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From: Trafford, Logan
Date: Fri, Jul 26 2013 9:28AM
Subject: Flash
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Due to my relative unfamiliarity with Flash, I’m just curious if there have been any improvements in terms of accessibility or is it still pretty well non compliant. One of our departments is considering a flash-based design and I want to be accurate in my recommendations/comments.

Any input would be appreciated.

thanks

Logan Trafford



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From: Rabab Gomaa
Date: Fri, Jul 26 2013 9:33AM
Subject: Re: Flash
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Hello Logan,

You can use the customizable quick reference to see the accessibility
techniques that applies to flash http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/quickref/
My recommendation is to have an HTML primary accessible version beside
the flash version.

Rabab Gomaa

>>> "Trafford, Logan" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > 2013-07-26 11:28 AM
>>>
Due to my relative unfamiliarity with Flash, I'm just curious if there
have been any improvements in terms of accessibility or is it still
pretty well non compliant. One of our departments is considering a
flash-based design and I want to be accurate in my
recommendations/comments.

Any input would be appreciated.

thanks

Logan Trafford



This e-mail originates from the City of Ottawa e-mail system. Any
distribution, use or copying of this e-mail or the information it
contains by other than the intended recipient(s) is unauthorized.
If you are not the intended recipient, please notify me at the
telephone number shown above or by return e-mail and delete
this communication and any copy immediately. Thank you.

Le présent courriel a été expédié par le système de courriels de
la Ville d'Ottawa. Toute distribution, utilisation ou
reproduction du courriel ou des renseignements qui s'y trouvent
par une personne autre que son destinataire prévu est interdite.
Si vous avez reçu le message par erreur, veuillez m'en aviser par
téléphone (au numéro précité) ou par courriel, puis supprimer
sans délai la version originale de la communication ainsi que
toutes ses copies. Je vous remercie de votre collaboration.

From: deborah.kaplan@suberic.net
Date: Fri, Jul 26 2013 9:40AM
Subject: Re: Flash
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Flash can be made accessible but it's tricky and still keyboardtraps on many browsers. It's worth pointing out to said department that anything they do in Flash is completely unusable on iOS, therefore killing a substantial chunk of the market right there. (Unusable on i-devices has accessibility implications as well, since iphones have had such strong disability pick-up, but that is not why the department is likely to care.)

There are reasons these days most flash based design is for games, tools, and other content that needs that kind of power which can't just be done with HTML5, CSS, and Javascript. Mobile has a huge part in that.

-Deborah

On Fri, 26 Jul 2013, Trafford, Logan wrote:

> Due to my relative unfamiliarity with Flash, I'm just curious if there have been any improvements in terms of accessibility or is it still pretty well non compliant. One of our departments is considering a flash-based design and I want to be accurate in my recommendations/comments.
>

From: Trafford, Logan
Date: Fri, Jul 26 2013 9:55AM
Subject: Re: Flash
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Thanks.

What I didn't realize when I sent this note a little while ago was that there is already a collaborative site that has been built for this department (using 3rd party software) that incorporates Flash to embed interactive charts/graphs etc. They sent me a link and I did a quick assessment. Definitely still issues.

Thanks again for your input.

Logan

From: Jared Smith
Date: Fri, Jul 26 2013 9:55AM
Subject: Re: Flash
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On Fri, Jul 26, 2013 at 9:40 AM, < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> Flash can be made accessible but it's tricky and still keyboardtraps on many
> browsers.

Even if the great effort is put into making Flash content "accessible"
(seriously, it is typically a very significant amount of work), it can
at best be accessible to users with JAWS on Internet Explorer on
Windows. All other combinations will have either no or very limited
accessibility. In my mind, it's rarely worth the effort of trying
(unless perhaps your audience is very limited to only JAWS, IE, and
Windows).

> It's worth pointing out to said department that anything they do
> in Flash is completely unusable on iOS, therefore killing a substantial
> chunk of the market right there.

This alone should be sufficient motivation to not consider using
Flash. Any efforts put into Flash development will almost surely be
regretful.

Jared

From: Paul J. Adam
Date: Fri, Jul 26 2013 1:43PM
Subject: Re: Flash
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Flash also is impossible to make accessible on a Mac or Linux and all mobile devices including iOS and Android. It's an inaccessible, dying technology. "HTML5" is universally accessible on all accessibility supported devices, desktop & mobile.

Paul J. Adam
Accessibility Evangelist
www.deque.com

On Jul 26, 2013, at 10:55 AM, Jared Smith < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> On Fri, Jul 26, 2013 at 9:40 AM, < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>> Flash can be made accessible but it's tricky and still keyboardtraps on many
>> browsers.
>
> Even if the great effort is put into making Flash content "accessible"
> (seriously, it is typically a very significant amount of work), it can
> at best be accessible to users with JAWS on Internet Explorer on
> Windows. All other combinations will have either no or very limited
> accessibility. In my mind, it's rarely worth the effort of trying
> (unless perhaps your audience is very limited to only JAWS, IE, and
> Windows).
>
>> It's worth pointing out to said department that anything they do
>> in Flash is completely unusable on iOS, therefore killing a substantial
>> chunk of the market right there.
>
> This alone should be sufficient motivation to not consider using
> Flash. Any efforts put into Flash development will almost surely be
> regretful.
>
> Jared
> > >

From: Elle Waters
Date: Fri, Jul 26 2013 5:50PM
Subject: Re: Flash
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Logan:

I agree with everyone who has posted thus far, and I'll add that anything done for interactive charts/graphs will have a pretty short shelf life if built in Flash as compared to other, more universally accessible solutions built using progressive enhancement (ex. HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, and SVG).

Cheers,
Elle





On Jul 26, 2013, at 3:43 PM, "Paul J. Adam" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> Flash also is impossible to make accessible on a Mac or Linux and all mobile devices including iOS and Android. It's an inaccessible, dying technology. "HTML5" is universally accessible on all accessibility supported devices, desktop & mobile.
>
> Paul J. Adam
> Accessibility Evangelist
> www.deque.com
>
> On Jul 26, 2013, at 10:55 AM, Jared Smith < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
>> On Fri, Jul 26, 2013 at 9:40 AM, < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>>> Flash can be made accessible but it's tricky and still keyboardtraps on many
>>> browsers.
>>
>> Even if the great effort is put into making Flash content "accessible"
>> (seriously, it is typically a very significant amount of work), it can
>> at best be accessible to users with JAWS on Internet Explorer on
>> Windows. All other combinations will have either no or very limited
>> accessibility. In my mind, it's rarely worth the effort of trying
>> (unless perhaps your audience is very limited to only JAWS, IE, and
>> Windows).
>>
>>> It's worth pointing out to said department that anything they do
>>> in Flash is completely unusable on iOS, therefore killing a substantial
>>> chunk of the market right there.
>>
>> This alone should be sufficient motivation to not consider using
>> Flash. Any efforts put into Flash development will almost surely be
>> regretful.
>>
>> Jared
>> >> >> >
> > >