Storyline 360: Adding Audio
In this user guide, we'll explore several ways to add audio to Storyline 360 courses. Choosing Default Playback and Recording Devices Importing Audio Files Recording Narration Converting Text to Speech Adding Background Audio Controlling Background Audio With Triggers Using the Background Audio Volume Variable Importing Slides from Other Content Sources Making Audio Accessible Create Sound Effects with AI Assistant Add a layer of realism to your audio content with AI-generated sound effects. Learn how to use AI Assistant to level up your course authoring game. Choosing Default Playback and Recording Devices Before you import or record narration, you'll want to choose your default playback and recording devices. Go to the Insert tab on the Storyline ribbon, click the Audio drop-down arrow, and choose Options. Select a speaker for your default playback device. Select a microphone for your default recording device and set your recording volume. Click OK to save your changes. Importing Audio Files First, do either of the following: In Slide View, go to the Insert tab on the ribbon, click the Audio drop-down arrow, and select Audio from File or Media Library. Or, simply drag an audio file from your computer and drop it on your course slide. In Form View, go to the Question tab on the ribbon, click the Audio drop-down arrow, and select Audio from File or Media Library. Browse to the audio file you want to insert and click Open. Storyline 360 supports these file formats: AAC AIF AIFF M4A MP3 OGG WAV WMA Tip: If you import an audio file without captions, AI Assistant prompts you to generate them automatically. Click Generate Captions to create captions for your audio. To generate captions automatically next time, check the box to Remember my choice for future imports. You can adjust this preference anytime from the Features tab on the Storyline Options window. Recording Narration First, do either of the following: In Slide View, go to the Insert tab on the ribbon, click the Audio drop-down arrow, and select Record Mic. In Form View, go to the Question tab on the ribbon, click the Audio drop-down arrow, and select Record Mic. The Record Microphone window opens. If you have a script you want to use, click the Narration Script button, which reveals the text from the Notes panel. (Learn more about adding slide notes.) When you're ready to begin recording, click the red Record button. When you've finished recording, click the Stop recording button. You can preview your recording using the Play/Pause and Rewind buttons. If you need to record your narration again, just click the Record button to start over. If you want to delete your narration altogether, click the Delete button. Tip: Generate captions for your audio recordings with AI Assistant to boost accessibility. If you change your mind about recording narration and would prefer to import audio instead, click the Import audio file button. Browse to the audio file you want to insert and click Open. If you want to edit the audio you just recorded, click the Edit audio button to launch the built-in audio editor. Learn more about editing audio. Click the Save button to add the newly recorded audio to your project. (Also, be sure to save your overall project file to retain the changes you just made.) Converting Text to Speech Speed up course development by converting text to speech right in Storyline 360. For example, use the text-to-speech feature to quickly narrate a course for stakeholder review or to localize narration in different languages. You can even choose the voice and language to make sure every word sounds right. In Slide View, go to the Insert tab on the Storyline ribbon, click the Audio drop-down arrow, and choose Text-to-Speech. When the Insert Text-to-Speech window appears, select a Language from the first drop-down list. This ensures that your words are spoken with the correct pronunciations. Then choose a Voice from the second drop-down list. You can hear what a voice sounds like by clicking the Preview Voice button next to the list. Type or paste your script into the text-entry field. Or, if you want to use your slide notes as your script, just click the Copy from Slide Notes button. Tip: You can convert up to 10,000 characters at a time. If your script is longer than that, break it into smaller chunks and generate more than one text-to-speech audio clip. Then place the audio clips back to back on the timeline so they play in sequential order. If you'd like to add closed captions to your text-to-speech narration, mark the Generate Closed Captions box in the upper right corner. Learn more about text-to-speech closed captions. Click Insert to complete the process. Storyline 360 will convert your text to narration, and it'll appear as an audio clip on the slide's timeline. The conversion process is fast, but lengthy scripts will take longer to convert. Learn more about working with text-to-speech narration. Adding Background Audio Set the right tone for your course with a background playlist that keeps learners engaged. Learners can toggle background audio on and off as they prefer. Here's how to add background audio to your course. Go to the Insert tab on the