FOR E-COURSE DEVELoPMENT

ARTICULATE STORYLINE TRAINING GUIDE

FOR E-COURSE DEVELOPMENT

2025

This document is a compilation of key information, tips, and resources provided to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) National Training Program (NTP) E-Course Development Team by Insignia Federal Group (IFG) in 2024.

Contents About This Guide .....................................................................................................................iii What’s in This Guide ................................................................................................................iii Part 1: Using Articulate Storyline to Develop and Update CMS NTP E-Learning Courses.......... 1 Session 1: Storyline Walkthrough With CMS NTP Examples (1/16/24) .........................................1 Session 2: Storyline Practice (1/23/24) ......................................................................................2 Session 3: States, Scenes, and Triggers (1/30/24).......................................................................3 Session 4: Layers (2/6/24) .........................................................................................................5 Session 5: More About Layers (2/13/24).....................................................................................6 Session 6: Layer Properties (2/20/24) ........................................................................................8 Session 7: Master Slides (2/27/24)...........................................................................................10 Session 8: Creating Knowledge Checks (3/12/24).....................................................................12 Session 9: Updating Text and Audio (3/19/24)...........................................................................15 Session 10: Updating Text and Audio (Cont’d) and Generating Captions (3/26/24) ....................18 Part 2: Using Storyline and Other Tools to Update E-Course Components.............................22 Session 11: Demo—Applying What You’ve Learned (11/12/24) .................................................22 Session 12: Updating Mini-Lesson & Podcast Courses (11/19/24).............................................26 Session 13: Generating Course Downloads (12/3/24)...............................................................31 Session 14: Glossary Updates (12/12/24) ................................................................................34 Session 15: Confluence (12/17/24) .........................................................................................36

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About This Guide This guide provides key information and resources provided to the CMS NTP E-Course Development Team during interactive virtual training sessions provided by Insignia Federal Group (IFG) and its subcontractor, Synergy Enterprises, Inc. (Synergy) in 2024. The purpose for the sessions was to help team members with little or no experience in

Articulate Storyline 360 Articulate Storyline 360 is a widely used e-learning authoring tool that enables users to create interactive, responsive courses. It supports features like branching scenarios, embedded quizzes, and multimedia integration (such as video and audio narration) to enhance learner engagement. Courses can be published in formats compatible with most learning management systems, including SCORM and xAPI.

Articulate Storyline 360 (hereafter, Storyline) quickly learn Storyline and assist in developing and updating e-learning courses. The training sessions included examples and demonstrations specific to CMS NTP e-learning courses. This guide provides key content for easy reference. Note: The training sessions were recorded and archived on Box and/or Confluence. For access to the recordings, see Melissa Moreno. The training wasn’t intended as a comprehensive course in Storyline. The trainer provided links to high-quality Storyline training resources that are available at no charge to help the team further develop their knowledge and skills. Links to these resources are included throughout this guide. What’s in This Guide Part 1 consists of 10 training sessions that provide foundational information, examples, and resources to support the use of Storyline as an instructional design tool. Topics include the use of essential Storyline features (such as states, scenes, triggers, layers, and master slides) and guidance in how to generate and update knowledge checks, text, audio, and captions. Part 2 consists of five training sessions on using Storyline and other tools to update specific components of CMS NTP e-learning courses. • Session 11 reviews key topics covered in Part 1 and demonstrates the use of Storyline to update an existing course. • Sessions 12-14 provide a walkthrough of tools and processes for updating specific course components—namely, videos and podcasts, downloadable resource documents, and a course-specific glossary. • Session 15 describes the use of Confluence as a file-sharing platform for CMS NTP, its contractor (IFG), and IFG’s subcontractor (Synergy Enterprises, Inc.). CMS NTP processes for updating courses and course components are described in detail in a separate document, Standard Operating Procedures for Annual E-Course Update .

Part 1: Using Articulate Storyline to Develop and Update CMS NTP E-Learning Courses The 10 trainings in this guide focus on the use of Storyline as an instructional design tool to develop and update CMS NTP e-learning courses. Topics include the use of Storyline features such as states, scenes, triggers, layers, and master slides—and instructions for generating and updating knowledge checks, text, audio, and captions. Session 1: Storyline Walkthrough With CMS NTP Examples (1/16/24) This opening session consists of a walkthrough of Storyline, with examples from selected CMS NTP courses. For anyone unable to attend in person, or wishing to review the walkthrough, a recording is available in Confluence. For access to Confluence, contact Melissa Moreno. https://insigniafederalgroup.atlassian.net/wiki/download/attachments/2153971713/2024- 01-16%20Intro%20to%20Storyline_copy.mp4?api=v2 Here’s a summary of follow-up actions you can take to prepare for the next session: Homework for Next Week Everyone: • Select a topic that interests you (like a hobby, favorite sports team, or a trip). Over the next few months, you’ll use this topic as inspiration to build a simple course (about 5-10 slides) in Storyline, starting next week. This will give you an opportunity to apply what you’re learning and to compare notes with your colleagues (“Hey, how did you do that?”). • Suggested: Open the Storyline app and spend a few minutes exploring it on your own (especially if you’ve never used it before). • Optional: View the following Storyline intro video, if you wish, to refresh your memory of what was covered today. The first 6 minutes review the basics—no need to go further: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK6pc9a_na4 For those who couldn’t attend the life session: • In addition to the above, view the recording of the Storyline walkthrough Patrick conducted on January 16. (Melissa will share the recording with the DT team.) Topics covered included opening Storyline, similarities to Microsoft PowerPoint, and Storyline terms/concepts everyone needs to know (i.e., ribbon, timeline, states, triggers, and slide layers). Next Training Session • Tuesday, January 23, at 1 p.m. ET • Please have Storyline open on your desktop when you join the call. • Be ready to share your selected topic!

