At Maestro, it’s important to us that we create—and help you create—meaningful user experiences. And part of that goal is ensuring that all users are able to utilize and enjoy the courses we design. So, we’ve made a list of the Rise components that are currently accessible so you can quickly identify and use them to reach your learners. Read on to learn more about accessibility in Rise and to see our up-to-date list of usable components!

What does it mean to be accessible?

When Articulate says it’s on an a11y mission, what exactly does that mean? Well, it’s pretty simple. A11y is an abbreviation for accessibility: the 11 stands for the 11 letters between the “a” and “y” in “accessibility.” So basically, Articulate is saying that they’re determined to become an accessible platform for all users. According to Articulate, they “want all learners to interact as fully as possible with the courses you create in Rise 360.” In fact, they describe accessibility as a “critical part of [their] roadmap.” But Articulate (and by extension, Rise) is fairly new to a11y. While they’ve made a lot of progress, there are still some remaining gaps. The biggest gaps? Screen readability and keyboard accessibility.

When it comes to accessibility, it’s important that all components are able to be read with a screen reader. While Rise does support screen readers such as NVDA, JAWS, Talkback, and VoiceOver, they’re not fully supported. For example, screen readers aren’t able to read text that is within an image or underneath an image. Additionally, although some components are accessible by keyboard, not all interactions allow users to use a keyboard instead of using a mouse, which means that they aren’t fully accessible. Currently, drag-and-drops, sorting activities, and anything in an iFrame aren’t keyboard accessible.

Accessible components in Rise

So, what determines whether a component is accessible or not? Basically, if the component can be fully accessed by a screen reader and keyboard navigation then it’s accessible. To be sure that the components in our list are accessible via screen reader, we tested each of them using four different screen readers: NVDA, JAWS, Chrome extension, and VoiceOver.

Based on our assessments, here are the components that are currently screen reader and keyboard accessible

Text blocks
Statements
Quotes
Lists
Audio
Videos
Embedded links
Timelines
Accordions
Tabs
Labeled graphics
Knowledge checks
Buttons/button stacks

Though these components are accessible, it doesn’t mean they’re perfect. When selecting colors, text sizes, and more, it’s best to consider accessibility throughout the design process! We want to help you be successful in creating usable courses, so we’ll let you in on a little secret: our team has come up with some clever workarounds and tips to help you ensure that your creations are as accessible as possible. And you can read all about it here.

Accessibility is important

We’re thrilled that Articulate is on an a11y mission, and you should be too! When you spend time designing and creating a course, you should want all users to be able to use it. That’s where accessibility comes in. 1 in 4 people in the U.S. has a disability, so it’s vital that these users are considered in the development and design of learning courses. And we’ve got just the thing to help you get started! Our team has created an easy-to-read chart that allows you to quickly identify which components are accessible (as well as those that aren’t) all in one place. And the best part? It’s free! Click the download button below and get started creating accessible learning experiences today.