WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

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Re: Flash accessibility?

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From: Roades, Adam
Date: Nov 9, 2001 12:28AM

Thanks for your reply, David. Yes, we understand that Flash is completely
unreadable to assistive technology devices and software such as JAWS,
WindowEyes and HomePage Reader. That is why we are attempting to take
advantage of the inherent capabilities of Flash by designing and
incorporating features that essentially replicate all of the functions
performed by AT. For example, each time a sighted user rolls the mouse over
a menu item, he'll hear a sound effect. However, with the alternate sounds
enabled (an option we'll provide at the beginning of the course), someone
with a visual disability can use the Tab key to navigate to the same menu
item, and instead of hearing the sound effect, he will hear the menu item
read by a narrator. Since we are providing this course on CD, we
fortunately do not need to consider bandwidth limitations. Were we to move
this to the Web someday, we may need to rethink this strategy.
Thanks again and if you have any suggestions, resources or information that
can help us develop a better product, please don't hesitate to pass them
along! We, too, are anxiously awaiting the release of a truly accessible
version of Flash that will eliminate such "creative" strategies.
Adam Roades