Adobe Captivate 3: 508 Compliant Image Buttons Are Possible...

by Kevin A. Siegel

If you have been tasked with creating 508 compliant eLearning lessons using Adobe Captivate, you already know that the process is easier said than done.

 

In addition to adding Accessibility Text to all of your slides, you'll have to add keyboard shortcuts to your interactive objects and add Closed Captions to those slides containing narration.

 

And then there's the issue of image buttons not containing alternative text...

 

Here's the deal... when inserting a button onto a Captivate slide, developers typically choose between two button types: image and text.

 

Text buttons are ideal if you need to be 508 compliant because the text you type for the button is what is read by a screen reader. Nice! Of course, the problem with a text button is, well, they're not exactly the best looking things. In fact, most people will agree that those simple gray buttons are down-right ugly.

 

As an alternative to a text button, many Captivate developers elect to use image buttons because just about any image can be used for the button.

 

The problem with an image button is that screen readers won't relay any useful information to the visually impaired student, rendering image buttons non-compliant. What's a developer to do? Read on...

 

1. Insert a text button (via Insert > Button)
   
   
2. Select Text button as the button type
   
   
3. Type the text you would like to be read by a screen reader into the Button text area
   
   
   
   
4. Click Apply (don't click OK, leave the dialog box open)
   
   
5. Select Image button from the Type drop-down menu and select your image button
   
   
   
   
6. Click OK
   
   There will be no obvious changes to your presentation. However, the text you typed into the text area will be read aloud by a screen reader, even though you switched to an image button.

---

Do you have a Captivate production problem that's making you pull your hair out? Email your problem and let others learn solutions from your experience.

 

---

 

Want to learn more about Adobe Captivate 3? Click here.

Comments

[Catherine Carver]

When implementing a 508-compliant Web course using Captivate, you can use closed captioning and accessibility text, and expect that blind users will have a screen reader. How much accessibility text do you recommend creating, and should it be used extensively (or minimally, or not at all) on every screen? Perhaps it is best to focus the use of accessibilty text at the start of a lesson, and then nominally throughout? This is a course on how to use a web interface for administrative tasks and regulations for a federal government agency. Thanks!

[Cathy Brown]

Hi,
We have in place a PDF toolbox interface for our users. The main interface links to many other PDFs so users can jump back and forth within the information. I selected PDF as the basis for the toolbox because much of the information is developed by subject matter experts in a PowerPoint template - then they email those to me. I output to the files to PDF and then link them all together.

I just bought bought Captivate and have made a few recordings in our proprietory software. My goal is to either 1) Import a .ppt file into Captivate and combine that with a recording while keeping the option to hyperlinking back to our main PDF screen, or 2) Launching a Captivate recording from a link in a PDF file.

I've tried all day to make one of these options work, with no luck. Please advise if you know how to pull this off. Thanks

[Anoop]

Buttons and audio has some problems.
Example
I have created a one slide lesson. Slide properties has 29 sec. audio file. A text start button. When I start the module, the slide is displayed and the audio is playing weel. When the audio stops playing or reaches at end everything stops. After audio stops playing, I then try to clcik on text start button and nothing happens. I have also provided an ALT key and after pressing the alt key nothing happens.
In case you know the answer, I appreciate your help for resolution.

[Kim Vitek - Union Gas Ltd]

I have Adobe Captivate 3. I primarily use it to record voice to a powerpoint presentation. The past few times that I’ve imported a ppt – not all of the slides come over to Captivate. Sometimes, just the first slide comes over. I don’t have trouble with ppts that were created a while ago but ppts that have been created recently are troublesome. How can I get Captivate to retrieve all of the slides from the ppt?

[Kevin Siegel]

Kim, I have seen this before when the PowerPoint presentation is using colors other than standard colors. You might want to check your master slides and ensure that only standard colors are being used throughout your presentation.

~Kevin

[Kim Vitek - Union Gas Ltd]

Thank you Kevin - you're a genius. That's what the problem was, I was using a customized slide design.