Storyline ribbon and click the Audio drop-down arrow. Then hover over Background Audio and choose Create Playlist. When the Background Playlist window appears, click the plus sign drop-down arrow, and select Audio from File or Media Library to upload your audio. Learn more about background audio. Controlling Background Audio With Triggers As of November 2023, you can control the background audio for each slide using triggers to play, pause, or stop the playlist. For example, you might want the audio to play when learners click a button. Here's how to create a background audio trigger. After you've added background audio, click the Create a new trigger icon in the Triggers panel, or go to the Insert tab on the ribbon and click Trigger. Select a media action (play, pause, or stop), then fill in the related parameters, such as the playlist and object. Choose when you want the action to happen. Optional: You can add conditions to your trigger so it only occurs in certain circumstances. Note: If you pause or stop the background audio and then jump to another slide, the background audio won't play on that slide. If you want the background audio to play on another slide, create a trigger that plays the background audio when that specific slide's timeline starts. Using the Background Audio Volume Variable As of November 2023, you can customize the background audio experience even further. Fine-tune the volume with this built-in percentage-based variable: Player.BackgroundAudioVolume : The volume of the background playlist in percentage Using the background audio volume variable is easy—it works like any other variable in Storyline 360. Learn more about working with variables. Importing Slides from Other Content Sources When you import slides into Storyline from Microsoft PowerPoint, Quizmaker, or other Storyline projects, audio resources from the external content are also imported and available for editing. You can also import Engage interactions, but their audio resources can't be edited in Storyline 360. Making Audio Accessible Audio accessibility helps make learning inclusive and understandable for everyone—especially for those who are deaf or hard of hearing, have cognitive disabilities, or don’t speak the course language fluently. The following tips can boost your audio accessibility: Enable playback speed control. Let learners explore content at their own pace with an adjustable playback speed. They should be able to slow down or speed up audio as needed. (1.4.2 Audio Control). Use closed captions. More learners can fully engage with and comprehend audio content when you provide closed captions. And in Storyline 360, you have options! You can import captions, create your own, or let AI Assistant generate them for you automatically. Position captions at the top or bottom of your slides and customize the foreground and background colors to maximize readability. (1.2.2 Captions [Prerecorded]). Provide text transcripts for audio content. Include spoken dialogue, speaker identification, and meaningful non-speech sounds so all learners can fully access and understand the audio. To display transcripts, you can use text boxes, layers, markers, or slide notes (1.2.1 Audio-only [Prerecorded]). Keep your language simple. Use plain language in your audio content and descriptions. Straightforward and clear language helps your audience easily read and understand the information. Reduce distractions. Enable the background audio toggle to give learners the option to mute any background tracks. This helps learners stay focused and lets assistive technologies navigate content more effectively. The “Lower background audio volume when slide audio plays” setting is enabled by default to support accessibility. (1.4.2 Audio Control) You Might Also Want to Explore: Editing Audio Using the Audio ToolsStoryline 360: Choosing Player Features
Storyline 360 lets you choose which features and controls are included on your course player. You can add navigation buttons, a seekbar, a menu, and much more. To customize your player, go to the Home tab on the ribbon and click Player. When the player properties appear, the Features button is selected by default. Choose the options you want, as described below. When you make changes on the left side of the window, the preview area on the right will update to reflect your choices. Why are the features grayed-out? When the Menus & Controls option on the ribbon is turned off, most player features are automatically disabled and grayed-out. Only the course cover photo remains active when menus and controls are turned off. Turning off all player features gives your course a chromeless look, meaning your course won’t have a player at all. Learn more. To enable all features, switch the Menus & Controls option to On. Explore the following sections to learn more about customizing player features. Choosing Player Tabs Adding Custom Tabs Editing Custom Tabs Removing Player Tabs Rearranging Player Tabs Displaying Different Tabs for Different Slides Turning Off the Sidebar Choosing Features Choosing Player Controls Showing or Hiding Navigation Buttons Turning Off All Player Features for a Chromeless Design Saving Player Changes Choosing Player