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 Storyline 360: Improving Video Accessibility with Audio Descriptions 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 AccessibilityDesigning for Everyone
Link to course: Designing for Everyone: Accessibility in Design is a Way to Express Care This was more challenging (learning opportunities) than expected for a number of reasons. Test revealed just how much more I have to learn. I look forward to feedback on ways to make it better and more accessible. I designed this experience to be useable with a keyboard and with a screen reader to align with the perceivable and operable principles of POUR (Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, Robust), established by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). It is a work in progress, not finished, because I learned a lot that needs to be considered and done for better accessibility. What was accomplished No content relies on color alone, animation alone, or a mouse alone. The slide content includes: Interactive elements with real controls Messages are available as text Focus Order follows visual layout (use the info icon on each slide to view the Focus Order) Accessibility is more than checking the boxes. It is about considering whether your design still works when the assumptions about users are removed. It is about Designing for Everyone. The Goal This project was designed to show how accessibility performs in the real world. The project aims to demonstrate outcomes, the same message, experienced through different access needs. It focuses on peoples’ experience with digital content. The Problem Many “accessible” examples stop at checklists. Here the focus is on how design decisions affect real users. This experience intentionally attempts to show both failure states and equivalent, accessible solutions. Key Design Decisions Screen reader friendly structure: Reading order is manually controlled. The message is real text. Alt text is used only when it adds meaning, decorative visuals are marked as decorative. Keyboard only interaction: Every interactive element is reachable using Tab, Enter, and Space. Visible focus states are always present. If content can’t be experienced without a mouse, we revisit before releasing.Elevate Your E-Learning by Prioritizing Accessibility and Usability
As an e-learning developer, you want to create content that engages learners and delivers on the learning objectives you worked hard to define. But what if that engagement and learning can't happen because of issues with accessibility or usability? In this article, you'll find out what accessibility and usability are and how you can apply the principles behind them to design courses that work better for all learners. Then, you'll get tips on reviewing and testing your courses to ensure they meet those standards. Let's get started! Understanding Accessibility Accessibility—also known as a11y—is the practice of making experiences work for everyone, regardless of their ability. In e-learning, accessible content means it's been designed for all learners to access—including those with auditory, visual, mobility, cognitive, or other disabilities. For example, using sufficient color contrast helps learners with low vision or color vision deficiency. Offering textual explanations for visual content is another common accessibility best practice. Focusing on web accessibility allows everyone to perceive, navigate, and interact with content. Guidelines—such as Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)—and laws—like Section 508 (United States)—provide guidance and ensure all learners can access online materials equally. Understanding Usability Usability in e-learning measures how easy content is to use and examines how users experience it. Content should be user-friendly, intuitive, efficient, and effective. For example, if learners must complete a quiz, they should be able to test their knowledge without encountering confusing errors or getting stuck and feeling frustrated with the process. The Nielsen Norman Group is a firm focused on improving the everyday experience of using technology. They've defined five key components of usability that can also be applied when creating e-learning courses: Learnability. Accomplishing basic tasks should be easy, even the first time a learner encounters a course. Efficiency. Barriers that prevent learners from completing courses efficiently should be removed. Memorability. Learners who revisit content shouldn't have to start from scratch. Errors. Encountering errors—and recovering from them—shouldn't derail learning. Satisfaction. Engaging with the content should be enjoyable and pleasant for learners. Benefits of Combining Accessibility and Usability Accessible content enhances everyone's experience. For example, closed captions and transcripts for accessibility not only help learners who are deaf or hard of hearing. They also allow those in a loud environment where audio can't be heard or in a public space that requires silence to access content. Captions and transcripts improve understanding for foreign-language learners as well. However, ensuring that your e-learning content conforms to accessibility guidelines like captioning and transcripts doesn't mean your course automatically provides a usable learning experience for all. Conversely, while usability centers user experiences, usable content isn't necessarily accessible to people with disabilities. For example, a visually stunning course might be engaging for some learners. However, if it uses colors and other visuals alone to convey information or move the learner through, the content won't be accessible to those with low vision or color vision deficiency. To ensure truly equal access to digital content, apply accessibility and usability practices in tandem during the course development process. Testing for Accessibility and Usability The best way to find out if the content you're