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A
abliss86
Participant
September 12, 2016
Answered

Removing widget breaks ability to tab through elements

  • September 12, 2016
  • 1 reply
  • 228 views

I've inherited a Captivate project that I need to go back and make changes to to make it 508 compliant (a.k.a. accessible for people with impaired hearing, sight, etc.)  One of the biggest complaints we got was the fact that there's no way to control the volume, so I went in and added the volume slider widget to the Master Slide.

This worked ok, until we were told that the volume slider widget wasn't accessible to screen reader software and we'd need another solution.  So I removed the slider and added two smart shapes to act like volume up/down buttons.  Unfortunately, apparently smart shapes are also not accessible to the screen reader, and what's worse is that removing the volume slider appears to have broken the ability to tab through non-interactive elements of the slides -- a key feature of accessibility.

Adding the slider back in seems to fix things, but this is a truly bizarre issue, and I don't want to be locked in to having this slider, since it's not 508 accessible.  Anyone know how I might go about removing it without breaking the rest of the project?  And, more importantly, do you know of any way to add volume control that is 508 compliant?

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer RodWard

I think your client might be "drawing a long bow" to suggest that their definition of control means you also need to have the volume of the audio controlled in the e-learning rather than, as you have noted, simply allowing the audio volume to be controlled by the device or PC on which it is viewed.

I tend to feel that most e-learning designers would be thinking "control" of the multimedia includes the ability to start playback, pause playback, resume playback etc.  Otherwise, could not control also be construed to mean keyboard actions should also be able to change the height, width, aspect ratio, brightness, colour, etc, etc.  Where is the limit?

At some point you have to draw a line and DEFINE what control actually includes or does NOT include. 

I have not personally seen any reference in 508 documentation relating to e-learning that specifically states it should include the ability to control audio volume.  That's why I asked for a reference link, just in case it's now become mandatory by some amendment to the laws.

I'd push back on this one.  Clients cannot always get everything they want just because they ask for it.

1 reply

RodWard
Community Expert
RodWardCommunity Expert
Community Expert
September 13, 2016

I'm interested to know which part of the 508 documentation requires this ability to control the volume of the audio via the e-learning itself and not just from the device playing it.

Are you able to post a link to where this is stated somewhere?

A
abliss86Author
Participant
September 13, 2016

According to them, the issue is "Ensure multimedia that plays automatically can be controlled".

Their solution is "Ensure that the audio can be controlled and that the control is keyboard accessible."

Seems excessive, as almost all computers nowadays can control their system volume via keyboard, but this is what they're telling us.

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