Labster Help Center

For Students For Instructors For Others
More student articles
Access to Labster

Open and Play Labster Simulations in Accessibility Mode

More than half of our catalog is accessible and we are continuously upgrading our simulations to the highest accessible standard. These accessibility features include keyboard navigation, screen reader, and resizable text.

The simulations listed here are ready to be played in 'Accessibility Mode'.

Please see the instructions below or view our ‘Accessibility at Labster’ page for more information:

Accessibility at Labster

  1. Opening a Simulation in "Accessibility Mode":

    1. Labster Dashboard - Account Settings

    2. Simulation Screen

  2. Navigation in Accessibility Mode

  1. Opening a simulation in 'Accessibility mode'

    Depending on how you are accessing Labster simulations, there are two ways to play simulations in Accessibility Mode: by going to the Labster Dashboard or the Simulation Screen.

    1. Labster Dashboard - Account settings

      • Course Manager - you can directly log in to my.labster.com and access your "Account settings"

      • LMS (Learning Management System - Blackboard, Canvas, Moodle etc.) - go to your Course/Assignments, launch your Labster student dashboard and access the "Account settings" from there.

        Click on “Account settings” from the bottom left-hand side of the menu. If you do not see the Labster Dashboard in your course, please ask your instructor to enable it)

        Scroll down and look for "Accessible simulations"

    2. Simulation Screen

      • From your Course/Assignments page, open a lab. Click on the gear icon at the bottom. Then hit the Accessibility mode button to turn the setting off.

    Once the simulation loads:

    1. Select ‘Start’ to launch the simulation.

    2. Proceed through a Tutorial on how to play the simulation in ‘Accessibility Mode’.

    3. Begin playing the simulation.

    There is a ‘Navigation’ tab permanently available in the LabPad in case you want a refresher on how to proceed.

    This image shows the text that is shown to you in the opening 'Accessibility Mode' tutorial

  2. Navigation in Accessibility Mode

LabPad Keyboard Navigation

  1. Press ENTER to select.

  2. Press SPACE BAR to raise or lower the labpad.

  3. Press TAB and BACKSPACE to iterate within the labPad

  4. Press UP and DOWN arrow keys to scroll in the Labpad or navigate the dropdown menu.

  5. Press LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to iterate between items in the labor scene environment.

  6. Press CONTROL + SHIFT + Y to adjust text size.

  7. Press SHIFT + S to hear your current score.

  8. Press SHIFT + P to hear your current progress.

Lab Room Navigation

  1. ‘Left’ and ‘Right’ arrow keys — Controls the navigation and element selection within the lab room

  2. Enter — Allows selecting the highlighted element

  3. Backspace — Serves the same functionality as the ‘Back’ button, where it brings you to your previous physical location in the lab room

Alt text for Images

  1. Alt Text — Any image within the simulation can be found in the ‘Media’ tab

Note 1: If you are using a Mac, please use the ‘Command’ key instead of ‘Ctrl'.

Note 2: We recommend users either use keyboard navigation (in ‘Accessibility Mode’) or click through the simulation in standard mode using their mouse.

All external assistive technology (like screen readers JAWS or NVDA) should be turned off when starting the simulation as these functionalities are provided internally within the simulation itself.

Please reach out to our support team if you have any questions or need assistance.

Contact Labster Support 💻