creating is accessible and usable is to test it. If you're new to this process, you might feel intimidated. But don't worry! We'll introduce you to some trusted accessibility testing tools and give you tips for usability testing to get you started in the next section. Accessibility Testing Accessibility testing can be done with automated tools or manually—both of which have advantages and disadvantages. For the most optimal results, combine both types of accessibility testing. Automated Testing Automated accessibility testing tools scan content for accessibility issues. They're easy to run and don't require in-depth accessibility knowledge to detect minor problems. Examples of automated accessibility testing tools include: Deque axe DevTools® WebAIM WAVE® TPGi ARC Toolkit ANDI (Accessible Name & Description Inspector) While automated accessibility testing tools boost speed and efficiency, they don't catch all accessibility issues. They also sometimes report false positives or misunderstand accessibility requirements. Additionally, your results might vary depending on the testing tool. Manual Testing Given the limitations described above, automated testing can be a practical place to start but usually won't finish the job. Manually reviewing your published course one slide at a time offers the most complete results. If that sounds overwhelming, don't panic. We've got you covered! Here's a checklist of universal design basics for text, multimedia, images, and interactivity elements in e-learning: Accessible E-Learning Checklist. Examples include: Check the accuracy of automated tests. Ensure learners can easily navigate content—such as hyperlinks, alternative text (alt text), menus, and closed captions—with a keyboard and screen reader. Make sure your course has plain and inclusive language appropriate for your audience and provides accessibility instructions wherever user input is required. While manual testing requires you to learn about accessibility requirements and standards, it's the best way to ensure everyone can access your content. Here are multiple resources to support you on your accessibility learning journey: Articulate 360 Accessibility Index of Support Articles Storyline 360: How to Design an Accessible Course Rise 360: How to Design an Accessible Course How To Test Your E-Learning Course with a Screen Reader My Course Isn’t Accessible! Now What? Usability Testing Usability testing is conducted by real people who scan content for usability problems. You can improve your usability testing and boost accessibility at the same time by including people with disabilities and those who use assistive devices and technology when you recruit and engage usability test participants. For example, organizations like Fable connect digital teams with people with disabilities to do usability testing. Wrap-Up We hope this article inspires you to provide accessible and usable e-learning experiences for all learners. What did you find most interesting? Is there anything we missed? Let's discuss! Share your thoughts in the comments below. For more help creating accessible courses, check out these helpful resources: All About Accessibility Articulate 360 Training Videos About AccessibilityAI Assistant in Storyline 360: AI-generated Alt Text Suggestion
Alternative text (alt text) boosts accessibility by ensuring that learners who use assistive technologies can grasp the meaning of non-text objects. While adding alt text to a handful of slide objects sounds easy enough, it can quickly become daunting when you think about all the objects across a course. Fortunately, AI Assistant makes alt text generation effortless. Read on to learn how AI-generated alt text lets you create inclusive content with ease. Generate Alt Text from the Size and Position Window Generate Alt Text from the Media Library Generate Alt Text from the Accessibility Checker Generate Alt Text from the Size and Position Window Here’s how to generate alt text for non-text slide objects using the Size and Position window. Right-click the object you want to edit, then choose Accessibility from the context menu to open the Accessibility tab in the Size and Position window. Click the Generate alt text button to get an AI-generated alt text suggestion. When generating alt text for the first time, a pop-up window appears, confirming that you agree to have our third-party AI provider temporarily process your media. (Your media will not be stored, retained, or used to train AI models.) Click Yes if you agree, or No to cancel the action. To keep the pop-up window from reappearing, mark the box for “Don’t ask again.” To edit the suggested alt text, click on the text field. Click the Apply to all button if you want to use the same alt text for all instances of that object in your project. Click the Close button when you’re done. Generate Alt Text from the Media Library You can also generate alt text from the media library. Start by opening the media library using any of the following methods: In Slide view, go to the View tab and click Media Library. In Slide view, right-click the slide object and choose Show in Media Library from the context menu. When the Media Library window opens, do the following: Select the slide object from the list on the left. Click Generate alt text on the right to get an AI-generated alt text suggestion. To edit the suggested alt text, click on the text field. Click the Apply to all button if you want to use the same alt text for all instances of that object in your project. Click the X icon in the upper right corner of the Media Library window when you’re done. Generate Alt Text from the Accessibility Checker Storyline’s accessibility checker identifies accessibility issues in your project and collects them in one place. When combined with AI-generated alt text suggestions, the accessibility checker lets you find slide objects that don’t have custom alt text and fix them in just a few clicks. Start by opening the