Session 2: Storyline Practice (1/23/24) This training session built on last week’s “homework,” which asked participants to select a topic that interests them so they can practice applying Storyline features as they learn about them in upcoming training sessions. Doria shared a recording of this session with the DT team. For future access to the recording, contact Melissa Moreno. Reminder The focus of the training sessions over the next few months is on helping participants gain the knowledge and skills needed to update existing courses in Storyline. Later on, we’ll focus on developing new courses, including storyboarding and creating a design plan. With that in mind, participant feedback is helpful and welcome! Storyline Vocabulary Tip A “scene” is a collection of slides, somewhat similar to a chapter in a book; they’re often—but not always—related thematically. The primary purpose of using scenes is to organize a course’s slides and to map out branching (how the user navigates through the course). Homework for Next Week Apply what you learned today to build a simple start page for your selected topic. Here are the steps you should take: • Create a title slide (Click “New Slide” in the ribbon or Right Click>Basic layouts>Title Only; enter title in text box; adjust text box placement as needed) • Insert, place, & format: o Start button o Audio file(s) (You can either record an audio file using your computer’s mic or generate an AI-generated text-to-speech file.) • Publish to 360 • Optional: o Add animations to any of the elements you like. o Time audio w/animations using the timeline. o Add a trigger to the start button and direct it to a 2 nd slide (2 nd slide can be blank). o 1 photo o 1 shape Next Training Session • Tuesday, January 30, at 1 p.m. ET • Please have Storyline (and the opening slide you prepared) open on your desktop when you join the call.

Session 3: States, Scenes, and Triggers (1/30/24) This training session included a debrief of last week’s homework and a demonstration of how to edit states, build new scenes, and connect scenes through triggers. Recording https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/_SlCzT8TPTuY4V7L4rUpyDWMk7UpLTqnq9mRT DlT-X7FpXrLwtc28tIjzWLchki5.rhxrFRCJo2kJ4u9V Passcode: u.6^6JZH If you have trouble with the link above, try this one: ://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/_SlCzT8TPTuY4V7L4rUpyDWMk7UpLTqnq9mRTDlT- X7FpXrLwtc28tIjzWLchki5.rhxrFRCJo2kJ4u9V Passcode: u.6^6JZH Debrief on Last Week’s Assignment Participants shared the following comments: • The assignment was straightforward and reviewed basic skills. I was able to follow the instructions by reviewing the recording, and I saw how the skills taught connected to the skills needed for the CMS NTP course updates. • The assignment inspired an idea: The AI voice-over feature could possibly be used more broadly to overlay new narration throughout the course. • Storyline program is similar to PowerPoint, and it’s also a little like Adobe Photoshop, which has many layers. • Melissa wants to explore a capability Mohamad showed her where he was able to share and control a computer screen remotely. Sharing of Participants’ Initial Course Topics/Slides • Melissa/Sylvia/Leslie (team effort): “How to Boil the Perfect Hard Egg” • Doria: “A Guide on How to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones” • Patrick: “All About Benjamin” Topics Covered This Week • Editing states —For buttons, options for “states” include normal, hover, down, visited, and disabled. Also, you can tie “states” to “triggers.” • Building a new scene —Demonstration showed how to create a menu page, build scenes, and tie the Menu button to scenes. Hint: You can go to Story View to add scenes, and you can then rename each scene. • Connecting scenes through triggers —Creating and connecting to scenes (vs. single slides) can help you organize, manage, and navigate your Storyline file.

Homework for Next Week Apply what you learned today to continue building the course you started developing in Storyline last week by following these steps: • Build a simple menu page with 4 topic buttons; title each button (can be topic 1, topic 2, etc., for now). • Create four 1-slide scenes; rename them to match the 4 topics. • Create a trigger for each menu topic button to point toward its related topic scene. • Create new states (i.e., hover, down, visited) for the topic buttons. • Publish to Storyline 360 and email the URL to Patrick by EOD Monday, February 5. Next Training Session • Tuesday, February 6, at 1 p.m. ET • Please have Storyline open on your desktop when you join the call.

Session 4: Layers (2/6/24) In lieu of attending a live session, training participants should read about Storyline layers on Articulate’s *E-Learning Heroes page. The sections are short, but some get a bit into the weeds, so if it doesn’t all make sense right away, we will get into it in practice. Take a look at the first 4 sections and go further if you like. Definitely skip the section on Making Layers Accessible since we’ll cover that when we do a deep dive on 508 and Storyline. So you can see it in action, here’s a 7-minute video on creating a very simple slide layer. It’s an excerpt from a longer video, but the link should take you right to the section on layers (about 50:20-57:00). * E-Learning Heroes is a great resource that we can use as a reference for assignments or if you ever want to go deeper on your own. It’s available to the public, so you don’t need a license.