Tabs Use player tabs to display additional content in your course. Player tabs can be added to the sidebar or the topbar of your course player. Just mark the box for each tab you want to include. Menu Mark this box to add a menu or table of contents to your course. Learn how to customize the menu. Glossary Mark this box to add a glossary to your course player. Learn how to add terms and definitions to the glossary. Notes Mark this box to show your slide notes in the player. Learn how to add notes. Resources Mark this box to give learners supplemental resources. You can add file attachments, links to websites, or both. Learn how to add resources. Adding Custom Tabs In addition to the four built-in player tabs described above, you can also add your own player tabs. Custom tabs can display additional slide content or trigger actions (e.g., exit course). Here's how to add a custom player tab: Click the Add button (it looks like a blank piece of paper) below the list of player tabs. When the trigger wizard appears, fill out the following fields: Name: Enter a name for the tab as you want it to appear in on your player. Alignment: If you’re using the classic player style, use this drop-down list to choose where to display the tab. Choose Topbar Left or Topbar Right. If you’re using the modern player style, you won’t see an alignment field. Topbar tabs always appear on the side of the player opposite the sidebar. Action: Use this drop-down list (and the contextual fields that follow) to define what should happen when learners click your custom tab. For example, if you want to display content in a lightbox, select Lightbox slide, then choose the slide you want to lightbox. Learn more about triggers. When you're finished, click OK. Editing Custom Tabs To edit a custom player tab, just select it and click the Edit button (it looks like a pencil). When the trigger wizard appears, you can change the tab's name, location, and action. See above for details. Built-in player tabs can't be edited, but you can change their names. Learn more about customizing text labels. Removing Player Tabs To turn off a player tab, simply uncheck its box. To permanently delete a custom player tab, select it and click the Delete icon. (Built-in player tabs can't be deleted. They can only be hidden.) Rearranging Player Tabs You can position player tabs in the sidebar or on the topbar. And multiple tabs can be located in each area of the player. For example, you might add the menu and notes to the sidebar, while the glossary and resources are on the topbar. To move a tab from one location to another, select the tab name, then use the Up and Down buttons to move it to a different location on the player. The built-in player tabs can be added to the sidebar or topbar. Custom player tabs can only be added to the topbar. The location of topbar tabs is different in the modern and classic players, as described in this table. Modern Player Classic Player Topbar tabs are always on the side of the player opposite the sidebar. If your sidebar is on the left, your topbar tabs are on the right. And if your sidebar is on the right, your topbar tabs move to the left. And on small screens where there isn’t enough room to display topbar tabs, they’ll collapse into a drop-down menu represented by three dots. Click the dots to see your topbar tabs. You can have topbar tabs on both the right and left sides of the player. On tablets and smartphones, topbar tabs automatically collapse into the responsive mobile player. Click the menu icon (☰) to see your topbar tabs. Displaying Different Tabs for Different Slides By default, player tabs display for all slides in your course, but you can hide built-in player tabs on a slide-by-slide basis. Turning Off the Sidebar You can turn off the sidebar for your entire course or individual slides. You just need to disable the sidebar tabs. And if you're using the classic player style, you also need to turn off the logo. Here are the details. Modern Player Classic Player To turn off the sidebar for an entire course, disable all sidebar tabs or move them to the topbar. If your course has a logo, it won't show when all the sidebar tabs are disabled. To turn off the sidebar for an entire course, disable all sidebar tabs or move them to the topbar, and also turn off the logo. To turn off the sidebar for individual slides, enable the sidebar tabs that you want in the player properties, then disable the sidebar tabs in the slide properties for each slide where you want the sidebar to disappear. If your course has a logo, it’ll disappear on slides where the sidebar is turned off. To turn off the sidebar for individual slides, enable the sidebar tabs that you want in the player properties, then disable the sidebar tabs in the slide properties for each slide where you want the sidebar to disappear. If your course has a logo, it’ll still be visible when the sidebar tabs are disabled. If you want the sidebar to disappear completely, turn off the logo in the player properties. Choosing Features Below the player tabs, you can add a course title, logo, and cover photo. And you can choose where to display the sidebar. Title Mark this box if you want the course title to