accessibility checker using either of the following methods: Go to the View tab on the ribbon and click Accessibility Checker. Click Accessibility Issues in the status bar at the bottom. Generate Alt Text Suggestions All at Once When the Accessibility Checker window first appears, you’ll be asked if you want to generate captions all at once for assets without custom alt text. Click Yes to begin the generation process, or No if you’d prefer to manually add or generate alt text asset by asset. To prevent the message from reappearing, check the “Don’t ask again” box before making a choice. If you select “No” with the box checked, the prompt still appears whenever you manually generate alt text, as we still need your permission to process the request. To reset, go to File > Storyline Options and click the Reset “Don’t Show Again” Prompts button under General. AI Assistant generates alt text suggestions in the background, so you can keep working on other tasks. To cancel the process, click the Cancel all button in the Accessibility Checker window under Custom alt text added in the All Issues tab. The generation progress will be shown in the same window. Once the process is complete, a message will appear in Storyline’s lower-right corner with a link to review all instances. Suggested alt texts are not applied automatically, allowing you to review them first to ensure they are accurate and relevant. Generate Alt Text Suggestions Individually If you don’t want to generate alt text suggestions all at once, follow these steps to find and fix missing custom alt text for individual instances. When the Accessibility Checker panel displays, follow these steps to find and fix missing custom alt text: Under the All Issues tab, click to expand the row for Custom alt text added. Select a line item, and then click the Generate alt text button on the right. Click Apply to save your changes. button in the Accessibility Checker panel Tips: You can add AI-generated alt text to any non-text objects in your slide except for audio. It works best for non-interactive, decorative elements such as images, characters, and icons. We don't recommend using AI-generated alt text for interactive objects such as buttons. Before you can add alt text to an object, verify that the box labeled Object is visible to accessibility tools is checked. (It should be checked by default.) Regardless of your content or authoring tool’s language, AI Assistant always generates alt text in English. Clicking the Close button or another slide object while AI Assistant generates alt text cancels the process. While AI Assistant generates high-quality alt text, you should review the output for accuracy.Storyline 360: Adding Tables
Use tables to structure text in Storyline 360. Tables communicate to screen readers how content is organized and provide context for learners, making tables valuable for accessibility. In this user guide, you’ll learn everything there is to know about tables in Storyline 360. Creating Tables Adding Text to Table Cells Turning the Header Row On or Off Banding Rows with Alternating Colors Applying Quick Styles to Tables Selecting Cells, Rows, and Columns Filling Cells, Rows, Columns, and Tables with Colors and Gradients Working with Borders Sizing Rows, Columns, and Tables Inserting Rows and Columns Merging and Splitting Cells Deleting Rows, Columns, and Tables Aligning Text in Table Cells Formatting Text in Table Cells Adding Hyperlinks Adjusting Cell Margins Using Scrolling Panels to Scroll Lengthy Tables Setting a Custom Focus Order for Table Cells Making Tables Accessible Creating Tables Here are three quick ways to add tables in Storyline 360: Create Tables in Storyline You can create tables from scratch in Storyline 360. Go to the Insert tab on the ribbon and click Table. Highlight the number of rows and columns you want, then left-click your mouse. Your table will automatically appear on the slide. You can add and delete rows and columns, add text, and format the table as you’d like. Import Tables from PowerPoint If you have tables in PowerPoint that you want to use, import them into Storyline 360 with all your text and formatting intact, then edit them as you’d like. View this user guide to learn how to import PowerPoint slides. Copy and Paste Tables from Other Sources If there are tables on web pages or in other programs, such as Excel, that you want to use, copy and paste them into Storyline 360. Highlight the table and press Ctrl+C to copy it. Then go to the slide in Storyline 360 where you want the table to appear and press Ctrl+V to paste it. After pasting the table into Storyline 360, you can edit the text and format it as you’d like. Adding Text to Table Cells You can add text to any cell by clicking in the cell and typing the text you want to display. You can also copy and paste text into cells. And you can insert variable references from the ribbon. To move from one cell to the next without using your mouse, click the Tab key on your keyboard. Tabbing through a table goes from left to right and top to bottom. You can also use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move around a table. Note: Tables don’t support images or other media. Turning the Header Row On or Off You can identify the top row of a table as a header row to make it stand out. Select the table, then go to the Table Tools—Design tab on the ribbon and mark the Header Row box. You can also turn a header row off by unchecking the Header Row box. Banding Rows with Alternating Colors You can quickly format tables with banded rows—alternating colors that help learners distinguish one row of data from another. Select the table, then go to the Table Tools—Design tab on the ribbon and mark the Banded Rows box. Or, uncheck the Banded Rows box to turn off color banding. When banded rows are enabled, you can control the colors with quick styles. Tip: When creating tables from scratch in Storyline 360, banded rows are enabled by default. Applying