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Re: Section 508(m) question

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From: Bevi Chagnon | PubCom
Date: Apr 29, 2010 3:48PM


Just want to second what John Brandt stated below.

Do not assume that browsers have the correct Flash or Acrobat Reader plug installed.
And if they are installed, do not assume that the plug-ins are the correct version to match the website, either.

So, therefore, always provide a link to install the plug-in.
And re: Flash, a link to a non-Flashy version of the content for 508 users, too.

--Bevi Chagnon
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Bevi Chagnon | PubCom | <EMAIL REMOVED> | 301-585-8805
Government publishing specialists, trainers, consultants | print, press, web, Acrobat PDF & 508
PublishingDC Group Co-Moderator | http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PublishingDC

-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED> [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of John E. Brandt
Sent: Thursday, April 29, 2010 4:37 PM
To: 'WebAIM Discussion List'
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Section 508(m) question

I don't believe it is completely correct to say that "browsers have built in capabilities to view Flash and PDFs."

I think universally - in all Oss and all browsers, Flash is still a plug-in that has to be installed.

The Mac OS has Preview which will allow you to view PDFs. I recall having to install Flash to work in Safari and FireFox.

Not sure about Win7 (IE8) since I installed CS4 immediately when I setup my new PC computer and Acrobat was installed including the plugins for the browsers. I believe the Flash plugin may have also been installed then too.

I do recall that on my Ubuntu/Linux setup I had to install plugins to view Flash and PDF using FireFox.

I had to also install Adobe AIR on my PC and Mac computers in order to use certain applications.

Then of course there is the whole issue of Mr. Jobs, Flash, iPhone, iPads and iPods....making the news today!

But in fairness, I think you have a valid point about the need to provide a link. If the plugin is not installed on your computer, and you encounter content that requires it, you are likely to get either a message on the page, or a pop-up warning in the browser (or both) indicating the need for the plugin AND by merely clicking on the warning, brought to the location where the plugin is available and in some cases, the same script will automatically install the plugin.

I suspect this is to be addressed in the Section 508 revisions.

John E. Brandt
jebswebs.com
Augusta, ME USA
<EMAIL REMOVED>
www.jebswebs.com

-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED> [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Mark Guisinger
Sent: Thursday, April 29, 2010 3:54 PM
To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
Subject: [WebAIM] Section 508(m) question

So, Section 508(m)
says – “When a web page requires that an applet, plug-in or other application be present on the client system to interpret page content, the page must provide a link to a plug-in or applet that complies with §1194.21(a) through (l).” Since most of the browsers have built in capabilities to view flash and pdfs, do we need to include links to those on the pages that use those capabilities to be Section 508 compliant? How are others handling this?

Mark