In Case You Missed It (ICYMI): Accessibility Updates in Q2 2026
Welcome to our Q2 2026 update! This quarter continued our focus on supporting the creation of accessible training and improving the learner experience. From new capabilities for identifying accessibility improvements to refinements for screen reader users, keyboard navigation, and color contrast, these updates reflect our ongoing commitment to accessibility across Rise and Storyline. Our community continues to grow. We now have 970 members, an increase of 54 this quarter. We’re glad you’re here. Let’s take a look at what’s new this quarter! Highlights This Quarter This quarter's accessibility updates centered around three themes: Identifying accessibility improvements earlier Storyline Labs introduces an experimental Color Contrast Check that helps identify color contrast issues across an entire project, while updates to Rise theme colors ensure contrast is calculated correctly across supported theme elements. Giving authors more control Storyline now lets you choose which objects are visible to screen readers, giving you greater control over how your training is presented to assistive technologies. Improving the learner experience Across Rise and Storyline, we refined screen reader support, keyboard navigation, focus management, and question interactions to provide a more predictable experience for learners using assistive technologies. Together, these updates continue our focus on supporting accessible training and improving the experience for everyone who creates and completes it. Product Updates Rise Enhanced: To improve accessibility, we've globally applied WCAG 2.1-compatible contrast to theme color elements that previously had contrast calculated incorrectly. Enhanced: Improved screen reader focus behavior so that, after answering a knowledge check, focus moves directly to the next relevant content. Enhanced: Improved tooltip behavior so that only meaningful tooltips are displayed for interactive elements like the block selector and sorting activity. Enhanced: Preview now opens the entire course, with full navigation. Enhanced: The video player is now consistent across the app and provides a refined experience with better responsiveness on mobile devices. Storyline New: Easily control which objects should be visible to screen readers with a new accessibility toggle in the timeline. New: Storyline Labs is here! Access experimental features early from the Labs button in the File or View tab. Available in Labs: Color Contrast Check helps identify color contrast issues across an entire project using the accessibility checker. Fixed: Screen readers announced extra text when certain question types were used. Fixed: A trigger designed to fire with a user click incorrectly executed when using a screen reader. Fixed: Text-entry fields didn't follow the defined custom focus order during preview. Fixed: Windows Narrator read bulleted and numbered list items twice. Fixed: Screen readers didn't correctly announce nested list items in the Notes panel. Fixed: The accessibility checker incorrectly reported issues on screen recording slides where all objects were hidden from accessibility tools. Fixed: The focus order was incorrect for screen readers when the Transcripts tab was opened. Fixed: Drop-down question choices didn't display a scrollbar when the list couldn't fit all choices. Other Updates Updated Articles Storyline 360: Working with Buttons Rise 360: How to Use Process Blocks Rise 360: Our Accessibility Journey Storyline 360: Our Accessibility Journey Storyline 360: Working with Variables Storyline 360: Working with Triggers Storyline 360: Pick-One Questions Accessibility IndexRise 360 Q1 2026 Accessibility Updates
We recently posted a new update in the Rise 360 Accessibility Journey, highlighting some of the accessibility improvements and enhancements delivered during Q1. From the new and improved sorting activity to expanded audio support, this work reflects our ongoing commitment to building more inclusive learning experiences for all learners. The update also includes links to our revamped conformance reports and maturity plans for both Storyline and Rise. Accessibility is never a one-time effort, and we’re grateful for the feedback, insights, and conversations from this community that help shape our work. Do you have a Rise accessibility improvement or resource you'd like to see next? Let me know in the comments! Read the full update here: Rise 360: Our Accessibility JourneyiFrame video becoming a keyboard trap
We have several Rise tutorials that use YouTube content embedded using iFrames. Doing accessibility testing, we recently discovered that these become keyboard traps. Users can tab into the content and play it, but the standard guidance of using esc to navigate out of the video isn't working and tabbing through also doesn't seem to work. Does anyone have insight into what we need to do to make this content fully keyboard accessible? Has anyone else had this issue? Thanks!In Case You Missed It (ICYMI): Accessibility Updates in Q4 2024
Welcome to 2025! Since my last update, this accessibility group has grown by 61 members, bringing its total to 403 members. The first ICYMI edition was published on October 23, 2024, and established a foundation, but we can keep it short and sweet from now on. Product Updates: Rise 360 New: Immerse all learners in customizable interactive experiences with accessible scenario blocks that offer alternative text, screen reader support, and a visible focus indicator. New: Select the source course language when exporting your training for translation. Enhanced: Select the text of a hyperlink to apply formatting, including changing the color of the text. Enhanced: Line height and letter spacing are now available in the text formatting toolbar. Storyline 360 Enhanced: Expand your reach with a new AI text-to-speech model that supports Hungarian, Norwegian, and Vietnamese in addition to the 29 other languages already supported. Enhanced: You can now add text-to-speech narration and sound effects to markers. Fixed: Text alignment wasn't preserved in existing projects. Upcoming accessibility features: We've released Rise Accessible Drag-and-Drop Questions (Q1 2025, but released before posting this) and added Rise Math Equations. Current accessibility items on our feature roadmap include: Storyline Accessibility Checker Storyline Math Equations Rise Math Equations Updates in articles, documentation, resource center, or training: Refreshed: Storyline 360: Working with Hyperlinks New blog: What Is Section 508? A Quick Guide to Section 508 Compliance Upcoming webinar: Beginner's Guide to NVDA and Storyline for Accessibility Testing New entry in Storyline 360: Our Accessibility Journey - Accessibility Enhancements to Kick Off 2025Link Purpose not clear in topic heading in Menu