Quick Styles to Tables Format tables in a snap with Storyline 360’s gallery of ready-made table styles. Select the table you want to customize, go to the Table Tools—Design tab on the ribbon, and click a style from the Table Styles drop-down list. Tip: The color choices in the style gallery come from your theme colors. Selecting Cells, Rows, and Columns Here are tips for quickly selecting cells, rows, columns, or an entire table when you want to edit fill colors, borders, cell margins, alignment, and text. Select a single cell by clicking in that cell. Select multiple adjacent cells by clicking and dragging your mouse across them, or you can Shift+click several cells to select them all at once. Select an entire row by hovering your mouse outside the left edge of the row until your cursor changes to a black arrow, then simply left-click your mouse. If you left-click and drag your mouse up or down, you can select multiple rows at once. Select an entire column by hovering your mouse above the top edge of the column until your cursor changes to a black arrow, then left-click your mouse. If you left-click and drag your mouse to one side or the other, you can select multiple columns at once. Select an entire table by clicking its outside border. Filling Cells, Rows, Columns, and Tables with Colors and Gradients Quick styles are a great way to format simple tables, but you have complete control over the fill color of each cell in a table. Select the cells, rows, or columns you want to format, go to the Table Tools—Design tab on the ribbon, and use the Fill drop-down list to select a color or gradient: The default color swatches come from your project’s theme colors. Storyline 360 also provides 10 standard color swatches. No Fill removes all colors from the selected cells. Anything behind the cells will show through. Click More Fill Colors to define your own custom colors. Use the Eyedropper to select any color visible on your screen. Use the Gradient list to select a preformatted gradient or click More Gradients to open the Format Shape window where you can create your own gradient fill. Working with Borders To customize borders or outlines in a table, select the cells, rows, or columns you want to format, go to the Table Tools—Design tab on the ribbon, and follow these steps: Use the border style selector to choose the type of outline you want, such as solid, dotted, or dashed. Use the border width selector to choose a line thickness. Use the border color selector to choose a line color. (The default color swatches come from your theme colors.) Finally, use the Borders drop-down list to choose which borders in your selected cells should be updated with the style, width, and color you defined in the previous steps. You can repeat this step as many times as necessary to select all the borders you want to format. Borders that you format will be highlighted in the Borders drop-down list (see image below). To undo your border formatting, click any of the highlighted borders to turn them off. For example, let’s say you apply formatting to All Borders, then decide you don’t want columns to have vertical dividers. Click Inside Vertical Border to deselect it. This clears your column dividers but leaves your outside borders and row dividers intact. Tip: To completely remove all borders for the selected cells, click the Borders drop-down list and choose No Borders. You don’t need to select a style, width, or color. Sizing Rows, Columns, and Tables The quickest way to size a row is to drag its boundary up or down. And to size a column, drag its boundary left or right. Another way to change the size of a row or column is to click inside a cell, then go to the Table Tools—Format tab on the ribbon and adjust the Height and Width values in the Cell Size group. (Note that this method also adjusts the overall size of your table.) To evenly size rows or columns so they’re the same size, select the rows or columns you want to adjust, then click either Distribute Rows or Distribute Columns. Inserting Rows and Columns Here are three quick ways to add rows and columns to a table: Use the Format Tab on the Ribbon Add a row or column by going to the Table Tools—Format tab on the ribbon and clicking Insert Above, Insert Below, Insert Left, or Insert Right. To insert multiple rows or columns at the same time, select more than one row or column in your table, then use the buttons on the ribbon to insert rows or columns. Storyline 360 will insert the same number of rows or columns as you have selected. For example, if you select three rows in your table and click Insert Above, Storyline 360 will add three new rows to your table. New rows and columns will be the same size as the ones you selected before inserting them. Use the Right-Click Context Menu Another way to add a row or column is to select an existing row or column in your table, then right-click, scroll to Insert, and choose one of the options. To insert multiple rows or columns at the same time, select more than one existing row or column in your table, then use the buttons on the ribbon to insert rows or columns. Storyline 360 will insert the same number of rows or columns as you have selected. For example, if you select three rows in your table and click Insert Above, Storyline 360 will add three new rows to your table. New rows and columns will be the same size as the ones you selected before inserting them. Tab Past the Last Cell in the Table You can navigate through your table from cell to cell by clicking Tab on your keyboard. When you get to the last cell in the table and click Tab, Storyline 360 will add a new row to the end of your table. Merging and Splitting Cells Merging Cells To merge cells, select two or more adjacent cells, then go to the Table Tools—Format tab on the ribbon and click Merge Cells. You can also right-click selected cells and choose Merge Cells from the context menu. All the contents of the individual cells will be merged into