Content365 Authoring: add narration to a course

Introduction

Narration enables you to add an engaging, spoken version of your Content365 Authoring course, enhancing accessibility and helping learners follow content more easily. Catalog admins generate a narration scripts for the course. After the scripts are reviewed and edited, they can generate the narrations based on these scripts.

In this article, we'll show how you can add narration to a Content365 Authoring course.

Configure course narration and generate scripts

Required role: catalog admin. Course admin can edit and manage the course after it's created.

The first step is to configure your Content365 Authoring course to include narration. Once the course is configured, you generate and review the narration scripts.

1. Go to the Learn365 Admin Center > Training Management. The Training Management page opens.

2. Select Content365 Authoring. The Import Content365 Authoring courses panel opens.

3. Select Edit course (the pen icon) next to the course you want to edit. The course opens on the Create Course panel.

4. Select the cog icon () near the top of the screen. The Course settings dialog opens.

5. Select Narration in the left-hand panel. The Narration section opens.

6. Set the Use narration toggle to On. To switch off course narration, set the toggle to Off.

When you add narration or edit an existing one, you use some of your monthly allowance of tokens. For more information, see Narration tokens explained.

Narration tokens are used only when you choose to generate narrations. They aren't used when generating or editing scripts.

7. If you want narration to start automatically when a screen opens, set the Autoplay toggle to On. If you want learners to select Play to start narration for a screen, set this toggle to Off.

On the first screen of a course, narration starts only when the learner selects Start.

8. If you set Autoplay to On, you can choose whether you want to play the full narration before allowing learners to advance to the next screen. To make learners wait until the narration is finished before advancing, set the second toggle in the Autoplay section to On.

9. Choose the narration Language from the drop-down list. The list of Voices updates according to the language you select.

10. Choose the voice you want for narration in the Voices section. You can preview voices by selecting the speaker icon () next to each voice.

11. Select Save changes.

When you save, we generate a script for each screen of your course, word for word. You should review the narration scripts before your generate the narration.

Review narration scripts

Narration scripts are generated word for word from your course content.

Before you generate narration, we strongly advise you review the narration script for each screen in your course to ensure it is accurate and appropriate. You can edit narration scripts so the narration differs from the your course content. If you want the narration to match course content word for word, we still advise you to check the scripts before publishing the course.

Narration tokens are used only when you choose to generate narrations. They aren't used when generating and editing narration scripts.

1. Open the first screen of your course.

2. Select Narration settings (the icon) on the right-hand side of the screen. The Narration dialog opens.

3. Review the text.

• If you're happy with the AI-generated script and don't want to change it, click anywhere outside the dialog to close it.
• If you want to edit the script, set the Sync narration with screen toggle to Off, edit the text, then click anywhere outside the dialog to close it.

4. Repeat these steps for all the screens in your course.

Once you've reviewed the narration scripts, you can generate the narration.

Generate course narration

Once you've finalized your course and reviewed the narration scripts, you can generate course narrations.

1. On any screen in your course, select Generate narrations near the top of the screen. A panel is displayed directly below this button.

The Usage section displays the approximate number of narration tokens that will be used when you generate course narration. The number of narration tokens your organization has used this month and your organization's monthly allowance are also displayed.

If you don't have enough tokens to complete the request, the Generate narrations button on the panel will be grayed out and you won't be able to continue.

For more information about narration tokens and how they're used, see Narration tokens explained.

The number of screens for which narration will be generated is displayed next to the Generate narrations button at the bottom of the panel.

2. To generate course narration based on your scripts, select Generate narrations on the panel. To cancel, click anywhere outside the panel to close it.

It might take a few minutes to generate your course narration. During this time, the "Generating narrations" message is displayed, as well as a progress indicator.

When narration generation is complete, a success message is displayed briefly then the panel closes.

The following happens on generation:

• Narration is added to each screen in your course.
• Generate narrations at the top of the screen is grayed out and becomes available only if you edit the narration script for any screen in your course. For more information, see Edit a course after generating narration.
• The Narration settings option (the icon) is displayed on the right-hand side of the page.
• If you've already imported your course into Learn365, narration is added to the Learn365 course immediately. If you haven't imported your course into Learn365 yet, narration will be added when you import it.

Edit a course after generating course narration

If you've generated narrations and later need to edit the course, you can choose to update only the screen text, only the narration script, or both. Any changes to narration scripts will be applied to your course only when you regenerate using Generate narrations.

Only narration for the screens you've edited is regenerated, not the whole course. Similarly, tokens are used only for screens you've edited. For more information, see Narration tokens explained.

If you've already imported the course into Learn365, the new or updated narration is added to the imported course immediately.

If you've already imported your course into Learn365, the updated narration is added to the Learn365 course immediately. If you haven't imported your course into Learn365 yet, narration will be added when you import it.

If you want to edit the screen text and update the narration script in line with your edits:

1. Open the screen you want to edit.

2. Select Narration settings (the icon) on the right-hand side of the screen. The Narration dialog opens.

3. Set the Sync narration with screen toggle to On. This setting determines whether the narration stays aligned with the screen text. The narration script below is grayed out.

