Elearning accessibility and alternatives to closed captions

Accessibility features are becoming more and more important in the elearning landscape. An important part of making your elearning accessible to people with hearing disabilities or non-auditory learning styles is to include features such as closed captions. However, the little black bar of text at the bottom of your screen might not be what you want for your module. In the past, here are two more options we have used to provide a text-based version of the audio to learners who prefer reading to listening.

1. Accessibility document

This is the most basic form of elearning accessibility – creating a basic text document of the audio script and attaching it to your elearning module. You probably already have this document on hand from having to create one to send to recording. This allows the learner to download the script if necessary and doesn’t clutter up the elearning module screen with extra text. This is also useful for visually impaired learners using a screen reader.

However, if the learner wants to follow along with the script at while the audio is playing, they may not be able to view both the document and the elearning on the same screen at the same time.

2. Placing the script in the Notes section

In the Storyline player, one of the default player tabs that you can make available is the Notes section. This is normally located in the sidebar.

If you want to rename the Notes section to something else, such as Script in this case, you will have to change it from the Text Labels section in Player Properties, in the Notes tab line.

If you make this tab available, it will populate with whatever text you have placed in the Notes tab on the main screen, which is next to the Timeline and States tabs.

Once you have put the audio script for that slide in the Notes section, it will appear on the left sidebar of the elearning module if the learner has it open:

This is convenient, clean, allows the learner to choose if they want to have the script visible, and makes the part of the script relevant to the slide viewable at the same time as the elearning content. It is also less time-consuming to do than standard closed captions, even with the Storyline closed captions editor.

For more about making your elearning accessible for all learners, keep watching this blog, or contact us to see how we can improve the accessibility of your elearning!