Chapter 19: Creating Accessible Content - MACROMEDIA FLASH 8-USING FLASH Use Manual

CHAPTER 19
Creating Accessible Content
You can create Flash content that is accessible to all users, including those with disabilities,
using the accessibility features provided with Macromedia Flash 8 and Macromedia Flash
Professional 8. As you design accessible Flash applications, consider how users might interact
with the content. For example, visually impaired users might rely on assistive technology, such
as screen readers that provide an audio version of screen content, and hearing-impaired users
might read text and captions in the document. Other considerations arise for users with
mobility or cognitive impairments.
You can create accessible content with Flash by using accessibility features included in the
authoring environment user interface, taking advantage of ActionScript designed to
implement accessibility, and following recommended design and development practices. The
list of recommended practices that follows is not exhaustive, but rather suggests common
issues to consider. Depending on your audience's needs, additional requirements might arise.
Visually impaired users
remember the following design recommendations:
Use the Accessibility panel or ActionScript to provide a description of your document and
nontext elements for use with a screen reader. See
information for screen readers" on page 516
ActionScript" on page
Describe the layout of your Flash application and the individual controls used to navigate
through it. See "Using Flash to enter accessibility information for screen readers"
on page 516.
Design and implement a logical tab order using either the Accessibility panel or
ActionScript. See "Creating a tab order index for keyboard navigation in the Accessibility
panel (Flash Professional only)" on page 526
for accessible objects" on page
Design the document so that constant changes in the Flash content do not cause screen
readers to refresh unnecessarily. For example, you should group or hide looping elements.
See "Hiding an object from the screen reader" on page
For visually impaired users, including those with color blindness,
and
530.
and
532.
"Using Flash to enter accessibility
"Creating accessibility with
"Using ActionScript to create a tab order
522.
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