The purpose of the link is made unclear, this ensures users are unaware on where the link actually takes them. Using Jaws, the screen reader repeats the title of the module on menu as "Link: Title of the Menu". When we click on the Link, it takes us to the Home Page/Cover Page of the Course. Hence it should clearly mention that the link takes to the Cover Page of the course. This is an accessibility issue. Are there any way to make the screen reader say the exact location where the menu Title links takes the learner. Any solution to this appreciatedScreen reader focus placed at the bottom of new content
Hello! I perform accessibility evaluations for my organization and recently noticed a screen reader barrier than I had not seen in previous Rise 360 trainings. When completing a section within a module and selecting Continue, the screen reader focus is placed at the bottom of the content, making it appear as though no new content has loaded unless the user navigates backwards or to the top of the page and through all of the previously loaded content. This doesn't happen when hitting Continue to load more content within a section, only when completing one section and moving into the next. (I apologize for not knowing platform specific terms, I haven't built a course myself!) I'm wondering if anyone else has encountered this, and whether it might be due to one of the recent updates, since this was a training newly exported in the past week. Thank you to anyone who might know more!Wrong Aria label for Radiobutton groups in RISE 360
Radiobutton groups: The aria-label attribute is not allowed as the generic role; The paragraph element is not expected inside the radiogroup role. Steps to produce the issue for Radio button group: Find radiobuttons, open dev tools , launch ARC Toolkit and run tests. Are there any solution to correct the aria tagFocus is moving away from the dialog box in language selection page
The focus should stay in the first dialogue box but instead the screen reader is reading the content in the background. This is an accessibility issue. After Localization and publishing the course, when we come to the language selection page, the screen reader is reading the content of the main page (Heading of the course and topics of the course) instead of the language selection box. I tested the issue again with Jaws on Edge browser. The issue is there with Jaws.In Case You Missed It (ICYMI): Accessibility Updates in Q2 2025
Welcome to our Q2 2025 update! We’ve got plenty of progress and highlights to share because a lot can happen in just a few months. The group continues to grow, with 125 new members joining us this quarter, bringing us to 658 people who care about making things more accessible. That’s incredible, and we’re so glad you’re here. Let’s take a look at what’s been happening! Product Updates Rise 360 New: Articulate Localization launched! Instantly translate Rise 360 courses into 70+ languages with fully integrated AI translation. New: Generate text-to-speech audio and transcripts with AI Assistant. New: Insert audio in text, quote, statement, image, list, carousel, flashcard, tabs, and accordion blocks. Enhanced: Matching knowledge check blocks have been reworked to better reflect their original design while retaining full keyboard support and comprehensive screen reader integration. Storyline 360 New: Articulate Localization launched! Instantly translate Storyline 360 courses into 70+ languages with fully integrated AI translation. New: Insert AI-generated alt text for slide objects to improve accessibility. New: Improve the accessibility of your content. Get actionable feedback based on key WCAG guidelines to instantly identify barriers like missing closed captions and disabled course playback speed. New: Instantly generate high-quality captions for your audio and video content to boost accessibility. New: Enjoy more sizing options for the modern player. Lock the player size or let it adjust to learners' browsers. Enhanced: Create inclusive content from the start with a template that meets accessibility standards. Enhanced: Use the Esc key to close any window in Storyline 360. Enhanced: We improved the screen reader experience by adding a customizable player text label for the sidebar menu landmark. Fixed: NVDA screen readers didn't follow the correct focus order. Fixed: Closed captions showed up earlier than expected and could stack up on each other while using the seekbar. Fixed: Screen readers incorrectly announced some graphic elements despite their being invisible to accessibility tools. Fixed: Screen readers skipped some lightboxed content if the browser window was maximized or the system display scaling was set to 100%. Other Updates New articles AI Assistant in Storyline 360: AI-generated Alt Text Suggestion Storyline 360: Improving Experiences With the Accessibility Checker AI Assistant in Storyline 360: AI-generated Captions Storyline 360: New Project Accessible Template How E-Learning Redefines Accessibility for All Learners Rise 360 Accessibility Maturity Plan Storyline 360 Accessibility Maturity Plan Reach 360 Accessibility Maturity Plan Updated articles Storyline 360: Our Accessibility Journey Accessibility Index Training Reimagining Storyline Interactions for Accessibility and User Experience Register now: Create More Inclusive E-Learning with the New Storyline 360 Accessibility Checker