appear in the top left corner of your player. If you’d prefer not to display a title, uncheck this box. The title defaults to the name of your project file, but you can change it. Just edit the text in the corresponding field. (Changing the title won’t change the name of your project file; it'll only change the title that displays in your published course.) The maximum length for a project title is 80 characters. Sidebar A sidebar will appear in your published course if you include any player tabs in the sidebar or add a logo. If you don’t want a sidebar in your player, turn off all sidebar tabs and the logo. By default, the sidebar appears on the left side of your player, but you can move it to the right side of your player. Choose a location from the Sidebar drop-down. If you’re using the modern player style, you can collapse the sidebar by default, allowing learners to expand it when they need it. Mark the Sidebar starts collapsed box. (This option isn’t available for the classic player style.) Logo To add a logo to the top of the sidebar, mark the Logo box, then use the Click to add a logo link to browse for an image. You can also add alt text to your logo in the modern player so it's accessible to screen readers and other assistive technologies. If the visibility box is checked but there isn’t any alt text, screen readers will read the file name of the logo. If you’d prefer to hide the logo from screen readers altogether, uncheck the visibility box. For the modern player, the maximum height of the logo is 170 pixels. The width varies since the sidebar changes size to fit the learner's browser. Storyline will scale your image to fit the available space. (When you use the modern player, your logo won’t display on smartphones. Nor will the logo show when you disable all the sidebar tabs.) For the classic player, the maximum width of the logo is 200 pixels, and the maximum height is 220 pixels. If your image is bigger than these dimensions, Storyline will scale it to fit. (When you use the classic player, your logo won’t display on tablets and smartphones.) Cover Photo Consider adding an image to your course start page when learners use mobile devices or the first slide contains media. You can add a course cover photo in the modern player. Mark the Cover Photo box, then click the + Photo link to browse for an image. You can also add alt text to your cover photo so it's accessible to screen readers and other assistive technologies. If the visibility box is checked but there isn’t any alt text, screen readers will read the file name of the cover photo. If you’d prefer to hide the cover photo from screen readers altogether, uncheck the visibility box. To view the image, click the file name link to refresh the preview area on the right. If you prefer the image to fill the player frame, mark the Fill player frame box. Choosing Player Controls In the Controls area of the player properties window, mark the boxes for the controls you'd like to add to your player. Volume This displays a volume controller in the lower left corner of your player when learners view your course on desktop computers. The volume controller won't display on tablets and smartphones since they have their own volume buttons. Search This adds a search field to the bottom of the Menu tab. Learners can use it to search for text in your course. Since the search field is part of the Menu tab, it'll only appear in your published course if you've enabled the Menu tab. Captions This enables the closed captioning button at the bottom of the player. When the closed captioning button is enabled, it'll display when there are captions available on the current slide or layer. If no captions are available, the button will disappear. This is a visual indicator for learners so they know which slides have captions and which don't. When the closed captioning button is visible, meaning there are captions available on the current slide or layer, learners only need to click it to turn the captions on or off. Seekbar This adds an interactive seekbar to the bottom of your player. It's a good visual indicator of each slide's timeline. Use the corresponding radio button to choose how the seekbar behaves: Allow user to drag seekbar: This lets learners drag the seekbar to review content they've already seen or skip ahead. Seekbar is read-only: This locks the seekbar so learners can't rewind or skip ahead. Allow drag after completion: This locks the seekbar the first time learners view a slide. After that, they can drag the seekbar back and forth. We call this the conditional seekbar. Learn more. Pro Tip: By default, the seekbar is enabled or disabled for the entire course, but you can show or hide it on a slide-by-slide basis if you prefer. Play/Pause This option is only available for the modern player style. It adds a play/pause button to the bottom of your player. The classic player style also has a play/pause button, but it’s combined with the seekbar as a single unit. When you enable the seekbar (above), the play/pause button is also enabled. When you disable the seekbar, the play/pause button is also disabled. Playback speed Let learners explore content at their own pace by choosing a course playback