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RE: need help = accessilbity and flash

for

From: Will Miller
Date: Apr 9, 2006 2:50PM

Hi Jamie, I briefly checked the website out with Internet Explorer 6 and
JAWS 7 (I am a blind screenreader user). I mention the specific browser,
assistive technology, and versions that I am using because the user
experience is likely to vary greatly dependant upon these variables.

All of the buttons on the homepage and most of the buttons on secondary
pages have been labelled, but a few are not (they read "button"). The labels
seem to include the text "button", so that when I tab to the About button,
JAWS 7 reads "About Button button" (annoying, but not a barrier to access).
The buttons can be selected by pressing the return key. There is no
indication that the page content has changed when buttons are selected,
which is potentially confusing (a useability rather than accessibility
issue). However, the content does appear in the browser. For example, if I
slect the services button, I can arrow down the page and read about programs
offered by the Division of Blind Services. Two unlabelled buttons appear at
the bottom of the page. If I select the donate button, there also seems to
be a link that is not selectable by keyboard:

"You may use our secure on-line giving page to make credit card donations.
Click here for the online donation page."

Is there a button here that I am not detecting with JAWS?

The pages seem mostly accessible to me, but it is hard to tell without
comparing my experience with that of a sighted person (I might be missing
information without knowing it). I have found that when performaing
accessibility testing with a screenreader, it is important to have an
experienced screenreader user and a sighted person working together so that
you can compare the visual and auditory interfaces. Do you know if the Blind
Services webpages go through user testing? Seems important, considering the
agency's function is to provide services to the blind.

My personal feeling is that, although some Flash pages may be made
technically accessible, they are not appropriate for all websites. The Blind
Services site seems like a clear example of this. Many clients who access
the pages are likely to be inexperienced screenreader users. The unfamiliar
Flash interface is likely to confuse assistive technology novices -- the
very individuals that Blind Services seeks to serve.

On April 4, Jamie wrote:
block quote begin
I'm a web administrator for Fl blind services. We now have an contract
group that just made a new web site that i was told to link to. I feel that
site is not accessible it uses flash. Within the flash it would be
accessible if it did stuff like alt text. But I feel that using flash as
the only medium to access a site is not a good practice. I told my boss
this but she said I was wrong. We at the division should not care about the
accessiblity of a site that we contract for.
block quote end

If your boss feels this way and she works at a blind rehabilitation agency,
she should lose the only thing she seems to care about: her paycheck.

On April 9, Jamie wrote:
block quote begin
My boss is sighted (Deputy director), but her boss our director is blind.
But did a mention that POLITICS were at play in our state. I can't say
anything polictically correct, so I best not say anything about my situation
unless it is private.
block quote end

It's a bit late for that, is it not?

~William Miller