508 Compliance

[DeePIN]

Which version  of Captivate do you recommend for 508 compliance?

[Paul Wilson CTDP]

All recent versions of Adobe Captivate are 508 compliant. All things being equal I would choose the latest version (9.0.2 presently). 

[DeePIN]

I am also looking for more documentation on 508 compliance. I would also like to find further documentation on how CP9 works with NVDA and JAWS.

[RodWard · Accepted solution]

Be aware that although Captivate CAN produce 508 compliant content, it usually means you have to severely limit what you can do.

In many cases course designers are finding the better option is to create a second version of the same content as a 508 compliant DOCUMENT in MS Word or Acrobat and offer that as a text-based alternative.  This is still allowed within the rules of 508, but then allows you much more freedom in what you can deliver with the multi-media version of the same content.  It also usually ends up being much quicker to produce.

However, not all clients seem to understand that the needs of disabled and enabled users will often conflict, and you may find yourself in the position where they insist that you only produce ONE version of the course and it MUST be 100% 508 compliant (which is practically impossible for a full multi-media course).  If that happens...you may be in for a rough ride.

[DeePIN]

Thank you for your insight Rod. This is the kind of info I was looking for.

[DeePIN]

Yes, they are yet they are not. Been running into a lot of difficulty with this.

[Allen_Partridge]

You might find this helpful. https://helpx.adobe.com/captivate/using/creating-accessible-projects.html

Creating compliant projects always requires a lot of smart choices and contributions from the developer. Ultimately nothing is compliant if you don't add proper descriptions / titles etc.

In addition to those problems, browser tech is constantly changing - so you end up with a lot of 'moving target' issues. What works in v1 of browser x doesn't necessarily work with v2 of that browser or some other. You are always better off to use the very latest versions to get the best results - but also expect some limitations. We do work constantly to keep syncing with the latest versions of all supported browsers - but keep in mind that still limits you to Chrome and IE for Windows, Safari for Mac.

Once you get to Mobile devices - the landscape (outside of mobile browsers) quickly becomes very wild, wild west.

There are also some things that are pre-configured to be compliant, and others that simply can't be. Drag and drop for example - so you might find a need to build special interactions or use other mechanisms to accommodate every need.

Hope this helps,

Allen