one big cell. Splitting Cells Only cells that have previously been merged can be split. To split a cell, click in the cell to select it, then go to the Table Tools—Format tab on the ribbon and click Split Cells. You can also right-click a cell and choose Split Cells from the context menu. The cell will be split into the same number of cells that were previously merged. All the contents of the merged cell will appear in the first of the split cells. Deleting Rows, Columns, and Tables It’s easy to delete rows and columns. Select the rows or columns you want to remove, then go to the Table Tools—Format tab on the ribbon. Click Delete and choose either Delete Rows or Delete Columns. You can also right-click your selection and choose either Delete Rows or Delete Columns. To delete an entire table, click the border of the table to select it, then press the Delete key on your keyboard. Aligning Text in Table Cells Here are several ways to change horizontal and vertical alignment as well as text direction (rotation) and text orientation: Use the Format Tab on the Ribbon Select the cells, rows, or columns you want to edit and go to the Table Tools—Format tab on the ribbon. Use the options for horizontal alignment, vertical alignment, and text direction (rotation). Use the Home Tab on the Ribbon Select the cells, rows, or columns you want to edit and go to the Home tab on the ribbon. Use the paragraph options to change horizontal alignment, vertical alignment, text direction (rotation), and orientation (left-to-right or right-to-left). Click the arrow in the lower right corner of the Paragraph group to open the Paragraph window where you can set additional options, such as indentation and line spacing. Use the Mini Toolbar Select text in any table cell to reveal a floating mini toolbar where you can set several font-formatting options, including horizontal alignment. Use the Right-Click Context Menu Select the cells, rows, or columns you want to edit, then right-click and choose Format Shape from the context menu that appears. When the Format Shape window appears, select the Text Box tab on the left, then set vertical alignment and text direction (rotation). You can also set internal cell margins on this window. If you select text in a cell and then right-click, you’ll see a shorter context menu with Paragraph and Format Shape options where you can set alignment, indentation, margins, and more. Use Keyboard Shortcuts Quickly change horizontal alignment of text with these keyboard shortcuts: Ctrl+E = center alignment Ctrl+L = left alignment Ctrl+R = right alignment Formatting Text in Table Cells Here are several ways to format table text: Use the Home Tab on the Ribbon Select the cells, rows, or columns you want to edit and go to the Home tab on the ribbon. Use the font-formatting options to change the font, size, effects, colors, and spacing. Use the Mini Toolbar Select text in any table cell to reveal a floating mini toolbar where you can set several font-formatting options, including font, size, effects, color, and horizontal alignment. Use the Right-Click Context Menu Select text in any table cell, then right-click and choose Font. Then use the Font window that appears to change the font, style, size, colors, effects, and spacing. Use Keyboard Shortcuts Quickly format text with keyboard shortcuts, such as: Ctrl+B = bold Ctrl+I = italicize Ctrl+U = underline Click here for more font-formatting keyboard shortcuts. Adding Hyperlinks Hyperlinks can be added directly to the table as a whole, not individual cells or selected text. You can simulate hyperlinks for cells and text by adding hotspots where you need them and using the hotspots to trigger hyperlinks. Adjusting Cell Margins To change the internal margins for table cells: Select the cells, rows, or columns you want to edit. Right-click and choose Format Shape. Select the Text Box tab on the left side of the window that appears. Enter pixel values for the Left, Right, Top, and Bottom internal cell margins. Click Close to exit the window. Using Scrolling Panels to Scroll Lengthy Tables If you have a table that’s too long to fit on a slide, put it in a scrolling panel so learners can scroll to view the data. (Note: scrolling panels only scroll vertically, not horizontally.) And if you want the header row to always be visible, create a separate table with one row outside (above) the scrolling panel just for the header text. Here’s a published example of a table in a scrolling panel with a frozen header row. And here’s the project file if you want to see how it’s built. Tips for working with lengthy tables: It helps to build and format your table first, then drag and drop it into a scrolling panel. You can also create your table the way you want it in another program, such as Excel, then copy and paste it into Storyline 360. Setting a Custom Focus Order for Table Cells It’s important to set a meaningful focus order for learners with screen readers so they hear content in the order that makes the most sense. By default, the focus order for table cells goes from left to right and top to bottom. But you can create your own custom focus order for slide content, including tables. Go to the Home tab on the ribbon and click Focus Order. View this user guide for details. Tip: You can set the focus order for the table as a whole and also for each cell in the table, which means you can remove empty cells from the focus order altogether so screen readers will skip over them. Making Tables Accessible Tables in Storyline 360 are designed with an accessible structure so screen readers accurately announce rows, columns, and cell text. You don’t need to do any extra work to make your tables accessible to all learners.The best weigh to make an espresso
