for you to understand how to use our apps to address these accessibility expanded recommendations. VPAT accessibility: We’ve also enhanced the accessibility of the VPATs themselves by shifting to more readable font sizes and colors. Whether you’re aiming to meet US or EU accessibility guidelines or are just looking for more insights into how our apps can help you craft truly accessible e-learning, these updates have a wealth of information to offer. Want to create accessible e-learning but don’t have Articulate 360? Start a free 30-day trial. And subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest product updates, e-learning examples, and expert advice sent directly to your inbox. If you have questions, please share them in the comments.