Session 5: More About Layers (2/13/24) This training session included (a) a debrief of the reading/video on layers assigned via email last week (in lieu of the training session) and (b) a demonstration of layers and

their uses. Recording https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/FrzxJA4Fqo1nyimFKjj6gmAfAm4fYhvMHFtamzU3 vamN9Tm6CHMja1lIPCY5UruK.fvZJ9oUsCMcTHvso Passcode: Ff=%3Rnr Debrief on Last Week’s Assignment Participants shared the following comments, based on the reading/video assignment: • Melissa said the 7-minute video clip on layers provided a good summary. • Leslie observed that layers are similar to “levels” in terms of organizing information. • Doria noted that layers can be used for animations. Main Topic for This Week: Layers • Definition/description of a “layer” in Storyline: A layer is a slide that provides supplementary information that’s thematically tied to and sits on top of the base layer. For example, the FAQ section in a mini-lesson includes the questions in the base layer, and the answer for each question is in a layer. Each layer has all the functionality of a slide, but it only appears when triggered, and it sits on top of the base layer. • Ways to use layers: Layers can be used for a variety of purposes (e.g., to provide a pop-up box or an animation if the user selects a trigger in the base layer). • Example of use in Course 5: We looked “under the hood” in the Q&A slides to see how layers were used with triggers to create the Q&A interaction where learners get feedback for their right/wrong answers. In this case, the feedback answers are layers that appear when the answer is clicked. • Using layers to create the illusion of a button: You can create a base layer with links to related layers to give the illusion that the user is staying in the same place but getting new information (like a button on a web page). Tip: The order of layers in Storyline becomes important only if you have multiple layers appearing at the same time. • Editing text within a layer: Patrick demonstrated how to do this.

Resource for Learning and Using Storyline The Articulate E-Learning Heroes site is a helpful reference for learning and using Articulate Storyline. For example, it covers topics related to working with the interface, such as: • Using Keyboard Shortcuts — Some are similar to Microsoft. • Changing the Zoom level —This can be helpful as you’re working in a slide. • Switching between Story View and Slide view — There’s more than one way. Consider bookmarking this site and signing up for their free newsletter.

Homework for Next Week • Create a “process slide” with a title, 4 steps, and a text box. • Insert buttons for each of the 4 steps (adjust states as you like). • Create triggers for each button to open “unassigned” layer (we’ll add which layers later). • Duplicate the base layer 4 times. • Rename each layer Step 1, Step 2, etc. • Edit all button triggers on all layers to point to the appropriate layer. • Bonus: For each layer, find a way to highlight the button so it’s clear which step/layer you’re on. Note: Melissa may ask Patrick to join their team’s Thursday meeting (or contact him at other times as needed) if they have questions while doing the homework or practicing. Next Training Session • Tuesday, February 20, at 1 p.m. ET • Please have Storyline open on your desktop when you join the call.

Session 6: Layer Properties (2/20/24) This training session included (a) a debrief of last week’s homework assignment on creating a “process” slide with layers and triggers and (b) an explanation and demonstration of how to use “layer properties” in Storyline. Recording https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/qkqh4TXx4zHeOybt4-Q8TITvh- qKw9jDmg291si8zzPcL5cMfRuacojj-_RclKq0.hyIHPS-2XaGf2l74 Passcode: gc@83qAu

Debrief on Last Week’s Assignment Participants shared the following comments:

• Melissa and Sylvia said they met, refreshed a bit on the previous assignment on layers, and reviewed sections of the recorded training, which they found helpful. They talked about adding the triggers and changing the states of the button. In general, they found the homework assignment was a little more complex this time, but still doable and straightforward. Melissa explained that they duplicated their base layer before adding triggers, but it could have saved them some time and work if they’d had triggers in their base layer before duplicating it. • Doria said she’s feeling good about layers at this point. Main Topic for This Week: Layer Properties • Tip: In Storyline, the purpose for the “Dim” button at the bottom right of the screen is to dim the background while you’re editing slides, but it doesn’t affect what users will see in the final view. • Layer properties aren’t visible on the base layer (slide). • The default setting under Visibility is to hide other slide layers. • You can also select “Hide objects on the base layer” or “Hide slide layer when timeline finishes.” • The training slides presented in class are available: o 360 Review: https://360.articulate.com/review/content/1ee2ac2a-51bf- 4530-9c75-2a4e40355f64/review o Storyline file on Confluence: https://insigniafederalgroup.atlassian.net/wiki/download/attachments/2180 218881/Layer%20Properties.story?api=v2 Resource Reminder The Articulate E-Learning Heroes site that was mentioned last week has a helpful reference page on working with layers. You can use this page to review today’s discussion about layer properties. Homework for Next Week • Go back to the “practice course” you started earlier. • Pick one of your 3 course topics you haven’t yet explored: • In the corresponding scene related to that topic, create a new slide, including a base layer with audio and/or animations that require the use of timing on the slide. • Create a layer that provides more info on the topic—design as you like. • Create a button which, when clicked, opens the layer.

