how do I disable table of contents on certain slides?

[Vision Sound Creative]

I would like to keep the TOC clickable in certain areas and others not, like during a quiz. There must be an easy setting for this: during a quiz I do not want user to go back into course to review content. I would love to make to TOC go away altogether during certain slides, especially quizzes, but but that is unfortunately not an option, so I've been reading, especially when it is set to "separate."

I searched forum and could not find an answer for this.

Thanks, Chase

[RodWard]

There is a system variable called cpLockTOC

By default it is set to 0.  But you can use an Action to set it to 1 and that will render the TOC inactive (though still visible) so that any clicks on items there will not work.

[Lilybiri]

Indeed you only hide the TOC when it is in Overlay. Use the On Enter action for the slides where you don't want navigation by TOC to trigger the action: 'Lock TOC'. Since a couple of versions you don't need to toggle the system variable anymore. You can allow navigation again with 'Unlock TOC'.

[Vision Sound Creative]

Okay, thank you! Also, I am wondering if having the TOC is even an option for me. I am reading that the TOC is NOT 508 compatible. Is that true, and if so, is there a way to create navigation that is 508 compatible?

[RodWard]

Correct.  The TOC is not 508 compatible.

Navigation using interactive buttons is usually going to be your best bet for 508 compliance, but be warned that trying to make Captivate multimedia content completely 508 compatible is not likely to be possible unless you simplify it down to a page-turner course.  You are better advised to try to convince your client they should provide a text-based alternative in the form of a 508 compliant document that disabled users can navigate using screen reader software.

[Vision Sound Creative]

Thanks, Rod. This course is about 40 pages of text and audio. Very plain. I wanted a TOC to help give a an overview of the content. Other than than that it really is a page turner "click next" kind of thing. If i left the TOC in would that confuse 508 users? They don't have to use it, but for those who can it would be available. Client wants 508!

I also have closed captioning setup. And also the play bar skin for navigation. Are those too NOT 508?

[RodWard]

You need to check with your client about how stringent they intend to be about 508 compliance rules.  Whether you can get approval for Captivate content depends very much on how picky the people doing the certification process happen to be.  From what I'm hearing, most of them are not very reasonable at all.

I would definitely leave out the TOC and the playbar.  You'd need to have your own navigation buttons on the slides and all of these will need to be set up in the TAB ordering.

Forgive me for being pessimistic about 508 compliance but I hear a lot of stories about clients expecting the impossible and not giving an inch.  There is allowance in the accessibility standards for alternate text-based content, which quite frankly is a lot more practical for disabled users to navigate, but some clients do not seem to get the concept that mandating everyone (disabled or not) has to use the same content is NOT what accessibility is about.

[Vision Sound Creative]

would you say Lectora is better suited for 508 compatibility? I had no problems last time I used it for this. I don't recall if i had a TOC though. Why would a TOC be incompatible? Is this specific to Captivate? I would like to know if there is a workaround or a widget for this. I know Storyline is basically NOT meant for 508.

When you say "allowance in the accessibility standards for alternate text-based content, which quite frankly is a lot more practical for disabled users to navigate" do you mean simply adding alt text to buttons? Can I apply this to the TOC and see if client is okay?

[RodWard]

The TOC isn't currently capable of being controlled by tab ordering.  It's part of the skin, not the actual content and that creates a problem for compliance.  You need to be able to have a very predictable tab order for accessibility.

The alternate text-based content that I am talking about is creating an accessible MS Word document version of the multimedia e-learning content.  Basically you can easily create accessible documents with MS Word and Adobe Acrobat and these documents can be easily read and navigated by screen reader software.  Multimedia courses are a bit of a nightmare to try and make completely accessible and most tools simply cannot achieve it unless the content becomes basically little more than a text-based page turner course.

I have no idea whether Lectora is better.  I don't use it.  There is no widget to fix this issue.

[Vision Sound Creative]

Yes, this 508 is a major compromise. Forces course to become a simple slide show of text. I have done more interactive courses that were outputted to pdf for 508. Thanks, Rod.