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Re: Testing a flash movie

for

From: Andrew Kirkpatrick
Date: Nov 14, 2006 8:50AM

> I am not developing the flash application, it already exists,
> I was asked to see how accessible it is. I couldn't find much
> information available on the net for testing accessiblity of
> flash. I tried keyboard navigation, which didnt work very
> well and I ended up downloading a Windows Eyes Demo - the
> application I was testing had no information at all for the
> screen reader.

I wrote a post on testing keyboard access in Flash and Flex that may
help:
http://blogs.adobe.com/accessibility/2006/06/testing_keyboard_access_in_
fla_1.html

I need to write one that includes SR support, but here's a quick
protocol to try out for SR testing - feedback welcomed!

1) Verify that the SWF is not using WMODE=transparent or WMODE=opaque.
No WMODE setting, or WMODE=default is good. If the wrong WMODE setting
is used, the content is inaccessible to SR users.

2) Using a newer version of a screen reader (JAWS 6.1 or newer or
Window-Eyes 4.2 or newer), bring up the list of controls (ins+f5 in
JAWS) - you should see more than "button" or "checkbox" - the names of
the controls should appear here also.

3) Using a SR, read the flash content from top to bottom - line by line
reading works well.
3.1) Verify that the reading order includes all necessary
content
3.2) Verify that the content reads in the expected order.
3.3) Verify that graphic objects that should have an accessible
name (equivalent to HTML img alt)do and that it is appropriate.
3.4) Verify that the reading order doesn't jump back to the top
of the Flash content - sometimes if there are refreshing elements in the
Flash content this can happen. If it does happen then it is important
to have these refreshes supressed in Flash authoring.
3.5) Verify that actual controls (e.g. checkboxes) and
custom-made controls (e.g. a rectangle that is made into a two-state
button that changes its appearance to look like a checked checkbox when
clicked) are correctly identified and convey correct information to the
user.

4) Using the SR, go to the start of the Flash content and interact with
any controls - this may mean entering forms mode to interact with
controls.
4.1) Controls should behave according to the same rules
specified in the keyboard testing steps listed in the blog entry.
4.2) Interactive elements in Flash content will have many of the
same difficulties that exist in javascript controls in AJAX/DOM scripted
applications. The issue of notification is important to keep in mind -
you may click a button in Flash, but will the user be able to find the
result? Is the change immediately downstream or is it somewhere else in
the app?

This is just a quick start for SR testing, but hopefully is helpful. Let
me know.

AWK