9` • Adjust the layer properties to achieve an effect—e.g., you can have the layer disappear when the timeline ends. • Play around with different options and choose which layer setting(s) you’d like to use. See the training slides for inspiration. Next Training Session • Tuesday, February 27, at 1 p.m. ET • Please have Storyline open on your desktop when you join the call.

Session 7: Master Slides (2/27/24) This training included (a) a debrief of last week’s homework assignment on layer properties and (b) an explanation and demonstration of master slides in Storyline. Recording https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/1OSem7A46qsycLFC4b9_YbZepiUpXjDwzj6ZqU3 6uZjuwLXlAbkyaHhfxjN43Egx.dqjMOaCwIRq9kXKP Passcode: 17G5#ZU4 Debrief on Last Week’s Assignment • Doria (shared examples of her work): My biggest difficulty was figuring out how to insert a timeline on the slide. I tried the “Hide objects on the base layer” slide property. I also experimented with animation and found I had to adjust the timeline as I added elements to the slide. Playing around with the options helped me understand my options. • Sylvia & Leslie: “It was triggering, no pun intended.” I can see how it can be time consuming to develop a course, given the various elements that need to be addressed, like navigation, layers, and triggers. I think we’ll learn more after we get a Storyline license so that we can experiment on our own. • Leslie: I can see the importance of clear labeling to help you find what you’re looking for as you make adjustments. Tips and Reminders • 508 compliance: U se 508-compliant terminology, like “Select” instead of “Click.” • Slide masters: Slide masters in Storyline work much like slide masters in PowerPoint, though more interactive elements are available in Storyline. Main Topic for This Week: Slide Masters in Storyline • Select View>Slide Masters to see all your master slides and sub masters, which you can see in the left window of the screen. • The master slide is like a parent, and the sub masters (AKA “layouts”) are like children; the parent-child metaphor works because the sub master slides “inherit” the traits of the parent slide. A slide in your actual course is the “grandchild”—it inherits the traits of the master and sub masters. • Master slide (Parent) — Sub Master/layout (Child) — Slide (Grandchild) • All current CMS NTP courses use slide masters. • From the home tab, select the Apply/Layout dropdown to see all slide masters; whichever layout is being used in the current slide will be highlighted in light blue. • Layouts include basic elements like headers, footers, and page numbers. They can also include interactive elements, if you want. Any elements you use or edit in the master slide (“parent”) automatically carry over to the sub masters (“children”). • You can use slide masters to govern the look & feel of your course, from color schemes, to fonts. • Slide masters are “separate” from your course; they have nothing to do with the course navigation. They’re simply a set of layouts available to you. • Labeling slide masters and sub masters can be helpful, and you can rename them if you wish. • To apply a new layout to an existing slide, use the “apply layout” dropdown on the home screen to see what layouts are available from your slide masters.

11 • Preserve: This feature in Storyline means that if you’re not using a specific set of master slides in a course, you can preserve them for possible use later if you wish. Note: Keeping them in your Storyline File will increase the file size. • Placeholders: Storyline’s default sub masters have built-in placeholders for various elements such as titles, content, and images, which can make it easier to insert or update elements in the course as you’re building slides. • Duplicating slides: You can duplicate a slide and adjust it to save time. • Problems with copying and pasting slides from one course to another: If you copy a slide and paste it into another course while you’re in slide view, it drops the slide in, but it also brings with it ALL the related master slides from the original. To avoid this, paste the slide in at the slide level. Q&A • Doria asked: What’s an instance where you’d want to add more than one slide master to a course? • Patrick: You might do that if you want different sections of your course to have a different look and feel, and you have layouts already developed that you’d like to use for one section. • Mohamad: An example might be if you have a Q&A or scenario at the end of the course that takes the user outside the course structure/content. Also, if you’re introducing a “warning” slide to bring attention to something. CMS NTP has a master slide and layout in PowerPoint that includes colors, fonts, designs, themes, etc., and it’s comparable to the master slides and layout features in Storyline. • Patrick: Slide masters will help us update the color theme in the courses being updated this year. Homework for Next Week • Build 1 new slide master (VIEW>SLIDE MASTERS>INSERT NEW MASTER) • Include 3 elements on the master slide that you want on all slides (e.g., header, footer, slide number, logo, icon). • Adjust the sub master layouts as you like. • Pick one topic you’ve not touched on in your practice course. • Create 5 new slides in that topic’s scene, and use each of your sub masters as your layouts for those slides. • Go back to the slide master and make some formatting adjustments to see how they populate across the course. • When you’re done, just republish the course to 360 and select the 2 nd option: “Publish a new version of an existing item”—this will auto-update the course at the original link you sent out to Patrick, reflecting all your changes from the new version. Just shoot him an email after that so he can review. Next Training Session • Tuesday, March 5, at 1 p.m. ET • Please have Storyline open on your desktop when you join the call.

