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Flash Player can't determine the actual text content of features such as Text Break Apart to animate text. Screen readers
can only provide accurate accessibility to information-carrying graphics such as icons and gestural animation, if you
provide names and descriptions for these objects in your document or for the entire Flash application. You can also
add supplementary text to your document or shift important content from graphics to text.
1
Select the object for which you want to change the accessibility properties.
2
Select Window > Other Panels > Accessibility.
3
Change the properties for the object.
Alternatively, use ActionScript to update accessibility properties.
See also
"Make an entire SWF application
"Creating accessibility with
ActionScript" on page 312
Testing accessible content
When you test your accessible Flash applications, follow these recommendations:
•
Download several screen readers and test your application by playing it in a browser with the screen reader enabled.
Check that the screen reader is not attempting to "talk over" places in your document where you inserted separate
audio. Several screen reader applications provide a demonstration version of the software as a free download; test
as many screen readers as you can to ensure compatibility across screen readers.
•
Test interactive content and verify that users can navigate your content effectively using only the keyboard.
Different screen readers work in different ways when processing input from the keyboard; your Flash content might
not receive keystrokes as you intended. Test all keyboard shortcuts.
Using Flash to enter accessibility information for screen
readers
Flash for screen readers and accessibility
Screen readers read aloud a description of the content, read text, and assist users as they navigate through the user
interfaces of traditional applications such as menus, toolbars, dialog boxes, and input text fields.
By default, the following objects are defined as accessible in all Flash documents and are included in the information
that Flash Player provides to screen reader software:
•
Dynamic text
•
Input text fields
•
Buttons
•
Movie clips
•
Entire Flash applications
Flash Player automatically provides names for static and dynamic text objects, which are the contents of the text.
For each of these accessible objects, you can set descriptive properties for screen readers to read aloud. You can also
control how Flash Player decides which objects to expose to screen readers—for example, you can specify that
certain accessible objects are not exposed to screen readers at all.
accessible" on page 308
Updated 5 March 2009
USING FLASH CS4 PROFESSIONAL
Creating accessible content
305
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