Questions answered by this guide
- Do I need to turn on accessibility in Rise?
- Is Rise more accessible than Storyline by default?
- What does Rise handle automatically for accessibility?
- What still needs a manual check in Rise?
- Which WCAG checks does A11yCheck automate for Rise?
What you'll learn
- Rise handles more structure automatically than Storyline
- That does not mean a Rise course is automatically accessible
- Alt text, captions, and a few interaction types still need a manual check
What's inside
Instructional designers applying WCAG inside Articulate Rise
- 01What Rise handles for you
- 02What still needs a manual check
- 03Where to go for each specific check
Why it matters
Rise handles accessibility differently from Storyline. Knowing what Rise does automatically, and what still needs your attention, saves you from either missing a real issue or redoing work Rise already handles. This page is deliberately short, use the linked topic guides below for the full detail on any one check.
Example
✕ Incorrect
A course builder assumes a Rise lesson is fully accessible because Rise has no accessibility toggle to turn on, and skips writing alt text for the lesson's images.
Rise's native blocks handle structural things like basic keyboard reachability automatically, but it never writes alt text for you. Every undescribed image is exactly as inaccessible in Rise as it would be in Storyline.
✓ Correct
Alt text is written for every meaningful image block in the lesson, treated as required work regardless of what Rise handles automatically.
This closes the one gap Rise's automatic structure doesn't cover. What an image actually communicates still requires a human decision, no tool can make it for you.
Best practices
- Trust Rise's native blocks for basic keyboard reachability. This part is generally handled for you.
- Still write real alt text yourself. Rise does not generate this automatically.
- Check Knowledge Check feedback manually. Whether it announces correctly to a screen reader is not something Rise guarantees.
Common mistakes
- Assuming Rise is fully accessible because it has no accessibility toggle to turn on.
- Skipping alt text because Rise blocks look accessible by default.
- Not testing Sorting and Categorize blocks with a keyboard.
Practical checklist
- Every image block has real alt text entered.
- Every audio and video block has captions or a transcript.
- Sorting and Categorize blocks have been tested with a keyboard.
- Knowledge Check feedback has been tested with a screen reader.
How A11yCheck reviews this
A11yCheck automates the checks that have a clear right answer for Rise: missing alt text, low contrast, missing captions, and several structural checks, similar coverage to Storyline. Whether Knowledge Check feedback announces correctly to a screen reader is still a manual check today. See the topic guides linked below for what each check actually looks for.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to turn on accessibility in Rise?
No. Rise has no separate accessibility toggle. Its output is accessible by default in structure, but content-level checks like alt text still need your attention.
Is Rise more accessible than Storyline?
In some ways. Rise has fewer settings to misconfigure. But that does not mean a Rise course is automatically accessible, and Rise has real limitations of its own, like drag-and-drop interactions and fixed all-caps button text. See Storyline vs. Rise: Which Is More Accessible by Default for the full comparison.
Related Guides
WCAG for eLearning: A Practical Introduction→
What WCAG actually is, and what it means for a Storyline or Rise course. No legal jargon.
The Complete Guide to Rise 360 Accessibility→
Everything instructional designers need to know to make Rise 360 courses accessible, written for Rise specifically, not adapted from Storyline.
Rise 360 Accessibility Quick Checklist→
A fast, practical pass through your Rise course before you publish it, 19 checks, about 15 minutes.
Alt Text Guide→
Alt text is a short written description of an image that a screen reader reads aloud in its place. Write what the image communicates, not what it looks like, and keep it under about a sentence.
Keyboard Navigation Guide→
Keyboard navigation means every interactive object in your course, buttons, links, quiz answers, layers, can be reached and used with Tab, Shift+Tab, Enter, and arrow keys alone, with no mouse required.
Color Contrast Guide→
Normal-sized text needs a contrast ratio of at least 4.5 to 1 against its background, and large text needs at least 3 to 1. This is checked with a contrast checker tool, not a visual guess.
Closed Captions Guide→
The difference between captions and a transcript, and exactly how to add both in Storyline and Rise.
Table Structure Guide→
A data table needs its header row (or column) explicitly marked as a header, not just styled to look like one, so a screen reader can announce which column or row each cell belongs to as a learner moves through it.
Media Controls Guide→
Anything that plays sound or motion automatically, background audio, an auto-playing video, a looping animation, needs a way for the learner to pause, stop, or control it. Audio that autoplays for more than 3 seconds needs a pause, stop, or volume control under WCAG.
Storyline vs. Rise: Which Is More Accessible by Default→
Rise is more accessible out of the box because its native blocks handle structure and keyboard access automatically, but it has real gaps of its own: drag-and-drop interactions aren't accessible, and button and tab text always renders in all caps with no way for a course author to change it. Storyline gives full control, which means nothing is accessible by accident, every setting and every tab order has to be deliberately configured.
Heading Structure Guide→
A heading needs to be a real heading, marked as one in your authoring tool, not just text styled to look big and bold. That's what lets a screen reader user jump directly between headings to navigate a course, the same way a sighted learner skims a page by its headings.
Summary
Rise handles more accessibility structure automatically than Storyline, but alt text, captions, and a few interaction types still need a real manual check, using the linked topic guides.
Review your course before you publish it.
A11yCheck reviews Storyline and Rise courses for:
- Accessibility
- Course Quality
- Course Engagement
www.a11ycheck-dev.com