Session 8: Creating Knowledge Checks (3/12/24) This training session included (a) a debrief of last week’s homework assignment on master slides in Storyline and (b) a lesson on using the question editor to create knowledge checks/quizzes. Recording https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/moGPIUm9q_5o5YHR1V4u7U3aqkUjvTK0x1eYFW G5GmOgeVFPsWXxaNBzjTxO2Vhg.jNN0Lwy_gBj1_TIO Passcode: 2#SgfK5t Debrief on Last Week’s Assignment • Melissa (shared examples of her homework): Commented that Storyline does a good job of setting up master slides that can be modified; said Leslie has a good understanding of master slides. In response to a question about formatting slide numbers, Patrick explained that the background that displays behind the page number on the screen while you’re editing in Storyline won’t display in the final version of the slide. • Doria (shared examples of her homework): Said it went well. Doing the homework reinforced her understanding that if you adjust your master slide, it affects all of the sub masters. Patrick demonstrated how to insert a slide numbers into a master slide. Main Topic for This Week: Creating Quizzes and Using the Question Editor • The Storyline question editor (called “Form View” within the program) has built-in layout and functionality like triggers, layers, and variables. • You can choose from various built-in question types for graded questions:

• To create a new question, select new slide> graded question, then: o Choose quiz type—see description—select “Insert.” o Fill out the quiz question and answers—Use the tab key to navigate o Select correct answer(s) o Edit feedback messages and score amounts o Set branching o Adjust settings on the ribbon o Switch from form view to slide view to make any necessary adjustments. • To add a results page: o Right click>new slide>results>graded results>insert slide o Adjust quiz settings as needed: Result type, quiz timer (optional), passing score percentage. Then click “OK.” • Use slide masters for question slides to give them a consistent look and feel. Storyline will automatically pull from your existing slide masters for the question slide.

13 • Feedback master: Same as slide masters—it’s just grouped separately since it only affects feedback. You can adjust existing feedback masters or create your own. Branching: Melissa asked why there were two tiny red arrows/markers under one of the slides in the Scenes panel on the left side of Patrick’s screen. He explained that they show how the branching works—e.g., what slide learners will see next if they submit the answer choice displayed on that slide.

Deciding how many questions to include and what constitutes a passing score: Melissa observed that if you set 80% as the passing score, and the quiz has only 4 questions, the learner would have to answer all 4 questions correctly to get a passing score. CMS E-course examples: Patrick walked through examples from CMS NTP courses to show what the question editor looks like “behind the scenes.” For example:

Homework • Create a new scene with 6 quiz slides testing knowledge gleaned from your practice course (we will figure out how to branch to the quiz later). Use at least 4 different types of questions. • Fill out the questions and answers on each slide; designate correct answers; adjust the settings in the question editor as you prefer. • Adjust the formatting of the question slide’s slide masters so it reflects your desired look and feel in the quiz pages; adjust feedback master as you like. • Add a results page at the end of each quiz. • Preview and make sure everything looks and works the way you want it to. Tip: Use the existing preset formatting to create quizzes as much as possible. Topics to be covered in upcoming sessions in March: • Interactive objects

• Filling any remaining gaps in knowledge needed on making updates to courses 1-4 (e.g., how to change the C2 counselor from a male to a female avatar (since the voice-over will be female) • Best practices for audio file naming for in-house narration (e.g., naming audio files to match the corresponding slide): why and how to name audio files to match the corresponding slide, and the importance of using a consistent process Updates from CMS: • Doria and Kim are getting a time scheduled to start recording voice-over. • A Box folder has been set up for files. • CMS NTP is conducting an anonymous survey of team members who are participating in the Storyline training sessions and will share the results with Insignia/Synergy. Next Training Session • Tuesday, March 19, at 1 p.m. ET • Please have Storyline open on your desktop when you join the call.

Session 9: Updating Text and Audio (3/19/24) This training session included (a) a debrief of last week’s homework assignment on using the question editor in Storyline and (b) a lesson on steps involved in updating text and audio in a course. Note: The focus for this session and the next 2 sessions will be elements related to updating existing CMS NTP e-courses. Some of the lesson content will be a review. Recording https://cmsbox.box.com/s/kb0xcsk18biuj4q0ufnquhzsicpos4fd This recording has been uploaded to the CMS Box file, so no password is needed. Debrief on Last Week’s Assignment • Doria: Enjoyed exploring the different options. • Melissa: We met right after the training and took turns trying the different options. An aha was that there’s more than one type of multiple choice item (e.g., there can be just one correct answer choice or multiple correct answers for a multiple choice item). • Patrick: Storyline offers options for how to present results: o Pre-Check: Ungraded o Knowledge Check: Can be graded or ungraded o Assessment: Graded You can use the Results Tool tab to make changes to an existing results slide. Main Topic for This Week: Updating Course Content for Courses 1-4 • Now that these course transcripts have been finalized, the updated transcript can be used to update text, videos, and captions. The updated course transcripts include tracked changes to show changes to make in Storyline. • If there’s a section with several changes, you can delete the old text in Storyline, switch to Simple Markup view in Microsoft Word, then copy and paste the updated text into Storyline. Per Melissa, use the course tracker to note any places where formatting adjustments may need to be made. • If there’s a global update (e.g., where you need to make a change across a course), you can use Control/F to find the text you need to change, but you’ll need to make each change individually instead of doing a global find-and- replace. • For audio updates: On the timeline, highlight the audio file you want to replace, right click, replace the audio with the new “audio from file,” and select the audio file (preferably named by slide number or slide name) that you wish to insert. Melissa plans to meet with their studio team on Thursday to make sure everyone understands the file-naming process, and Patrick will join that meeting. • Selecting a portion of a large edited audio file to rename and insert into specific slide: Patrick used an example from a podcast in a later course to show how to name MP3 files by slide number so they can be inserted into the correct

16 slides in Storyline. Per Melissa: All team members don’t have the software to do this right now, but they will in the future, so it’s good to be aware of this process.

