You can add images, audio files, and videos to StoryMaps as standalone content blocks or in some of the more specialized content blocks (e.g., Swipe, Sidecar, etc.)
After adding an image to StoryMaps, you can use the image pop-up menu edit the photo, add alt text, etc. Click the pencil icon to open the photo editor. You can crop the image and use the built-in annotation tools (beta) to annotate the image.
Videos can be added to StoryMaps in an embedded format (video player) or as content cards. You will need to add a video to your story then use the pop-up menu bar to select the embedded video or the content card display options. The content card format is helpful if you want to include a video as a supplemental resource instead of a core component of your story map.
Example Video: Boston Uncovered: Revolutionary War artifacts (City of Boston)
Audio files can be added to StoryMaps in a standalone content block or embedded in an image, map, etc. Check out the Breaking the Sound Barrier blog post posted below for more on how to add audio files to StoryMaps.
ArcGIS StoryMaps comes with a number of built-in tools to help improve the overall accessibility of your project. In addition to using headings and subheadings, you should also make sure that every piece of media you add to your project has an alt text description. The alt text will provide a short description of the image, map, etc., which can be accessed by viewers who are using screen readers or who have slow / spotty internet connections that can't load the media.
Alt text can be added to images, videos, other other media after you've added the media to your story map. Navigate to the options menu (gear icon) for the image, video, etc. to add alt text.
As you're adding content to your story map, it's essential that you cite your sources. You can include in-text citations and a Works Cited section just like you would in a research paper. You can also use the caption line (or attribution text box) to add attribution information for any media that you add to your project.