Hello! I like to mimic real-life machinery, dials, switches, and buttons in eLearning where it's appropriate. Sometimes learning by doing can be very literal. But these features can also impact #accessibility. In this week's coffee-themed demo, I have ensured the drag and drop, slider and dial interactions are also accessible from the keyboard. All of the vectors in this week's demo were 'handmade' in PowerPoint and Storyline using the 'merge shapes' feature. Most of my time was spent making sure the interactions perform as intended when the keyboard is used instead of a mouse. But I'm pretty pleased with the overall effect. What do you think? PLAY HERE
Storyline 360: Creating and Editing Closed Captions With the Built-in Editor
Create and edit closed captions and subtitles directly in Storyline 360 using the built-in editor. Fine-tune imported captions or quickly add new ones with placeholders that automatically sync with your audio and video content. As a bonus, Storyline 360 automatically generates synchronized video transcripts from your captions. Open the Closed Captions Editor Explore the Editor Understand Caption States Preview Media and Captions Tab Back and Forth Between Caption Placeholders Add or Edit Text in Caption Placeholders Speed Up Your Workflow for Adding Closed Captions Format Caption Text Use Keyboard Shortcuts Adjust the Timing and Duration of Caption Placeholders Insert New Caption Placeholders Delete Captions Split Captions Import Captions Export Captions Translate Captions Close the Editor and Save or Discard Your Changes Show or Hide the Closed Captioning Button on the Player Use Triggers to Turn Closed Captions On and Off Open 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. 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. Explore 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 Generate captions Export captions 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. Understand 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. Preview 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 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.) Tab 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. Add or Edit 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, press Enter. To resume playback, press Enter again. If you need to add a line break to a caption, press Shift+Enter. Speed 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, 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, 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. Format Caption Text Bold, Italic, and Underline: Closed captions in Storyline 360 can have bold, italic, and underline formatting. 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, Text Shadow, Font, Font Size, and Position: In the player properties, you can set the foreground and background colors, font, size, and position of your captions. You can also turn the text shadow on or off. 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. Use 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 Adjust 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. Insert 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. Delete 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. Split Captions You can split a caption into two placeholders when you need more control over timing and duration. 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. Import 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. Generate Captions If you haven’t prepared caption files to import, you can generate captions with AI Assistant. Plus, you can review and approve captions before publishing to ensure accuracy. Learn more about generating, reviewing, and approving AI-generated captions. Export 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. Translate 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. 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. Close the Editor and Save or Discard Your Changes To save your changes, click Save at the bottom right of the Closed Captions Editor window. To discard your changes, click the X in the upper right corner or click Cancel at the bottom right of the Closed Captions Editor window. Show or Hide 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. Learn more. Use 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. Learn more.Storyline 360: Importing Closed Captions for Narration and Videos
Enhance accessibility in your Storyline 360 courses for learners who are deaf or hard of hearing by importing closed captions for narration and videos. Insert standard SRT, VTT, SBV, or SUB files—or create captions and subtitles from scratch with the built-in editor. Prepare Caption Files Import Captions Delete Captions Export Captions Customize Your Closed Captions Show or Hide the Closed Captioning Button on the Player Use Triggers to Turn Closed Captions On and Off Create Closed Captions with AI Assistant Instantly generate high-quality captions for your audio and video content to boost accessibility. Learn how to use AI Assistant to level up your course authoring game. Prepare 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. Import 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, read 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. (Read 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. Delete Captions To delete existing captions, follow these steps: 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.) Export Captions To export captions from Storyline 360, follow these steps: 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. Customize Your Closed Captions You can set your captions’ foreground and background colors, font, size, and position, and turn the text shadow on or off. In the player properties window, click Colors & Effects on the ribbon, use the Closed Captions formatting options, then click OK to save and close. 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. Show or Hide 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. Use 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 by adjusting 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, consider turning 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.