• Updating Resource links: Courses 1-4 use Storyline’s built-in Resources section in the player. If any of those resources need to be updated, go to Player/Resources to see the links; those can be easily added or edited. • To change a character, one option is to delete the current character and insert a character from the options available in Storyline. You can filter those options (e.g., Style—photographic, Gender—female, Occupation-based clothing, and Age). Download the character you want so that you have all the different poses for that character. Insert and choose the pose you want. Note: All characters in Courses 1-4 show up as pictures, not characters—it may be that these courses were built in a version of Storyline before characters were in use. • If you’re going to replace a character, you can use the “replace character” (not “replace picture”) option once you’ve downloaded the character you want to use. Mohamad asked if you have to replace each individual pose or if Storyline can automatically select a pose similar to the current pose. Patrick will find an answer.

• Video: Whenever there’s a video in a CMS e-course, it’s housed in a “web object” on the slide, which allows the learner to view the video without leaving the course. Once the videos are updated and you have a new YouTube link, you need to make the update in 2 places:

17 1. Go to the “video overlay” layer, highlight the web object (large grey rectangle), then select options (under Web Object Tools), and next select edit from the ribbon to update the web address field with the new embed code.

2. On the “Redirect to YouTube” screen, update the button’s trigger with the new embed code. (Mohamad commented that in some of the earlier courses, the video URL was treated as a variable.)

Homework • None for this week. Melissa commented that since the session covered several items today, they’ll likely review the video. Topics to be covered in next 2 sessions: • Fill any remaining knowledge/skill gaps for updating courses 1-4. • Highlight best practices for audio file naming for in-house narration (e.g., naming audio files to match the corresponding slide), including why and how to name audio files to match the corresponding slide and the importance of using a consistent process. Next Training Session • Tuesday, March 26, at 1 p.m. ET • Please have Storyline open on your desktop when you join the call.

18 Session 10: Updating Text and Audio (Cont’d) and Generating Captions (3/26/24) This training session included (a) a brief follow-up on last week’s lesson (no homework was given) on the steps involved in updating text and audio in a course and (b) a lesson on generating captions. Video of Lesson https://cmsbox.box.com/s/y9hpsdht977el6nb95qyp5s9i6y71ltk A video presentation of the lesson was uploaded to the CMS Box file on March 27 in lieu of a recording of the live session (due to a technical issue with the recording). No password is needed. Follow-Up on Last Week’s Lesson • CMS: No questions. • Patrick: Shared his screen to show the Storyline interface for updating text when there are multiple text boxes appearing on the timeline at different times. He suggests using the Show/Hide button to isolate which text box you want to change since they overlap each other in the workspace.

Topic for This Week: Generating Captions The Storyline interface (see below) allows you to add captions. You can either insert captions manually or import them.

19 When you insert audio, Storyline inserts a blank caption for you, based on the waveforms in the audio file. You can tweak the timing of the caption by adjusting the size and position of the caption screen. Use the Split Caption button to break up the screens, if desired. Then you can move the caption screen text to time it with the audio.

Make sure the text in the captain screen is in blue to ensure that the recording will move from one caption screen to another when you play the file; if the caption screen is grey, you will only preview that caption.

Save and close after you finish editing to save your changes in the Storyline file. Using a Caption Service Another option is to use a caption service. There are many service providers to choose from. Patrick uses a caption service (rev) to generate captions for videos. (He doesn’t use it for podcasts because it doesn’t break out the audio by narrator.) The general process for using a caption service like rev is to upload your audio or video file as well as a transcript and place your order. The promised turnaround time is 24 hours, but often it takes about half a day. You’ll get an email when it’s ready. Download the caption file in VTT format. You can choose whether to have burned-in captions (typically we don’t do this for CMS courses).

20 The artificial intelligence (AI) captions feature in Storyline is fairly new. It automatically generates captions. But as with all captions from a service, make sure you check the caption screens closely after they’re generated. Patrick’s process is to create a Storyline file for each course that includes only the video files for that course, and then he imports the VTT files into Storyline, where he can review and tweak the captions. He reviews the captions twice: once to make sure the timing works well and again to check the text for spelling errors, extra spaces, and so forth. He then saves and exports the caption as a VTT file.

Tip for version control of VTT files: Maintain version control by keeping the file name the same and overwriting previous versions. Final Review in YouTube: Upload the video and its caption file to YouTube, where you may need to make a few final adjustments — e.g., go through the file to make sure the caption screens show up as one line rather than 2.

Reminder: Ask a colleague to review the captions as well. Suggestion: Use Storyline (not YouTube) to make timing and text edits. For minor text- related changes to the captions that don’t affect the timing, you can go into the VTT file (which opens in Notepad on your computer) and make changes. For example, you can do a global search and replace (using Control/H) if needed.

21 Inserting captions should be one of the last steps in the production process. If you change a big chunk of text that changes timing, you may have to generate new captions for the course from that point forward. In some cases, it may make sense to shift the placement of caption screens manually, one by one, in Storyline.

