Why this matters
A broken link in a compliance course can mean a learner cannot access a required document. A broken resource in a product training course means they leave without the information they came for. Beyond the learner experience, broken links undermine trust — if links do not work, people question whether the rest of the content is reliable.
Storyline 360 example
A Storyline course links to an HR policy PDF hosted on the company intranet. Six months after the course launched, the intranet was migrated and the URL changed. Learners now see a 404 page.
Rise 360 example
A Rise lesson has a Read More button linking to an external article. The article was deleted. Learners click the button and land on a "Page not found" message.
How to fix it
- 1Check every hyperlink in your course before you publish — and again before any major update
- 2Test links in the published output, not just inside the authoring tool
- 3For external links, consider whether the destination could disappear and plan accordingly
- 4Schedule periodic link audits for live courses — quarterly is a reasonable starting point
- 5Use a link checker tool to automate detection rather than clicking every link by hand
Fix in Storyline 360
- 1Go through your triggers and filter for "Open URL" actions
- 2Click each URL in Preview mode to confirm it loads
- 3Update broken URLs in the trigger panel
- 4For internal documents, use a stable document management URL rather than a direct server path
- 5Keep a note of all external links so future maintainers know what to check
Fix in Rise 360
- 1Check every Button, Text, and Image block that has a hyperlink
- 2Open each link in Rise preview to confirm it works
- 3Update or remove broken links before publishing
- 4Use Rise's block settings to update URLs — avoid hardcoding them in custom HTML
Common questions
How do I find all links in a Storyline course?
Run A11yCheck to automatically detect and test all hyperlinks. Manually, you can filter your Triggers panel by "Open URL" to see every external link in one place.
Do broken links affect WCAG compliance?
Directly, WCAG 2.4.4 is about link text — not destination validity. But broken links prevent learners from accessing referenced content, which is a significant quality failure and in some contexts a legal one — for example, mandatory compliance resources in regulated industries.
How often should I check links in a published course?
Before every update — and at least quarterly for live courses. External links are especially risky: news articles get archived, vendor pages move, government URLs restructure. Internal links break after migrations and reorgs.
Can I link to internal company resources from Storyline?
Yes, but check whether those resources are accessible outside the corporate network. Learners who work remotely or access training on a personal device may hit a login wall or a complete block on intranet URLs.
Check your course for this issue automatically
Paste your Storyline 360 or Rise 360 Review link and A11yCheck scans for this and 80+ other issues in under two minutes.
Start scanning — it's free