If you're new to Articulate Storyline 360, welcome! Whether you're just getting started as an instructional designer or you’re stepping into eLearning development for the first time, Storyline 360 can be a powerful design tool. But like any robust software, it can feel unusable, overwhelming, or simply ridiculous without guidance and experience.

The good news? You don’t need to be an expert to create intuitive, professional, and accessible learning experiences. You just need a few smart habits and shortcuts to work faster, design better, and support all learners. Let’s dive in.

🖱 Start with Copy + Paste

Yes, you read that right. Copy and paste is your best friend in Storyline 360. Duplicating slides, layers, buttons, navigational features, and interactions ensures consistency and speeds up your workflow. Instead of starting from scratch with every slide, build a “master” slide or interaction—then copy, paste, and tweak as needed. This is especially helpful when working on branching scenarios or multi-slide animations.

⌨️ Learn Your Keyboard Shortcuts

Time is money, and keyboard shortcuts are lifesavers. Here are a few to get you started:

Ctrl + D → Duplicate objects (your go-to shortcut for consistency!)
Ctrl + G / Ctrl + Shift + G → Group / Ungroup objects
Ctrl + C / Ctrl + V → Copy / Paste
Alt + Shift + Left/Right Arrow → Nudge objects in alignment
F4 → Repeats the last action (incredibly handy!)

Start practicing these early on—you’ll save hours.

🔘 Build Your Own Buttons with Hotspots for Usability

Storyline’s default buttons are convenient, but they don’t always behave consistently across browsers, screen readers, or for all users. For a more reliable solution, create your own buttons using shapes + text, and place a hotspot over them. Then, use triggers to define what happens when users click the hotspot. This approach gives users more “clickability” and ensures usability across devices.

🎨 Create Your Own States

Want to make interactions feel polished and accessible? Customize object states (e.g., selected, hover, visited, disabled). Instead of relying on default button behaviors, define your own states to ensure that learners receive personalized feedback and visual cues. Bonus: Custom states allow you to provide visual contrast (as per WCAG standards) and even alignment with your style guide for client brand elevation.

🎧 Create your own Accessibility Features

Designing for all learners is essential. Here’s how to ensure your Storyline course supports accessibility:

Closed Captions: Use the built-in captioning tool and customize placement so it doesn’t block important content.

To alter the location of closed captions, go to Home > Player > Colors and Effects

In the bottom left hand corner, you’ll find a “Closed Captions” Box. You can make all edits there, including the location:

**Other Available Adjustments:**

You can also adjust the Text color, background color, and font.

Triggers for Learner Autonomy: Add keyboard-triggered actions like:

**“Spacebar”** → Pause/resume all animations and audio

Other examples:

“s” key → To submit an answer
“a” key → To select an answer option
“1” key → To select an answer option

Accessible Drag and Drop Activity Example:

When the user clicks one of the numbers (1, 2, or 3) on the left, and then selects the area to drop that item in on the right (A, B, or C), it provides the user with feedback. Here is the interaction in action:

These options empower learners to control their experience—particularly valuable for individuals with limited mobility, visual or hearing impairments, or situational needs. For example, a user experiencing a migraine may need to mute audio and rely solely on closed captions. By offering flexible features, you support accessibility and learner autonomy for a wide range of needs.

🎨 Add a Color Palette Slide to Your Project

Design consistency is key. Create a hidden slide with your brand’s color palette and save it as part of your project. Need to match a button color or text overlay? Quickly use the eyedropper tool to sample from your reference palette. You’ll avoid color drift and speed up your design process. Don’t forget to use the WebAim Color Contrast checker to ensure WCAG standards are being met!

🎙 Edit Audio Like a Pro

Yes, you can edit some elements of audio inside Storyline. Trim silences, adjust volume, and even cut out missteps without re-recording. If you’re batch-recording narration or syncing audio to animations, this feature can be a game-changer. Don’t forget, you can also copy and paste audio, and this includes the captions you have created with the audio recordings!

🧭 Begin with Navigation Elements First

Before you jump into fonts, colors, and visual flare, set your navigational elements first. That means:

Finalize your next/back buttons and their hotspots
Add layers
Add triggers for:

Hotspots - Navigation, Menus, etc.
Accessibility - Captions, pausing of audio/video
State changes

Add variables as needed
Set tab order for screen readers
Confirm your slide navigation

Once your navigation is functional and accessible, test it. Confirm that it functions when you’re working with a mouse, but also without a mouse (on a keyboard only) Then, and only then, can you move into the design of the learning experience. This ensures that learners can interact with the course—even if visual elements aren’t finalized yet.

👋 Final Thoughts

Storyline 360 is a powerful tool—but you don’t need to use every feature right away. Start simple: focus on the usability, structure, accessibility, and clean design. Build from there.

And remember: smart habits like using keyboard shortcuts, designing your own buttons, and starting with usability-first principles will help you grow from beginner to builder in no time.

Want more tips like this? Subscribe to the LearningMatters newsletter or connect with me on LinkedIn!
—
📬 Ready to level up your Storyline skills or bring your learning design to life? Contact Laura or View My Portfolio!

Thank you for joining me today! Let’s keep learning altogether, as lifelong #LearningMatters.

Best,
Laura Lawson
LearningMatters, LLC
Instructional Designer

A Beginner’s Guide: Articulate Storyline 360