Homework • Download the disclaimer audio file below and insert it into a new slide: https://insigniafederalgroup.atlassian.net/wiki/download/attachments/2111700993/ CMS_NTP_Male%20Disclaimer.mp3?api=v2 • Drop the 2 disclaimer slides below onto the timeline so that they appear in time with the audio • Add captions and adjust the timing. • Extra credit: Explore and bookmark E-Learning Heroes’ reference page on using Storyline’s built-in editor for closed captions and subtitles.

Part 2: Using Storyline and Other Tools to Update E-Course Components The second series of trainings focused on using Storyline and other tools to update specific components of CMS NTP e-learning courses.

• Session 11 reviews key topics covered in Part 1 of the training series by providing a demonstration of how to use Storyline to update an existing course. • Sessions 12-14 provide a walkthrough of tools and processes for updating specific course components—namely, videos and podcasts, downloadable resource documents, and a course-specific glossary. • Session 15 describes the use of Confluence as a file-sharing platform for CMS NTP, its contractor (IFG), and IFG’s subcontractor (Synergy Enterprises, Inc.). Note: For access to recordings of these training sessions, contact Melissa Moreno. Session 11: Demo—Applying What You’ve Learned (11/12/24) E-Course Training Session: Review of Course 6 Edits Objective: To refresh knowledge of Storyline by demonstrating application of previously covered material. • General: Open Storyline notes (feedback). You can toggle between different views (e.g., Review, Feedback). • Versions of 360 file: Select the downward carrot next to Current Version (top left of screen) to access dropdown with past versions. • 360 comments are grouped under slide number. • Text updates: Use Control/F to open a “Find” dialog box to help you locate certain text within a course. • Audio updates: Highlight audio, right click, replace audio, find file, select, then make any necessary timing adjustments. • Editing captions: Highlight audio, go to Options>Edit Captions on the ribbon, go to time marker and change caption text, then Save and Close. • Reformatting media: Go to story view to find the slide # where you want to make the change, select the media. Go to ribbon at top and select Format to adjust size, position, etc.

23 • Edit states (e.g., glow effect during hover): Highlight the element you want to work on, then select the Edit states button or double-click on the state you want to edit. One way to adjust a state is to duplicate the item, adjust the formatting, and delete the previous shape state. Preview to check result.

• Implement external content (e.g., PDFs): PDF links (URLs from Joe) will be placed in 2 spots within the course: (1) Navigation Guide screen includes links to English and Spanish versions of the accessibility instructions. (2) Course Downloads screen (there’s a screen for the English versions and a screen for the Spanish translations). Note: Open link from Joe’s email into a browser and copy the link from the browser into the course. • Video URLs: In story view, you can see which slides include videos. Go to slide, then select the web object layer. Select Options, then Edit to add the YouTube embed code.

• Course glossary: You can make simple edits in the player, or for more extensive changes, you can import them: (1) Generate a CSV file from the Comprehensive Glossary spreadsheet with one column each named “Term” and “Definition.” (2) Import the CSV. You’ll get a prompt if there are any glossary terms that are in the old version but not in the new version you generated using the Excel file.

Team Feedback on Training Session • Doria: Very helpful. No questions at this time.

• Melissa: I agree that today’s demo of video edits was helpful. It would be helpful to include time stamps on recordings so that the CMS NTP team can easily locate answers to Storyline questions they may have. Homework CMS NTP team members may choose to work individually or in teams to complete the following homework: 1. Download C6 Storyline file here: https://insigniafederalgroup.atlassian.net/wiki/download/attachments/2258403329/Autom atic%20Enrollment%20in%20Medicare.story?api=v2 2. Implement the following updates: • 2.1 Edit Text (3 rd blue bar): Remove the 2 nd “Plan” in “Group Health Plan Coverage Plan Rules” • 2.1 Edit CC at [:13]: C hange “two” to “2” (remember to highlight audio file, then select “options” in the ribbon to open CC editor) • 3.2 Reformatting Media: Resize Sam to match dimensions in Slide 3.13 (select image, select format button at the top, adjust dimensions, drag or use CTRL + Arrows to reposition) • 3.4 Editing States: Fix caption bubble hover issue (select bubble, select States tab, delete error state, duplicate base state, name “hover” and format w/glow effect) 3. Publish to 360 and send Patrick the link (optional).

FYI, here’s the link to the C6 360 file: https://360.articulate.com/review/content/49d3bc55-c5c1-42c9-b35e-125c75954edd/review Other • SOP for E-Course Updates: Insignia/Synergy will send updated version with additional details added. Next Meeting Tuesday, November 19, at 1 p.m. ET

Session 12: Updating Mini-Lesson & Podcast Courses (11/19/24)

Objective: To provide an overview and demonstration of Storyline updates that will be needed in courses 7-14. 0 min. (recording starts ) Navigation screen: Update the link to the accessibility instructions (English and Spanish versions). Joe provides the URLs. Welcome slide: Includes tabs on the left for each section. These tabs are consistent across courses 7-14. Tab 1—Mini-lesson video As with all web objects in Storyline, this screen is a “window” into web content, in this case, YouTube. To replace the video with an updated version, go to the web object, highlight Options/Edit, and insert the embed code. New: Remove the screen reader text box at the bottom. It’s outdated and not needed.