4. Click anywhere outside the Narration dialog to close it.

5. Edit the screen text.

6. Select Narration settings (the icon) again. You'll see the narration script is updated with your edits to the screen text.

7. Repeat these steps to edit any other screens.

Generate narrations becomes active.

8. Select Generate narrations near the top of the screen to regenerate the narration scripts. For more information, see Generate course narration.

If you want to edit the narration script but not the screen text:

1. Open the screen for which you want to review the narration script.

2. Select Narration settings (the icon) on the right-hand side of the screen. The Narration dialog opens.

3. Set the Sync narration with screen toggle to Off. This setting determines whether the narration stays aligned with the screen text.

4. Edit the narration script.

5. Click anywhere outside the Narration dialog to close it.

6. Repeat these steps to edit the narration scripts for any other screens.

Generate narrations becomes active.

7. Select Generate narrations near the top of the screen to regenerate the narration scripts.

8. For more information, see Generate course narration.

If you want to edit the screen text but not the narration script:

Narration tokens aren't used if you edit only the screen text.

1. Open the screen you want to edit.

2. Select Narration settings (the icon) on the right-hand side of the screen. The Narration dialog opens.

3. Set the Sync narration with screen toggle to Off. This setting determines whether the narration stays aligned with the screen text.

4. Click anywhere outside the Narration dialog to close it.

5. Edit the screen text.

The learner experience

When narration is enabled for a course, learners see a speech bubble icon () in the bottom right-hand corner of the Learn365 player, next to the course navigation controls. Learners can pause or resume narration at any time by selecting this icon. They can return to a previous screen by selecting the back icon (the left-facing arrow).

On the first screen of a course, narration starts only when the learner selects Start, regardless of the autoplay settings. If autoplay is enabled, narration starts automatically when all other screens open.

Learners can set the playback speed and volume by selecting the cog icon () while the voiceover is playing.

The navigation controls in the Learn365 player differ depending on whether the course is set so learners must listen in full:

• If the course is set so learners must listen to the narration in full, they can't proceed to the next screen until the screen narration finishes.
• If the course is set so learners don't have to listen to the narration in full, they can proceed to the next screen by selecting the forward button (the right-facing arrow) in the bottom right-hand corner. The learner's progress in the course is shown via the numbers near the speech bubble icon. For example, 3/7 shows the learner is currently on screen three of a seven screen course.

Narration tokens explained

We use narration tokens to manage voiceover generation. Tokens help ensure efficient use of AI resources while encouraging admins to generate narrations once course content is finalized.

One token is the equivalent of one character in a narration script. A character can be a letter, number, symbol, punctuation mark, and a space. Your organization has an allowance of 500,000 tokens per calendar month. Your token allowance refreshes on the first day of each month. Any tokens that remain unused at the end of the month are lost.

Narration tokens are used only when you choose to generate or regenerate narrations. They aren't used when generating or editing scripts.

You can see your current token balance when generating narrations via Generate narrations near the top of the screen. Here, the Usage section displays the approximate number of narration tokens that will be used when you generate course narration. The number of narration tokens your organization has used this month and your organization's monthly allowance are also displayed.

If you don't have enough tokens to complete the request, the Generate narrations button on the panel will be grayed out and you won't be able to continue.

If you edit a narration script for a screen and regenerate narration, you'll use narration tokens for the whole screen, not just the specific edits you've made on the screen. For example, if the narration script for a screen contains 250 characters, you remove the word "and" from the script and regenerate, you'll use another 250 tokens.

If you edit scripts for some but not all the screens in your course, you'll use narration tokens only for the scripts you've edited.

Frequently asked questions

Why doesn’t the narration play automatically on the first screen?

Some web browser block the automatic playing of audio until a user interacts with the page. On the first screen of a course, narration starts only when the learner selects Start.

Can I edit narration scripts after generating them?

Yes. You can edit narration scripts at any time. However, if you change the text after generating scripts, you’ll need to regenerate the narration for that screen. Regenerating the narration uses additional tokens.

Do I have to generate narrations every time I make small edits?

Only if you change the narration text or the screen content and you want this to be reflected in the course. If you update other settings, such as autoplay, you don’t need to regenerate narrations.

Can I change the narration voice after generation?

Yes. You can change the voice in the Narration section of course settings. If you apply a new voice, you'll need to regenerate narration. Regenerating the narration uses additional tokens.

Why do I lose my narration settings when I leave the page?

To keep your narration settings, you must select Save before leaving the page.

Do learners have to listen to the entire narration before progressing?

Only if the Require learners to listen... toggle is set to On in the Narration section of course settings. If this toggle is set to Off, learners can progress to the next screen at any time.

Will generating narrations use my tokens immediately?

Narration tokens are used only when you choose to generate narrations. They aren't used when generating or editing scripts, or changing the language or voice in course settings.

Can I preview a voice before generating narrations?

Yes. You can preview voices by selecting the speaker icon () next to each voice in the Narration section of course settings.

Can learners change the playback speed?

Yes. Learners can set the playback speed by selecting the cog icon () while the voiceover is playing.

Content365 Authoring data handling, AI usage, and compliance

For information about data storage, subcontractors, data flows, and AI usage in Content365 Authoring, see this article on the Trust Center.