speed that's comfortable for them—between 0.25x and 2x. The course playback speed control is exclusive to the modern player style in Storyline 360. Accessibility controls Empower learners to personalize their learning experience according to their needs and preferences. When you enable the accessibility settings menu, a gear icon appears on the player, allowing learners to change the zoom mode, turn accessible text on or off, toggle keyboard shortcuts, and turn background audio on or off. The accessibility controls are enabled by default for new projects. They're disabled by default for existing projects and saved custom players. Learn more about these adjustable accessibility settings. Full-screen Add a player toggle to let learners view courses in full-screen mode. Full-screen toggle is currently exclusive to the modern player in Storyline 360. You can open, edit, and publish project files that use this feature in Storyline 3 and earlier versions of Storyline 360. In Storyline 3, the player returns to the classic style without a full-screen button; the modern player won't have a full-screen button in earlier versions of Storyline 360. Showing or Hiding Navigation Buttons Navigation buttons are automatically added to all slides. By default, content slides have previous and next buttons, and question slides have submit buttons. However, you can show or hide navigation buttons on a slide-by-slide basis. Turning Off All Player Features for a Chromeless Design You can turn off all player features for a chromeless look. Saving Player Changes When you click OK to close the Player Properties window, Storyline saves your player customizations in your project file. If you'd like to use the same customizations in other projects, click Current Player on the ribbon and choose Save. If prompted, enter a name for your custom player and click OK. Learn more about the Current Player options. You Might Also Want to Explore: Interactive Demo: Which classic player features are supported on tablets and smartphones?Storyline 360: Previewing a Course
Previewing is a great way to see the changes you've made to your course without publishing it. And with Storyline 360, previewing is easier and more powerful than ever. You can see how your course looks and behaves on any device and orientation with responsive preview options. Preview a Course Use the Preview Options Features Not Available During Preview Preview a Course To preview your entire course, do any of the following: Press F12 on your keyboard. Click any of the device icons on the responsive preview toolbar. Click the top half of the Preview button on the ribbon. Click the Preview icon in the lower right corner of the window (beside the zoom slider). To preview just a portion of your course, do any of the following: Press Ctrl+F12 to preview the current slide. Press Shift+F12 to preview the current scene. Press Ctrl+Shift+F12 to preview the selected scenes or slides. Click the drop-down arrow below the Preview button, then choose one of the preview options, as shown below. Use the Preview Options Use the buttons on the preview ribbon to do any of the following: Close Preview This closes the preview window and takes you back to wherever you were prior to previewing. Select This lets you preview a different slide in your course without closing the preview window. Replay This lets you replay your preview selection again. To preview a different portion of the course, click the drop-down arrow and choose one of the available options. Edit Slide This closes the preview window and takes you directly to the slide in your project that you were just previewing. Inspect This launches the built-in console. Device Icons Click any of the five device icons in the upper right corner of the screen to quickly switch your preview to another device or orientation, including: Laptop/desktop computers Tablets in landscape mode Tablets in portrait mode Smartphones in landscape mode Smartphones in portrait mode With Storyline 360, it’s super easy to see how your course will look and behave with the responsive player on any mobile device and orientation. Responsive Playback Properties Click the gear icon in the upper right corner of the window to open the Responsive Playback window where you can restrict which mobile device orientations learners are allowed to use. For example, if you build a course that works best in landscape mode and you don’t want learners to have a subpar experience by holding their mobile devices in portrait mode, just limit playback to landscape mode for tablets and smartphones. See this user guide for more information on responsive playback properties. Features Not Available During Preview Although most Storyline 360 content appears in preview just as it will after publishing, some features aren't available until you publish the course. Videos from websites, such as YouTube and Vimeo Web objects Engage interactions Full-screen toggle Email trigger Print-slide trigger Print results Hyperlinks may not work as expected during preview You Might Also Want to Explore: Interactive Demo: Which classic player features are supported on tablets and smartphones?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.
