Multiple Accessibility Issues in Captive 9 HTML5 preview and HTML 5 output

Report · Jan 27, 2017

Hello,

I am having multiple accessibility issues in captivate. I am wondering how others handle these accessibility issues and if there is a someone at Adobe that I can contact who has knowledge of accessibility and 508 regulations.

I am having problems with the NVDA screen reader only reading items when you hover over them with a mouse. AND on the quiz slide the screenreader only reads the questions, not the answers.

Also, the tabbing functionality is not working on the quiz slides even though have made adjustments in the publish settings.

I have three questions:

Is the best course of action to just create an alternate accessible version in another format such as PowerPoint? Is this what most people do?
Are these known issues? I have researched and found that others seem to be having problems as well, but yet when I read the information on the Adobe Site, it seems to state that Captivate is easily accessible and doesn't acknowledge any known issues?
Who can I contact at Adobe that has in depth knowledge of accessibility and 508 compliance?

THANKS for your help!!

Report · Jan 27, 2017

First issue with hovering - is the text in a text caption or is it inside another object? If it's just in a text box, are you launching the project in a browser? If so which one?

As far as the two issues with quiz slides - the screen reader is only going to read the question because the answers are radio button based objects that must be triggered by specific key board shortcuts.. In order to read the answer choices once you have tabbed to the question, you can only access the answers (radio button objects) by using the up and down arrow keys. You can only select the answer by pressing the space bar, then you can tab out of the selection to the submit button.

Yes, the captivate based quiz slides are a royal pain to use, but they do meet accessibility standards as long as you provide the users with the specific instructions on how to navigate them. Better yet, however, is to follow the lead of many and create your own question slides to make navigating and selecting consistent throughout the project. In our case, the LMS and registration systems we're using have a powerful and intuitive testing program we can customize to fit the needs of each client. We are using that rather than continuing to struggle with Captivate based quizzes and the headaches they can cause users.

Report · Jan 27, 2017

Thank you for all of this helpful information; I really appreciate it! This accessibility issue has really been STRESSING ME OUT, and no one seems to know the answers, so it so refreshing to hear from someone who understands the issue.

I am using text boxes and I also unchecked the "Hide selection rectangle for slide items in HTML.

(It is also not reading the altext on images either unless I hover over them.)

I am not sure which browser I was using, I know I tried more than one; is there a particular browser that that works best with Captivate and Screen Readers.

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

Report · Jan 30, 2017

Based on what you've said about all objects and accessibility, it may be the settings you have in your screen reader are what's creating the interaction requiring hovering to access the text or alt text. Check the NVDA 2016.4 User Guide - specifically look at #5 and # 6. Check the guide and then see what settings the reader is defaulting to.

Good Luck - I know it's frustrating at times to deal with screen readers, but when you figure out how they work, it makes designing for accessibility much clearer!