Accessibility triage after an import

Courses built in older tools often describe their pictures with a file name ("Yellow-BG.png"), a default name ("Picture 3") or nothing at all, so a screen reader announces noise or skips something that matters. The importer cannot know what a picture is for. Only you can decide that, and the triage below makes it one decision per picture rather than one per copy.

When an import lands on the slide canvas (Storyline, a Captivate .cptx, or a Captivate publish whose actions keep state), the import screen counts what needs fixing — "N accessibility fixes before every learner can use it" — rule by rule. Fix accessibility now opens the Scenes editor with Alt text triage already open. If there are no pictures to decide on, it opens Preflight instead, with the other problems listed.

You can come back to it any time: Tools → Alt text triage (the number shows how many are left), ⌘K → Alt text triage, or Describe N pictures in Preflight.

Triage shows one picture at a time, what a screen reader announces for it now, and What should a learner hear instead?

• Describe (or Enter) saves your description as the picture's alt text. Describe what the picture tells the learner, not what it looks like.
• Decorative tells screen readers to skip the picture silently, and takes it out of the keyboard order. Use it for backgrounds, dividers and ornaments that carry no information.
• Skip leaves it for later in this session.

The same picture used on many slides appears once — "N copies across K slides — one decision covers all" — with the most-repeated pictures first. Each decision can be undone like any other edit.

Imports that reflow into lessons get their first pass in two places:

• Tick Review the content after import on the import screen, and the report flags images without alt text and dated references, so the Import report panel in the editor lists them.
• In each lesson, the accessibility checker at the bottom left of the lesson editor shows a count when something needs fixing; expand it for the list (Accessibility (N issues)) and Jump to block to fix each one. The lesson editor has no decorative setting yet, so every image there needs alt text.

See The accessibility checks for every rule and the WCAG criterion it maps to.

On the slide canvas, preflight decides whether a course can be exported. Problems that would break the course in an LMS — a trigger pointing at a deleted slide, a question with no correct answer — stop the export until they are fixed. Accessibility problems do not: if they are all that is left, the export asks first. The dialog lists them ("N accessibility problems left"), explains that the package will work but some learners — people using a screen reader or a keyboard — will be stopped by them, and offers Fix them first or Export with N known issues.

Exporting with known issues is recorded in the audit log, so there is a record that the course shipped knowing what it still needs. Block courses export without this step; use the lesson checker before you export.

Triage makes sure every picture has a decision; it cannot judge whether a description is good, whether captions are accurate, or whether the reading order makes sense. Test the course with a screen reader and a keyboard before you rely on it. A connected AI assistant can look at the pictures on a slide and draft descriptions for you to approve; see What to ask your AI assistant.