5 min. Tab 3—FAQs Each question’s rectangle is triggered to open a separate layer, a “state” (gold checkmark) shows FAQs you’ve visited.

27 For each question rectangle, the “state” can be normal, down, or visited. There’s no hover state.

Reminder: Some questions have scroll bars. Definition pop -ups of underlined terms (these may be cut, TBD) : State based Doria asked: “Can you copy and paste the “Close” button states to new locations? Answer: Yes. Also, clicking on “Close” activates the “visited” (gold checkmark) state. For the FAQs, most of the changes will be simple text edits. 12 min. Tab 4—Resources You’ll mostly make text-based edits and update links as needed. The gold downward triangle opens each section.

28 Behind-the-scenes reminder: If you add a resource, you’ll need to shift the other sections down to make room for the new content and maintain the pop-out layer illusion.

14 min. Tab 2—Podcasts

Reminder: Learners have the option of playing the podcasts while they’re in the course (YouTube URL via web object), by playing the MP3 through the course player or by downloading them (as zip file) for later.

On the back end, in Storyline: The buttons that open the MP3s or that download the zip file, point to files that are loaded into the player.

Behind-the-scenes view:

Tip: Use the syntax shown in the example below (in blue), and make sure the file name (in green) is exact, including the file type:

20 min. If a podcast title changes, and you need to change the title on the opening slide, you can update the thumbnail. To focus on replacing the photo, hide other elements in the group, then right-click to change the image.

22 min. Tab 5—Course Downloads: Replace PDF URLs in the trigger panel to the right; to update the last button (MP3 zip file of the podcasts) you’ll use the same process outlined above for the podcast landing page. Tip: Make sure there’s no URL protection language in the pathway.

24 min. (recoding ends )

Team Feedback on Training Session • Melissa, Doria, Mohamad: Good walkthrough. • Melissa: Bite-sized training is appreciated. Next Week • Topic: Generating Course Downloads. • May also talk through SOP. Next Meeting Tuesday, November 26, at 1 p.m. ET

Session 13: Generating Course Downloads (12/3/24)

E-Course Training Session: Generating Course Downloads Objective: To provide an overview of the process for creating or updating course download documents (PDFs). • Related documents: o SOP for Annual E-Course Download Updates o Template for course downloads Patrick did a walkthrough of the SOP, highlighting key points as follows. A recording of the walkthrough is available via Box: https://cmsbox.account.box.com/login?redirect_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcmsbox.app.box.com%2Fs %2F6z0dsg5artf0nbebhlzsftegdu3zjq42 0:01 • The SOP includes a table that shows which download types are included in each course. • Starting point for creating each download: Either use the template from the prior year (if it’s already in the refreshed template) or the refreshed template, which includes formatting. • Use the finalized, marked -up transcript from the previous year as the basis for updating the Transcript download, and make sure to apply any comments relevant to content in other downloads. 0:04 • Accessibility instructions will eventually be standardized across all courses (though the instructions for the podcast courses will differ slightly from the instructions for the earlier courses). • Glossary—We may discuss the E-Course Master Glossary usage and update process in a separate meeting. 0:10 • Formatting is built into the download template (Microsoft Word doc). The SOP also includes a “cheat sheet” with formatting specifications, which can be helpful in case the formatting is affected as you update a document. • To make sure the file title in the download doc is correct, go to file>document>properties in the Microsoft Word version of the download document and update as needed. • After converting the Microsoft Word file to PDF, recheck the formatting and links. 0:14 • The Section 508 accessibility check is the final step. Patrick walked through the 508 compliance “wizard” within Adobe acrobat. We can add specifics about this process to the SOP as needed.

0:16 • File naming conventions and version control are addressed in the SOP.

• Joe generates download links for insertion into e-courses. • We’ll test drive the SOP and template, and update as needed. 0:22 END Team Feedback on Training Session • Melissa: SOP, template, and walkthrough are helpful and appreciated. • Doria: SOP is nicely organized and formatted. • Mohamad: Great work. Next Week • Glossary review/updates; see notes below for today’s discussion and decisions about using pop-ups for glossary terms within courses. Pop-Ups for Glossary Terms Within Courses Discussion • Melissa: There may be times when pop-ups are useful, especially if they’re complicated or less familiar to the audience. • Mohamad: Proposed eliminating pop-ups, underlining glossary terms where they appear in a course, and stating (in the introduction or on the navigation page) that any underlined term has a definition in the glossary drop -down. The screen reader will be able to indicate to the reader if a term is underlined. (We’d also need to add an explanation to the accessibility instructions.) • Melissa: How do screen readers interact with pop-ups? • Patrick: Screen readers don’t read the pop-ups. • Melissa: What about using alt text for any pop-ups that are strategically selected (e.g., on a given slide, the first instance of a glossary term could be underlined if its definition is deemed important to include). • Mohamad: The screen reader will first read all the text on the slide, then notify the reader that there’s a box included with alt text, and the reader has the option of selecting the text to hear the definition. Could include an in -line box they can select. The text would need to indicate “start definition,” followed by the definition itself, and “end definition.” Also, in the glossary drop-down, we could code the term as a header and the text as body text for the purposes of the screen reader.

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