Flash for the blind and deaf ?

[slamn]

I just have aquick question in reference to Flash for the Blind deaf and
what support flash has with built in.

Is this usually taken care of via 3rd party products?

I am completely lost on this subject and would appreciate any
advice on where to find information.

thanks alot

[Dzine]

the would have to have a biochemical monitor that can take the shape of objects embedded within the swf file so the blind user could run their hands across it....

Theyre pretty cheap..ill sell ya one.



Flash for the blind...



good lord


D

[slamn]

I have to admit that i was charmed by your response. It is good to see
that people such as yourself are out to there to feel concern about the rest
of the world ...

Would you like to suggest something along the lines of an alternative such
as alt tags for flash ? Please if you are going comment use what tiny
brain cells you have to come up with something a little more intteligent?


Thanks again...

dzine --- maybe you should think about changing your name... you seem to be lacking
in any real talent, possibly you should think about going
doing some study to develop what talent you have... Just had a look at your site.

slamn

[gerbick]

slamn, you would think that Macromedia would be forward thinking about the inclusion of Voice XML in the next release. That way, you can load the XML into the Flash, and therefore, voice enable it.

that's a win-win situation for developers. It would mean better XML support - it doesn't support special characters or Unicode at the moment - but it would also make Flash easily accessible to others as well.

that's my 2¢

[TianaKaeSha]

I recently attended a free seminar by macromedia concerning this very thing.

As a designer it is up to you to consider your audience. Not all people are deaf... and yet if you want to view an animation that requires sound and you do not have speakers - that is considered a disability (in the internet world).

Blind people use text readers to read out the content of a html page - so dzine - just because they cannot see, does not mean that they cannot use the net.

I have friends who are blind that have great trouble using text readers if the HTML does not cater for them (ie using alt tags for images and using a skip function when it comes to flash)

when it actually comes to flash - deaf people would greatly benefit from subtitles - a simple thing for a flash designer to include if their users may be deaf (or speakerless).

It comes down to commonsense really... on the designers part (and clients if their user base requires it)

for more information - http://www.macromedia.com/macromedia/accessibility/

--T

[iCEBERG2000]

hey, good post nice thread!

I had a discussion going in the Boardroom last year about this topic and it was rather interesting to see and discuss possibilities and chances and threats about this matter.

I'll try to find it but I fear it is not existant anymore. . .


iCEBERG

[Dzine]

Originally posted by slamn
I have to admit that i was charmed by your response. It is good to see
that people such as yourself are out to there to feel concern about the rest
of the world ...

Would you like to suggest something along the lines of an alternative such
as alt tags for flash ? Please if you are going comment use what tiny
brain cells you have to come up with something a little more intteligent?


Thanks again...

dzine --- maybe you should think about changing your name... you seem to be lacking
in any real talent, possibly you should think about going
doing some study to develop what talent you have... Just had a look at your site.

slamn

awwww....youve dun hut my wuttle feewings.



D

[CNO]

Originally posted by TianaKaeSha
It comes down to commonsense really... on the designers part (and clients if their user base requires it)

for more information - http://www.macromedia.com/macromedia/accessibility/

--T

What Tiana says is true - Flash does lack a lot of native accessiblity tools like alt tags, but with a little bit of creativity, you can make them yourself.

(One example would be using the setfocus property of Flash to make your movie navigatable via the keyboard, or other compatable input device. You could then have sound samples read the navigational elements for the visually-impared).

I would always try to build some sort of HTML or text-only companion site for maximum compliance to standards.

Flazoom.com has a couple of good articles on usability and Flash that you might find useful as well.

[johnie]

Flash has many deficiencies and this is but one of them. I have always advocated making Hybird pages and Anytime there is large amounts of text don't do it in Flash but rather have it on the page along with the Animation or at least keep a seperate HTML text only version for the handicaped and for users who still feel the need to use Lynx.

[slamn]

Thanks alot guys,


The XML thing has given me idea to abuse with layers.

Will let people know what i come up with if anyone is interested.


thanks again

slamn