Accessible Names Guide

Questions answered by this guide

• ?What is an accessible name?
• ?Why is "Click here" a bad button label?
• ?What is Label in Name?
• ?How is accessible name different from alt text?
• ?How do I set an accessible name in Storyline?
• ?How do I set an accessible name in Rise?

What you'll learn

• An accessible name is what a screen reader announces for a control, separate from how it looks
• Generic labels like "Click here" fail because they don't say what the control does
• Icon-only controls and custom objects need their accessible name checked directly, not assumed

What's inside

Instructional designers writing button, link, and control labels in Storyline or Rise

1. 01The concept
2. 02A worked example
3. 03Best practices
4. 04How Storyline and Rise differ

Why it matters

A screen reader announces a control by its accessible name, a short label read aloud in place of how the control looks. If that name is missing, generic, or only describes an icon, a learner using a screen reader has no idea what the control does, or can't tell two different controls apart. This is WCAG success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value), one of the most fundamental requirements for any interactive control.

When you'll encounter this

• You're building an icon-only button or control, one with no visible text for a screen reader to read.
• You've reused a generic label, like "Click here" or "Learn more," across several different buttons.
• You're building a Rise marker inside a Labeled Graphic, Process, Timeline, or Sorting block, none of which get an accessible name for free.
• A11yCheck flags an accessible names issue on a scan report.

Example

Best practices

• Write a name that describes what the control does, not what it looks like. "Play the introduction video," not "Play," and definitely not an icon description like "triangle icon."
• Avoid generic labels like "Click here" or "Learn more." If you're tempted to write one, ask "click here to do what?" and use that answer instead.
• Never let two different controls share the same accessible name. If a learner can't tell them apart by ear, the names aren't specific enough.
• Don't assume visible text is automatically the accessible name. For a built-in button it usually is. For a custom object or icon-only control, it often isn't, and needs to be set separately.
• In Storyline: right-click the control, choose Size and Position, open the Accessibility tab, and check the Accessible Name field. If it's blank or generic, write a real one. This matters most for icon-only controls and custom hotspots, built-in buttons usually already have a reasonable name from their visible text.
• In Rise: most blocks build an accessible name automatically from their visible text. The gap shows up in two places: markers inside Labeled Graphic, Process, Timeline, or Sorting blocks, which need their own label text set explicitly, and Embed blocks with custom HTML, where a missing label has to be fixed directly in the code you pasted in.

Common mistakes

• Icon-only buttons with no accessible name at all.
• Generic labels like "Click here" or "Learn more" repeated across multiple different controls.
• Assuming visible button text is automatically the accessible name for a custom object, without checking directly.
• In Rise, interactive block markers left with their default placeholder label instead of real, descriptive text.
• Embed blocks built from third-party code that was never checked for accessible names before being pasted in.

Practical checklist

• Every icon-only button or control has a real accessible name, not just an icon description.
• No two controls on the same slide or lesson share an identical accessible name.
• No accessible name is a generic phrase like "Click here" or "Learn more."
• In Storyline, this has been checked directly in each control's Accessibility tab, not assumed from visible text.
• In Rise, every marker in a Labeled Graphic, Process, Timeline, or Sorting block has a real label, and every Embed block's custom HTML has been checked for missing labels.

Frequently asked questions

Summary

An accessible name is what a screen reader announces for a control. Write names that describe the action, never reuse the same name for two different controls, and check custom or icon-only controls directly rather than assuming their visible text is enough. This is WCAG 4.1.2, and Label in Name (2.5.3) adds that visible button text must be part of it.