The following information is provided to help course content authors know what to avoid and what to be aware of when using Rise 360 or Storyline 360 to build courses.

Get help

• For help with using Rise 360 to author course content, visit Articulate’s support pages:

  • Rise 360: Technical Support
  • Rise 360: How to Design an Accessible Course

• For help with using Storyline 360 to author course content, visit Articulate’s support pages:

  • Storyline 360: Technical Support
  • Storyline 360: How to Design an Accessible Course

• To report an accessibility barrier in a specific course or training, please contact the group that offers the course or training, if known.

• Contact the DoIT Help Desk for general assistance.

Rise 360 accessibility and usability barriers

The following barriers are commonly found when testing courses made with Rise 360. Because every course is different, this is not an exhaustive list of the barriers a user may encounter.

Keyboard navigation may be difficult in certain content block types

Most Rise 360 content block types are keyboard accessible, except:

• Sorting activity
• Charts

Some elements may have low contrast focus outlines

Currently, Rise 360 does not enable course authors to use more than one accent color in a course. This accent color is used for many elements throughout the course, including buttons to load new content sections and submit answers to knowledge check questions. When course authors choose a dark accent color, these buttons may have low contrast with the black keyboard focus outline. 

Audio blocks do not support captions 

While course authors can import closed captions for videos, audio-only blocks do not support caption tracks.

All caps text may be more difficult to read

In any Rise 360 course, all buttons and tabs use all caps text, which could make them difficult to read for users with reading disabilities or low vision. The use of all caps text is a default style setting in Rise 360 that course authors cannot change.

Pros and cons of using Rise 360

Pros

Rise 360 streamlines the process of building course content and is generally easier to use than Storyline 360. Courses created in Rise 360 tend to be fairly accessible out of the box, but every course is different and should be evaluated for accessibility.

Cons

Rise 360 limits course authors’ ability to format and customize content. This lack of flexibility can be frustrating for course authors and can lead to accessibility and usability issues for learners.

Storyline 360 accessibility and usability barriers

The following barriers are commonly found when testing courses made with Storyline 360. Because every course is different, this is not an exhaustive list of the barriers a user may encounter.

Keyboard navigation may be difficult in certain content block types

Most Storyline 360 interactions are keyboard accessible, except:

• Drag-and-drop interactions
• Likert scale questions

Screen reader and keyboard navigation may be difficult depending on the course

To ensure accessibility for users who navigate via keyboard or screen reader, course authors must: 

• Check the Focus Order for each slide and adjust it as needed to ensure that content is read in the appropriate order, and that decorative shapes or objects are removed from the reading order.

• Write custom text labels as needed for buttons (and button states), error messages, screen reader instructions, player controls, and other interactive elements.

• Do not create interactions that rely on hover state to display information.

Pros and cons of using Storyline 360

Pros

Storyline 360 courses consist of multiple slides, similar to an interactive slide deck presentation. This format is extremely flexible, and the tool enables course authors to build complex learning scenarios and custom interactions. Because Storyline offers so many options for course creation, every course will be different and should be evaluated for accessibility.

Cons

Creating an accessible course in Storyline 360 will not happen by accident. Making Storyline courses accessible requires the author to understand accessibility beyond the basics of adding alt text to images and checking for color contrast. 

General guidance on creating accessible courses

As with any product used to create content, it is possible for course authors to create inaccessible content even when the platform allows for accessible content creation. 

To improve the accessibility of the courses and trainings you create, make sure that:

• Videos have captions and transcripts, as well as audio descriptions when needed

• Images have alt text

• Complex diagrams and infographics have both alt text and a longer text description, either directly in the paragraph text or linked

• Colors used meet WCAG color contrast standards (contrast ratio must be at least 4.5:1 for text, and at least 3:1 for graphics and interactive elements)

• Headings are used in order (for example, don’t skip from an H1 to an H3)